I am taking some photos to illustrate some of the things that I think help make a trim carpentry work progress efficiently.
First, try to show up early and get a good parking place. ;o)
Stock the material to a central location to minimize making trips (the material should not be on the floor–as pictured–but made easy to reach with saw horses, etc).
I put most tools on a wheeled cart to minimize lugging things into the work area and make it easy to move around the jobsite. Since a cart makes it easy to bring in and move around a large variety of tools it means less time wasted on running back out to the van.
Set up the main cutting and assembly area within a a few steps of the material, and ideally close to the installing.
Get as much prep work done as possible, so installing goes smooth (without stopping to do other things. Unpackage everything. Check and fix all openings (knock stuff back plumb or square, beat the rock back, etc). Mark the size and swing and hinge side of all doorways. I like to preshim the hinge side of all doorways (as mentioned in another thread).
Measure everything and make a master cut list.
I cut all my right miters on casings, then all the left miters, then cut all the mitered legs to length.
Preassemble all the trim sets possible. I glue all joints with Titebond molding glue and use Collins clamps and biscuit joiner or Kreg pocket hole jig to put trim sets together on a work table.
Install most window and door trim as a single unit. I nail the inside edges with an 18ga. pinner and leave the outside nailing for when I run base with the 16ga. finish gun.
I’m gonna start running base on a Racatac.
Replies
Will you come to Austin?
Thanks for the pics.
Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
Will you come to Austin?
Isn't that a country song?
I worked one summer down in Bastrop...nice country. Thanks for the invite. :o)I forgot to mention this tip (applies to all trades):Finish everything! Leave nothing for the punchlist.
Instead of beating back the sheetrock have you considered using a power plane to rabbet the casing?
Power planing is a good option...Beating the rock back seems brutish, but it is effective and fast and can be done by unskilled help.I mark all the proud rock areas and a helper does the beating while I cut the casing at the saw.
basswood,
thanks for sharing your techniques. With permission, I may steal a few;).
A few questions for you:
what is the typical width of the casing you install? I ask due to the biscuit, most of the casing I install is between 2 1/4" and 3 1/2" it never occurred to me that a biscuit would be necessary and I would think might be a little tough to cut the slots in the 2 1/4" stuff.
- when you precut your mitres, do you then measure for length from the short point (inside) or do you measure from the long point? My method has always been to square up the casing on the bottom and then measure all my right and left legs to the short point. It's easier for me to hook the tape on a square edge rather than burning an 1" and making your mark.
Just curious, always looking for a faster/better way.
I only biscuit 3-1/4" and larger casing. As you allude to, the smaller stuff would be both harder to cut the slots in and smaller width means less tendency for the insides of the miters to open up in the dry heating season. Smaller casing is also less expensive, of course, and the extra effort is not justified.The 45% miter cut on a 3-1/4" casing matches the width of my biscuit joiner so alignment is a snap and takes very little extra time. It could even be a wash timewise--it makes the assembled casing sets very stable--easier to carry and install.I'll take some photos on Monday or some casing measurement techniques. I do use inside measurements, but I typically line the inside of the miter cut with the edge of my saw stand table and hook the tape on the table, rather than the casing, and pull over to mark my cut for the bottom of the casing leg (if that makes since).I most always make the straight cuts of casing legs in matched pairs. More on that with photos later.
I also measure and mark the inside (heel) of miters, and like Brian I line up the inside miter point with the edge of my saw table, then pull my measurement by hooking the table edge. Not all miter saws have this built in- I've used a Makita CMS where this was initially frustrating not to have. If I had to buy a new CMS, the lack of this feature could be a deal breaker.
"I do use inside measurements, but I typically line the inside of the miter cut with the edge of my saw stand table and hook the tape on the table, rather than the casing, and pull over to mark my cut for the bottom of the casing leg (if that makes since)."I've used that trick and a variation of it for years on roof pieces too. Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
"Nothing new under the sun."Many of these ideas are used by lotsa folks, I reckon.Much of what I do can won't apply to some of the various approaches to trim work, I suppose.On pulling a tape to measure trim, if you pull from the edge of a saw stand, you don't have to worry so much about holding the trim piece...frees a hand for marking with the pencil.
Every idea is new to someone sometimes. Please keep up the good posts! Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
basswood,
I'll wait for the pictures (and thanks for sharing). IIRC, you have a homemade setup for your mitre saw, but I didn't see it in this thread so I was wondering how you made the measurements.
I have been using two different DeWalt saws, one on the DW stand and the other on a mitre stand made from the same company that makes the heavy duty saw horses (can't think of the name right now).
Neither of the stands has any type of table or flat surface beyond the saw table itself. So no place to hook a tape. I like the technique though.
I had looked at the Saw helper table at JLC last year but I just couldn't pull the trigger. If you get a chance, could ypu share your saw setup?
Thanks
I do have one homemade saw stand that usually stays in my shop (it will go to the job I am at now though--I use it for tall base and large crown jobs).On most jobs, I still use an ancient Delta miter saw stand (when I bought it, it was about the only one on the market, that folded and had wheels), with an old Hitachi slider mounted on it. I have a couple of different aux. table/fence setups I use on both mitersaw stands to help with certain tasks.I bet you could add tables to your stands that would improve how they work for you.Someone posted a custom version of the DeWalt stand that looked great to me.I wish the Saw Helper had good wheeled set up.
I'm gonna start running base on a Racatac.
Is the seat for the boss, as a place to observe and offer encouragement? ;-)
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Edited 5/4/2008 12:38 pm by Hudson Valley Carpenter
Edited 5/4/2008 12:40 pm by Hudson Valley Carpenter
What's that material that you use to pre-shim for hinges? Do you make the shims plumb to each other as you install them?
I shim the hinge side plumb with flat stock of various thicknesses. I use a combination of assorted plywood rips left over from different projects. I rip the plywood into 1-1/2 strips that can be used to fir out studs, then chop some of those rips into shims (3-3/8" long) so they can easily fit between the sheetrock that often protrudes past the trimmer studs, into the door rough opening.I also use snips and cut drywall shims (dense cardboard strips) into 3-3/8" flat shims, and use a "peelashim" product to fine tune the thickness of the shim stack:http://b4its2l8.com/
Nice system, well thought out. Thanks for the link.