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Making and installing mitered molding

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Making and installing mitered molding

#1

Making and installing mitered molding

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

Wrapping mitered molding around a piece is a common woodworking operation. Any lack of perfection here shows. I am not confident I have the best way of doing this task. There are two problems to overcome to achieve a perfect fit. The corners or what is to be wrapped may not be perfectly 90 degrees such that the miter requires adjustment from 45 degrees. And, the lengths of the pieces must be cut accurate to just a few thousandths of an inch to achieve a miter that meets perfectly with no gap or overlap. Compounding the stress, a lot of time may have gone into preparing just enough molding for the job. What follows is what I do, which may not be the best way. The result is shown in PIC 1.


My molding making philosophy is to waste out all of the desired profile that I can with router and table saw and then file, scrape and sand to refine the profile to its final form.

PIC 2



The two bits shown resulted in the profile on the right side of PIC 3. The transition hump visible on the right side was then filed, scraped and sanded to yield the final profile on the left of PIC3.





I install the molding by sequentially wrapping it piece at a time. In this case I cut the left and right side and front molding a bit long, then brought the left and front together at the left case edge to test the miter angle. In this case 90 degrees was ok. But if it was not the saw could be adjusted at this point to cut the angle needed for this corner on the left side miter, and left miter of the front molding. The length of the side moldings can be cut to length before installation or after. I usually cut it after installation.

The side and front molding pieces are wiggled around until the miter meets perfectly at the corner and then the front molding is temporarily clamped into this position. The side molding is removed, glue applied, and wiggled into alignment with the miter on the front molding. It is then fixed in place with my handy pin nailer. Clamps are added to secure the piece until the glue dries as seen in PIC 4. (clarification, in the PIC the clamps are temporarily holding the front molding in position. The side is pin nailed but not yet clamped in this PIC.)



Next I miter a short piece of scrap molding on the right side. As previously described I use this scrap to test the miter for the right front corner and adjust the miter saw angle as needed to get a good fit. Then I use this piece to fix the position of the right side piece which is then temporarily clamped in place. The front molding is cut to length. This length needs to be perfect or the miter will either overlap or gap. Glue is applied and the front is pin nailed and clamped as shown in PIC 5. Finally, the right side molding is installed.



This process is slow and tedious, but it usually results in near perfect miters and lengths. It would be useful to know what someone that knows what they are doing does to accomplish wrapped mitered molding and trim.

Re: Making and installing mitered molding

#2

Re: Making and installing mitered molding

William Duffield

I can offer one trick that can help in one situation, when the joint is open slightly at the face, but tight at the surface of the case. I've also used it on ogee bracket feet. It is typically caused by the cabinet being slightly narrower* at the back than the front, or the molding being cut a smidgen less than 45°. Make sure there is plenty of glue in the joining mitered surfaces. After you have clamped and pinned both pieces of trim, but before the glue sets, just burnish the outside edge of the joint with your scraper burnisher, pushing the ends of the show surfaces together.

*or significantly narrower in the instance of a tall case clock.

Re: Making and installing mitered molding

#3

Re: Making and installing mitered molding

Mark Hennebury

I do something similar to you Bill, I work around the cabinet.

I cut the miters on a sliding tablesaw.

First determine the miter angle.

If you want to be extremely accurate setting the miter angle, rip some strips of scrap mdf or whatever wider than your moulding and use that instead of mouldings to hold against the cabinet and scribe. the wider the more accurate you will get your miter angle.

Clamp your pieces around the cabinet as in the sketch and scribe lines Then scribe a line across the diagonal to get the angle; this works whatever the angle is and even if your mouldings are different widths.

Set your miter fence angle and clamp on a new spoil-board, then make a fresh cut.

Cut the first miters,

Glue one side miter in place and clamp the front one to it.

Scribe the other end of the front piece with a knife.

Remove the front piece and cut on the saw by lining up the knife mark with the fence edge.

This method gives precise angles and fit, with no fidlding or fussing.


Re: Making and installing mitered molding

#4

question

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

"clamp on a new spoil-board" I don't know what a spoil board is or how to use it.

Other tips are going to be useful.

Re: Making and installing mitered molding

#5

Re: Making and installing mitered molding

Brian Holcombe

Bill,

If the results are spot on, then you're certainly on the right path (or one of them).

I make mitered corner art frames for pre stretched canvas. They're a frame wrapped around another frame and so I've gotten the hang of this sort of thing. I've made a few hundred of these at this point.

I make my moldings, then scribe the first of the first one to the inside corners. I cut to my scribe lines and install the first by clamping it into place. I then cut (miter) the adjoining member and check the fit of the joint (allows me to compensate by changing angles if need be at this point). I clamp then fit into place. At which point I now scribe the next inside corner.

Finally I finish the last piece by removing the first and scribing to the inside corner. I recheck my fit then clamp and glue.

Re: Making and installing mitered molding

#6

Alan Young

Bits n Pieces of All Posted

Alan Young

Good stuff here---Bill's point about enough molding is important-Especially with the specialty molding employed in his piece shown here. If you are using stock molding-there is something less annoying about returning to the Lumber yard Home center to get another 6 feet because you used up too much making "mistakes" in the wrapping process..On the other hand I find when fabricating my moldings there is a psychological battle between making enough extra for the "in case I screw it up" moments and "oh- everything went fine now I have all this extra and have to store it so it won't get damaged but won't remember I have it next time I want this profile"... still-better to use up stock making extra-

One thing I commit to is the front/longest pieces first- I do the long pieces first because if I screw it up and end up cutting them too short- they can be used for one of the shorter sides. I cut each piece with the 45 degree on each end leaving it an inch or so long---then set it with one end-usually the left-perfectly aligned with the corner of the case- then clamp to the case-checking that the aligned corner hasn't moved-then scribe/mark of the other end- I then sneak up on this mark making probably two to three cuts re positioning the piece back on the case between each cut- this is tedious but when the piece fits perfectly I glued it in place and leave it alone-alone in the sense that I don't move on to the next piece yet- not alone in the sense that I monitor it to make sure it doesn't shift- left or right or up or down. Once it has set and is in place I moved on to the next piece- the other long piece using the same technique.

After the long pieces are glued I move to the sides. Here I cut a short ~4" piece to check the 45 degree match- If the corner isn't a perfect 45 I make adjustments as necessary- Once the angle is a good match I repeat the process of setting the molding to the matched 45 degree corner then subscribing the long end if all goes well I won't need to make any adjustments ....this is the process I used in the table top post a week or so ago-


I needed no adjustments to my saws 45degree setting- but the important detail is to get the case work or for me- the table top with 90 degree corners first... but repeating the sequence of cutting each end at ~45 degrees till the inside corner of each end of the molding matches the corresponding corner of the case..

Re: Making and installing mitered molding

#7

Re: question

Mark Hennebury

Spoil-board is just a sacrificial fence, it could be a strip off MDF screwed onto the miter gauge after you have confirmed the correct angle. you just make a fresh cut so that you have a reference to line up you knife-scribe line to cut the miter. so its a one shot cut process no creeping up on the miter a bit at a time and checking it.

Re: Making and installing mitered molding

#8

Re: Bits n Pieces of All Posted

William Duffield

If you are making custom mouldings with rabbet planes, hollows, rounds and a sticking board, there is a disadvantage to your strategy of longest pieces first. The profiles will match pretty closely if they were cut close together on the stock, but may vary a lot the farther apart the pieces have been cut from the stock. If you can start at one end and work to the other, then you will have less sanding or scraping to do to make the profiles match where they meet. It can help to keep the individual pieces in order as they came off the stock. With a little more planning, you can, of course, start in the middle and work towards both ends, but still keep them in order. Or, you can rough cut them long, number them, number the locations where they will be installed, and then proceed in logical order to fit them.

Re: Making and installing mitered molding

#9

Re: Does anybody use a shooting board?

Hank Knight

Does anybody use a shooting board for this operation? I find a shooting board invaluable for sneaking up on a perfect fit for 45 degree miters. If the angle is off a smidge, I can shim the stock for a perfect fit. That, however is seldom necessary. My miter plane removes stock in .001" increments - hard to do with a saw - so sneaking up on the perfect fit is less risky with a shooting board than with a saw.

Re: Making and installing mitered molding

#10

Re: Does anybody use a shooting board?

Brian Holcombe

I do occasionally but anymore I just cut my scribe mark.

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