Sawdust on the Floor

Have you seen any of the recent TV shows where couples go looking for new homes; one of the things that everyone seems to say is “ Wow, crown molding “, or “ I really love the crown molding in this room”. As a wodworker, I totally agree with these folks, I think crown molding is the finishing touch to any room. It’s the icing on top of the cake

Crown molding isn’t a new idea. Look at any of the older craftsman style homes, or the Arts and Craft home of the early 19th century, and every room was outfitted with beautiful crown molding. Of course in these homes every piece of molding was stained, including the door casings, floor molding and, of course, the crown molding. The only exception to this was the very elaborate plaster moldings that were installed in mansions of the day or commercial properties. I feel that I personally have been very fortunate to have had a chance to visit some of the old hotels that have not been modernized and all of the great craftsmanship is still on display in the lobbies and every room in the place.
Some of these moldings are often two feet or wider in depth, and very intricate in detail. One can’t help but marvel at the work and skill of the craftsman who toiled for weeks, months or even years to install these great moldings.

Today’s woodworker or DIY person can take advantage of several modern inventions that take a lot of the work out of installing crown molding. If your project calls for painted crown molding, there are pre primed moldings available. There are also synthetic products that mimic the look of wood; some of these are made of water proof materials that are ideal for outdoor or wet locations. If you are a purest, then there are several hardwood versions of crown molding at your local home store. Several of the router companies produce wide varieties of bits for your router or shaper table. Most of the bits needed to produce larger crown molding should only be ran on a Shaper or router table, never on a hand held router. It’s just too unsafe to even consider.

My first attempt at installing crown molding was a disaster. I had become pretty good at installing door and window casings, and installing floor moldings was a snap. But these are all cut using a single angle. Window and door molding is normally mitered at the corners and floor molding uses either miter joints at the corners or scarf joints to join two pieces along a single wall. Crown molding introduced a whole new set of issues. Since crown molding is set at an angle from the wall and the corners need to be cut on at angle, I learned all about compound angles. Good thing I bought extra wood when I purchased the molding! Funny thing about how many different ways a guy can screw up an angle cut. I had tried to cut mine on a standard table saw. Of course I soon realized that I needed a miter saw.. And a compound miter saw would be even better.

Of course this was good because it helped justify another tool. A compound miter saw. My Grandfather, an old world carpenter, used the dedicated miter saw and produced beautiful work with it. Me, all I was able to do with it was make scraps of wood for the recycling bin. All though I never got good at this saw, I know it was a good tool. Too many skilled crafts people used it for it not to have been good.

My choice of saw is the DEWALT 12-Inch Compound Miter saw and I love it. I recently added a stand for the miter saw and that increased its worth 10 fold. There are several great models on the market, and which is better is a subject that I will not touch. All I will say about the compound miter, is get the best that your budget allows. A 12” is much better than the 10” units. Look for one that has a substantial frame. Stay away from the light weight ones as they have too much vibration and the cuts are not true.

Having a good compound miter saw wasn’t the end of the learning curve. After a lot of miss steps, and researching the subject, I have learned the following about cutting compound miters. There are as many different explanations on how to do this as there are lakes in Minnesota. But they all seem to come out saying the same thing. If you are using a miter saw, you want to place your crown molding on the saw as if the base of the saw is the ceiling, and the back of the saw is the wall. Just backwards from logic.

The angle that the blade is rotated to is half the angle of the joint you trying to cut. If your corner was a perfect 90 degrees, then the angle of the cut would be 45 degrees.
Sounds simple enough, but as we all know, there are no perfect corners; I have corners in my home that are +/- 4 or 5 degrees from 90. The trick is accurately measuring that angle, and determining what exactly ½ of that would be.

I have tried the two board method, where you hold both boards on the corner and mark the starting and end points where they cross, and then theoretically, when you join those two marks you have the bisecting angle. Some how it worked better on paper then it did in practice. Standing on a ladder, holding two pieces of wood, and marking them correctly, without dropping something or falling off the ladder….. anyhow you get the picture I hope.

Recently I found what appears to me to be a better mouse trap; a digital protractor. Holding the protractor to the corner, and obtaining a digital reading of the angle, and then determining half that angle a real piece of cake. In fact, you can check the angle of your miter saw using the same protractor.

If you had made this set up for an inside corner, then the accuracy of the above setup is compromised when you need to cut an outside corner. The blade has to be reversed to the opposite side. At a Woodworking show last year, I found a solution that works for me, the Crown-n-Cut. What makes this different from other jigs I have seen is that you don’t change the blade angle from left to right, for inside and outside corners. By placing the wood on the jig, and placing the jig in the correct orientation, you can get both right and left, inside and outside corners, without reversing the blade. You still have to set the angle to 50% of the total angle, but using the digital protractor, that is not a problem anymore.

The only down side to the Crown-n-Cut device is it is a little hard to remember the logic, but as there are pictures and instructions on the jig, that is also taken care of.

One last thought about crown molding, Use a nail gun to install the molding. Remember what I said about trying to get the angle using two boards while up on a ladder, well, Trying to nail crown molding by hand is a lot like that. There’s nothing more frustrating than spending time making the perfect cut, only to have it destroyed because the board slipped while you were nailing it by hand or your hammer slipped, leaving a scar on the molding. Look around, there seems to always be a deal on a nail gun either at the DIY stores or your local Woodworking Store.

So if you haven’t already installed crown molding in your home, give it a try. Believe me all of the initial frustration is worth it.

Related posts:

1. Cutting Cove Molding on a Table Saw
2. Woodworking Project – Small Dresser