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   Guest_ | Aug 03, 2000 01:07am | #1

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   I rip long thin strips of a 1" board on the TS, some thin enough to see through (almost), move the fence a little, do another one, etc. till I have a batch where the thickest one is as thick as I need, and the others graduated down almost to zero, then just smear on some yellow glue and shove it behind, in the gap. End gaps get filled with putty or spackle for paint grade, sawdust/glue mixture for natural or stained wood. Because the TS isn"t perfect on doing these thin strips, the strip usually tapers a tad at the end, so you can always find a strip that just fits a gap that starts at zero before it starts expanding. You'll cut 5x what you need, but it's so quick the amount of time spent is not an important factor.

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   Guest_ | Aug 03, 2000 05:01am | #2

   *I would suggest wood putty, ore specifically Elmer's wood putty. It is very easy to work with and sands great afterward. Old homes can be a bear to install crown molding in but the next time you do, try coping your joints instead of mitering.Pete Draganic

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   Guest_ | Aug 03, 2000 09:12am | #3

   *You mean you don't scribe every piece? Shame, shame.I generally use acryllic latex with silicone. Paintable and no problems.

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   Guest_ | Aug 03, 2000 12:15pm | #4

   *Andy:As Fred says above, a good latex-based caulk is pretty much the ticket for painted molding. One of the skills a good painter brings to the job is being able to apply the caulk thick enough and at the same time, still nice & smooth, so that shrinkage is less of a problem. Also don't use cheap caulk. Go for the $2.50+/tube 35yr or better caulk. There was a thread here at BT called Can anyone caulk without making a mess?, that you might want to read. Several good tips were given.If the a gaps between the walls & your trim installation are so large that they can't be caulked in 1 application, the walls are pretty bad, or perhaps you are not getting a tight enough install, which can be helped by installing 2x2, or other backing/nailers behind your crown. Also, try this thread. If it's the gaps are in your end joints that are a problem, well, whenever I see a "trim carpenter" using caulk, I'm more than a little suspicious! Good Luck.

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   Guest_ | Aug 03, 2000 01:54pm | #5

   *i I am installing crown molding in an old house and have some gaps even after planing the back in some places etcAndy - For just this reason, sometimes it's worth leaving the walls and ceiling unfinished before running the crown. After scribing to the maxiumum extent reasonable, you can skim and feather the wall and ceiling surfaces some to adjust to gaps at the top or back of the crown to reduce the gap. A good technique to accommodate out-of-plumb, out-of-level in older houses (other than accepting some of it as 'charm') is to distribute the error over several different planes. Choice of crown (with thick top edge for scribing) is important too.Another technique (used in the 18th century) that would tend to help with walls is to mount the crown on a simple board with a beaded bottom edge. Note that one issue here is that most of the beading bits today cut a real groove behind the bead - more typical older beads (from hand molding planes) have minimal cuts as they meet the flat plane - less deep and wide.Jeff

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   Andy_Lazur | Aug 03, 2000 01:58pm | #6

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   I am installing crown molding in an old house and have some gaps even after planing the back in some places etc. I have used latex caulk in another room with good results but it takes 2 applications because of the high shrinkage rate. Any suggestions on a better paintable filler material? Thanks in advance.