I was asked today to connect 2 pieces of crown by the homeowner. The first was on a 7 year old cherry kitchen cabinet, had a standard crown profile and 3 1/2″ face measurement. It ran at 90 degrees to the wall and tight to the ceiling. The piece that came along the wall was 5 1/2″ MDF crown that ran around the room and was to die into the cabinet. Here in Canada , the spring angle for crown is 45 degrees. (on both the cabinet and the wall crown )
I fooled with the MDF crown for about 1 1/2 hours before I called her into the room. It was not anything I was proud of leaving on the jobsite. I had made a template out of 1/8″ ply but that was sketchy at best. I said “I don’t think that you will be happy with this no matter how much time I spend” She was not impressed that I couldn’t do this…… Finally we decided that we would return the crown against the cherry crown and call it good.
Anyone do this type of work before- joining 2 dis-similar mouldings? The contractor told the HO that “if anyone can do it – I could” I was flattered but sheesh- I can’t perform miracles….. P.S. i had 4 of these connections to make in this kitchen….
First we get good- then we get fast !
Replies
I've done some jobs where I scribed the wall crown into the cabinet crown. The last one I did the wall crown was a little smaller than the cabinet crown, so it didn't look all that terrible.
There's really no easy solution for this. Just make the joints tight, and the customer happy.
Maybe a corner block, to make the transition?
No, you can't perform miracles. I'd say that a corner block would probably be your best bet. That was a pretty common trick in the old days, when carpenters didn't want to spent the time it took to cope 8"-10" tall base. A 5/4" square stick, a bit taller than the base, usually had a 45 degree cut made on both its top faces. Sometimes it was 1/4 of a turning. That block allowed the carpenter to square-cut both pieces of base, and as a bonus, it dressed up the joint visually in the long run.
At ceiling height, and with crown involved, you definitely have to up the ante. Think of stair details. Forget the 45 degree cut, and think of turned pendants on the bottom of landing newells. Your basic rule will be to take the maximum projections out from the wall, and down from the ceiling, and add a bit in both dimensions for a reveal. That'll define the minimum dimensions of the flat side. If the pendant looks too chunky up there, consider a floor-to-ceiling column.
And, hey, send us all a picture of your solution. We all have to make it up as we go at some point, and we need all the help we can get.
AitchKay
Sometimes crown fitting is more like crown fighting .........you can only do so much before it's best to just walk away for a while.
I am with those who suggest a corner block. Make it taller than the largest crown and shape the bottom into pendant .
Edited 1/18/2008 12:59 am by dovetail97128
I've been asked to cope cove molding into crown molding around some kitchen cabinets. I did it, and because the moldings were about the same size, it ended up looking OK.Someone looking up at it wouldn't notice it at first, but when they did, the would definitely wonder"Why"?
Rick W
Did you show her the results of you trying to fit a square peg into a round hole too?
Each idea ends up with similar results.
Bob's next test date: 12/10/07