How Can I Build My Tufting Frame?

June 6, 2022

How To

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How To Build Your DIY Tufting Frame?

Step by Step Guide to Build Your DIY Tufting Frame

In order to start tufting, you will need a frame that you can stretch your cloth and work on it. There is a lot of option for the frames; you can use any size of the canvas or you can build your frame yourself even with self-standing. There is no specific size that you should do, it depends on how you want to work and where you will work? Cause you can’t change the frame in each design work and can’t change the place of the frame if it is huge or fixed anywhere.

Creating your own frame is more cost-efficient and lets you work freely by custom design frame. It is not a very difficult step to complete a frame yourself, with a single hardware store visit you can easily collect all the necessary tools and build your frame in the dimensions you want to have. For the first frame as a beginner, it is better not to build a frame larger than 100cm x 100cm (39”x39”). Larger than this can be harder to work with as a beginner and create waste of tufting cloth.

To create your frame all you will need is;

A few pieces of timber lumbers
A Saw to cut timber pieces
Steel corner fixation elements
Screws
Power Drill

As an alternative to building a proper size tufting frame, you can find other temporary solutions. In the case of a total beginner, building a relatively huge frame can become easily an overwhelming task. For this situation, you can check here to see what you can use to instead of a tufting frame for a small-scale project.

Table Of Contents

How To Build Your DIY Tufting Frame?
Step by Step Building Tufting Frame

Step by Step Building Tufting Frame

I will explain a 100cm x 100cm frame with self-standing feet. You can change some parts of the design and reconsider all the steps for yourself.

Design the Frame;
Try to sketch what you will build. Having a visual view in front of you will help you to imagine and build the frame easier.
Gather All The Necessary Materials
With the previous step, you will see what materials you will need and you can write them down to not be confused and get lost while you are buying what you need. Keep in mind that it is important to write the dimensions of the materials as well.
Start With The 2 Main Vertical Pieces
Since you have all the necessary materials, we can start to build the frame with the main structural elements.
Add Horizontal Planks
Since you have the standing two-piece now we can connect these two pieces to each other with the horizontal frame parts. By again using the L corner elements fix them to each other.
Attach Nailed Carpet Grippers To The Frame
Now we have the frame, last but not least drive the nails all around the frame so we can stretch our cloth to the frame.

1. Design the Frame

Initially try to sketch what you will build. Having a visual view in front of you will help you to imagine it three-dimensionally and build the frame easier. How you would like to design your tufting frame? There can be issues in the future because of the lack of proper design. It is not something super complex however, good design just makes everything easier to use for its all lifetime.

One of the most important questions that need to be asked here is the dimensions of the frame. You can think with the mentality of bigger the better but it is not the best approach. In the case, of too large frames, it can be challenging to find tufting cloth with suitable sizes, even if you find them easily it would increase the overall cost of tufting because of inefficiency. For your first tufting frame, around 100cm x 100cm (39”x39”) would be the best size.

2. Gather All The Necessary Materials

Once you are ready with the overall design of the frame, try to make a list of the necessary materials for the tufting frame. All of the needed materials are basic, easy-to-find elements. You can easily purchase everything you need with a single trip to your local hardware store.

3. Start With The 2 Main Vertical Pieces

It is time to start the action. Firstly, you need to have two main vertical stable pieces so you can attach the horizontal planks between them and create the frame. As you can guess, first it is necessary to do all the measurements and cuts. You can lay down all the pieces on the ground and try to create a square shape of the frame on the ground to check the dimensions. In order to have a stable frame, It is essential to create either L or T-shaped bracing elements for the vertical elements. T-shaped versions would be more favorable and rigid.

Once you attach the vertical planks and the bracing elements to each other with a help of nails or screws, they are almost ready to use.

4. Add Horizontal Planks

It requires two pieces of horizontal pieces, one on the top and one on the bottom part of the frame. It is better to measure the height of these pieces on both vertical elements from the ground to make sure they will stay perfectly horizontal when they are fixed. If they stay in an inclined position it can make the whole tufting process slightly more difficult.

5. Attach Nailed Carpet Grippers To The Frame

There is no particular order when to add nailed carpet grippers to your frame, the only important thing is having them in the final stage of the tufting frame. These Nailed Grippers are the crucial part of the frame. Basically, the whole aim of the frame is to create a suitable place for these pieces. In order to be able to tuft properly without damaging the cloth, stretching the tufting cloth on the frame is essential and without these grippers, it is not really possible.

If you decide to attach these pieces to your planks, it can be a bit harder to work with planks afterward due to hundreds of nails pointing at you. That’s why it is more favorable to fix them in the end. Once they are attached to the frame, congratulations your tufting frame is ready to use.

Of course, it is possible to add a lot more additional elements to the frame, such as a yarn spiral holder, a hook for feeding the yarn through, a holder for the tufting gun, etc. You can see what you need and what would be good to have on the frame and upgrade it accordingly along the way.

There are many ready-to-use products, and kits for the tufting frame available in the market. If you do not have the necessary tools, materials, or time to build it yourself, it is possible to find many alternatives to use. You can find available kits for the frame in Recommended Tool Sets For Tufting. However, it is always better to build it yourself exactly how you want it. Do not be afraid to create it yourself.

*_{Disclosure: I only recommend products I would use myself and all opinions expressed here are our own. This post may contain affiliate links that at no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission.}