can’t find simple large cove crown molding (a simple “C” profile) to match what’s throughout my house, Craftsman style ca. 1935.. i need about 9 more feet.
been to the big boxes as well as small old independant lumber yards (the few that are left). they’ve checked their catalogs and molding like mine is no longer even shown. all the stuff out now, in my region anyway, is fancier with at least an “S” profile, and beyond.
so my question is twofold:
1. anyone know a good source for this specific item? is it prohibitively expensive to ship or have custom made?
2. any ideas for faking it with vinyl, foam, etc?
Replies
If the section is simple enough, can you cut the cove with a diagonal fence on a table saw? This work for a lot of cases, particulary if you can cut the coved section alone and build up the top and bottom edges with other material prior to installation.
If you're not familiar with this technique, I think I first learned it in one of Tage Frid's woodworking books. In simple terms, you clamp a piece of material at a diagonal across your saw table, and adjust blade height and fence angle/location until you get the shape you want. You start with the blade just above the table, and make multiple passes with your material, carving out more of the cove each time.
Bruce
Between the mountains and the desert ...
i'm not accustomed to using a talbe saw so i'm trying to picture this... you mean you eat away the negative space, as with kerfs?
That's it, precisely. You use the edge of the teeth to mill the arc out. You want to take small "bites" out of the stock, so it takes a bunch of passes per stick of crown. You want to save a good, sharp, blade for the last pass, too, for a cleaner finish.
Hmm, any chance of a scribe (or a sketch) or the profile, and get that scanned in so we cna look at it? (Cellphone photo, would be good enough, maybe.)
I'm wanting to remember that either one of our catalogs, or Shane the cabinet builder next door's has a 4" or 6" simple cove in stock. Might be you can get the profile, just not locally.Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
No, not really kerfs. Picture that when you run a piece of material over a table saw, with the blade set low, you get one blade-width kerf. Now imagine you could fix the fence at an angle so that it was not parallel with the blade, and you moved the stock following the fence. The arc of the blade would eat a small cove out of your stock. Does that help?? My woodworking books are buried since we moved, or I'd look it up and scan the procedure and post it ... sorry.
Bruce
Between the mountains and the desert ...
Edited 10/19/2005 7:59 pm by Bruce
Edited 10/19/2005 8:01 pm by Bruce
MSM,
A custom shop could make it for you but for such a small run the cost will be large once you figure in setup costs and a knife charge if you need a profile they don't' have cutters for. Our local custom shop charges $150 as a setup charge for any run and then $150 if you need a custom knife.
You might try White River Hardwoods - http://www.mouldings.com as they carry a number of larger cove mouldings. They don't sell direct but they should be able to direct you to a yard that can order their product. I bought a bunch of their stuff recently through Hogan Hardwoods in Austin TX and had it drop shipped to Iowa because no one here carried it or was willing to order.
Regards,
Dennis
I've seen Norm booger crown that couldn't be matched with plaster. He made a negative pattern and dragged it through the plaster to achieve the profile. It was actually done in place, believe it or not. That's about all I can tell you about it, but if you did long enough, I'm sure you can find out the particulars.
Shoot, what have you got to lose, right? If it looks like heck, you just whack it with a hammer and it's gone! ;)
Diesel...I've done it your way several times and with intricate patterns. It was cake!The secret of Zen in two words is, "Not always so"!
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I honor the place in you of love, of light, of truth, of peace.
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MSN
Do what Bruce suggested, whole job would take about 2 hours, that includes the sanding of the saw marks. You can make it exactly like what you have.
Very simple job.
Doug
I have done a slew that way too....a few more options come to mind as well.
One can rip paralel kerfs to waste some waste, and snap them strings out before commencing the cove cut on the TS, saves even more time.
Or, ( horror of horrors) I will rip out the waste with a dado blade in chunks, cove it out with a moulding plane that is close to size, and make a scraper that is gonna sweeten it up, followed by a pc. of extruded poly foam sanding block and 80 grt. paper ( or old sanding belts, I love some of the widebelt scraps I saved over the yrs, the edges are barely used, and have the plactic back instead of cloth).
The hardest part of making good crown, is finding the stock to make it from..and being patient.
I once made a wierd profile by laminating 1/8th in strips like a profile gauge , stacked and slid to a form, waxpaper, a zillion "buttons" and drywall screws as clamps, and a week of tweaking the profile with hand methods. It was in Ash, so the lams disappeared when finished. Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"We adore chaos, because we love to restore order"
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Here's my best sources: Do you have any restoration contractors or salvage yards in your area? Most of them will have racks of salvaged mouldings. I can find what I need about 50% of the time there. If not, check with mill shops in your area. I often can find a shop that already has the knife cut, and can mill you what you need without the $200-$300 knife grinding charge.
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