I've accumulated 100+ cool car posters over many, many years. Now that I have an official garage, I want to start hanging them. The issue is finding decent, inexpensive poster frames. Has anyone found a decent wood (or wood like) frame that doesn't suck?
I hear ya. Poster frames are bloody expensive.
Pics of this garage!
I hunt the sales at Michaels or other shops for deals. You can also spray adhesive and foam core mount them as well.
I found some cheap ones at Michaels. No glass, just flimsy plastic but it works:
I also found some on Amazon, but many reviews mentioned that whatever dye they use ends up ruining the posters.
Resale/thrift store picture frames. Bring measurements of posters and a tape measure. Fog whatever color they happen to be black.
I need to follow my own advice.
Garage sales and thrift shops are likely your best bet.
I am considering making some for myself. A handheld router a cheap miter box/saw, some bits, some wood strips and some nails / staples and all you need is glass / plexiglass. Make as many as you need.
Thanks for the suggestions! I’ve been watching both Michaels and Joanns for sales and will continue to do so. I hadn’t thought about thrift/resale though. Will definitely go hit the local ones!
Depends on what is "inexpensive" to you and how nice you want the frames to be. Target/Walmart sell fairly cheap poster frames that do the job. From $10 ea. (2 for $19.99 deal) to about $21 ea. I've used the really cheap ones and they are OK, although not easy to hang (they need to be supported from the bottom as well).
Surprisingly, cut glass from Home Depot is often cheaper than plastic panes, should you decide to make your own from wood stock. I have feeling making your own would only be cost-effective if you need a lot of them so you can make them in a sort of production line. Also assuming you aren't valuing your own time.
Anybody with a home needs a carpentry section. Buy a router table,a picture frame bit and a miter saw.
Watch online for home salvage companies selling old windows, and buy a glass cutter.
With the careful application of cheapness, you can justify buying tools to save far less money than the tools cost. That's my game, anyway.
We redid our basement last winter in a movie theater theme. Both my kids worked at the local theater at the time and they brought home posters pretty regularly. We searched far and wide for reasonably-priced poster frames, and ended up getting them at Meijer. $20 for 42x30 (standard movie poster size). They're cheap, but they get the job done:
I've been making frames for a variety of art--mostly 8 x 10 matted photographs--but also some larger stuff for years. If you're after a simple thin border, you can purchase stain-grade angle moulding at the home centers. If you'd rather work in metal, use aluminum angle.
Of course, my time isn't worth much!
Be aware that if you want glass on the front it will make the finished product quite heavy. Clear, thin acrylic sheet is available, but scratches easily.
Dumb idea that I do at the theater all the time:
1x3 or 1x2 lumber, chop saw set to 45 degrees, and a back of luan held on with glue and 3/4" narrow crown staples. Then I can put the poster in with spray adhesive or staple gun. That doesn't get you the plastic/glass front, but very functional and dirt cheap.
In reply to Curtis :
I have been thinking about suggesting notching quarter round molding, but 1x3 are cheaper.
Thrift Stores. I picked up a decent wood frame at one for a dollar last night.
In my apartment I display all my (printed) artwork by gluing it to foam board and trimming to the exact size of the print. This is not archival and I do not expect it to last 50+ years but it's extremely cheap and looks very good. These are prints that I typically buy for $5 to $15 or my own artwork so archival storage isn't a concern.
As a picture framer, some of these suggestions are making me want to cry. 
That said, hell yes to thrift stores, etc., if you’re willing to do the work yourself, assuming you just want to “get it on the wall,” and have the time/patience.
I would warn against spray-mounting to foamcor with no frame. You will end up with 100 warped posters with no way to un-berkeley them.
Glass is cheap, as are wheels with which to score it. 1/16” (or thinner) plexi looks like E36 M3 and scratches if you look at it the wrong way. 1/8” plexi is exponentially more expensive than glass...and still scratches if you look at it the wrong way.
Good luck! Post pics!
dyintorace said:I've accumulated 100+ cool car posters over many, many years. Now that I have an official garage, I want to start hanging them. The issue is finding decent, inexpensive poster frames. Has anyone found a decent wood (or wood like) frame that doesn't suck?
You have too many and it all won’t fit in your garage. Send some to me. 
I would warn against spray-mounting to foamcor with no frame. You will end up with 100 warped posters with no way to un-berkeley them.
I didn't know if the OP is just trying to brighten up the garage or display priceless collectibles behind glass. I guess I didn't think about how thin some posters are. Yes, it would be tough to spray glue them flat. When I spray glue prints I have no intention of preserving them after I'm gone. I figure they would get tossed even if they were framed. They've been up a few years now and still look great. I definitely would not do that with my original or valuable artworks!
In reply to TopNoodles :
No offense!!! Nothing wrong with DIY! I just meant the foamcor will warp with humidity/temperature change over time.
I learned the hard way to warn people about this when a customer came in with 50-100 posters she “just wanted drymounted and trimmed, as cheaply as possible.”
She did *not* tell me she planned on hanging them in her basement, unframed.
She came back 6 months later with an enormous stack of tacos, and like a fool, I ended up framing them for her AT COST + $0 labor.
Fair warning is all. Even my REALLY good 3/16” - Library of Congress approved acid free stuff will warp over time if not secured in a frame.
Gatorfoam is much better at staying flat but $$$$$
I use scratch resistant acrylic with foamcore behind it, because I can find scrap at work and because I can cut it with a table saw unlike real glass. I pick wood trim that has a step in the backside of it out of the scrap bin at the local Habitat for Humanity ReStore. Its far from perfect, but its also far from $100+ per frame.
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