Metallica autograph frame

I received some fantastic suggestions for ways to complete my Metallica picture frame: making inlays with guitar picks and blackening the wood with a torch were a couple I really liked. Ultimately, I decided to keep the frame itself somewhat simple: I felt adorning it too much would detract from the guitar and the autograph.

ScrollingI ended up cutting out the Metallica logo with my scroll saw using 1/8" plywood and placing is over MDF painted black. I am not much of a scroller, but Laney suggested I get some spiral blades. That really helped, even though I broke a lot. My biggest struggle was figuring out how to handle the holes in the As, which I have affectionately dubbed A holes. I tried connecting them using thin bridges, but it just didnt look satisfactory. Finally, I just ended up cutting out teeny triangles and gluing them in place with epoxy. Worked out great.

Guitar stringsI am very pleased with the way the guitar turned out. That was a ton of fun to make! The tricky part was figuring out how to string it. After everything was assembled, I discovered that six strings didnt align properly all the way from the tuning knobs to the bridge. I learned that guitars have a "nut" at the top of the neck that aids in alignment. I cut another tiny piece of wood, added some slots and restrung the six strings. Worked perfectly. Plus, it hides the seam between the head and neck.
Theme framingIf youre like me, youve probably made more picture frames than you care to count. Ive sort of developed a system that works out pretty well, but it gets boring. What fun to take a new approach to framing! The next time you have something really special to display, try to come up with a "themed frame".
Enjoy the video. It goes fast. Gimme fuel, gimme fire...!