A few months ago my wife and I were up in Eastern Canada, and we discovered the art of Maud Lewis. We fell in love with her simple paintings and brought one home, so this project was about making a frame that fits that story—something that looks precise and symmetrical, but still has that intentionally aged, weathered character. I started with some beautiful old grey wood, but like a lot of reclaimed/pallet-style material, the faces didn’t match the edges, and the boards were all over the place for thickness, twist, and bow. To make the frame look consistent on every side, I sliced thin “veneer” strips off the same weathered stock and glued them onto the edges so the patina wraps around the frame. I also had to flatten and stabilize the rough boards—gluing them to a flat oak backer while clamped to the bench—and then I could work safely and predictably. From there it was all about repeatability: accurate 45° miters, checking the assembly on my squaring jig, and then filling the inside edges with fitted veneer pieces measured with stair gauges. The big takeaway is that a handful of simple shop-made jigs can turn unruly reclaimed wood into a clean, tight-looking frame without sacrificing the aged look that makes the piece special.