Installing crown molding- a tip
Bill Tindall, E.Tn.
Seemingly months ago I described making the crown molding. Today it is getting installed. Thought I would share a tip.
Fitting crown, or anything mitered, is a trial and error marathon for me. The corner is never 90.00 degrees or in this case 45.00 degrees. So, it is cut long, test, adjust angle xx times till perfect then cut to length. How do you ensure the piece being test fit is in the same place for each test fit as the miter is adjusted?
As has been the case since the start, a corner cupboard has no orthogonal corners and hence nothing to clamp to. It has been a continuing aggravation. Hence, my usual way of fitting molding is unavailable. I have no way of clamping pieces temporarily to the cabinet.
Rather than start with the left most piece, get it right and nail it down, then proceed to next to right, etc I am going to install the long front piece first.
It needs to be perfectly aligned with miter on each end. By dry fit of the front and end mitered pieces, the location of the front piece is established. It location relative to this joint is marked with a knife cut that passes across the front molding and cabinet frame. see PIC(Pic is looking at the top of the case)
The process to dry fit is repeated on the other end, all the time ensuring the knife lines are in perfect alignment. When it comes time to glue the front piece on so long as the knife marks are aligned the mitered ends will be in the right place to get a perfect joint with the side pieces . It is a good tip for many alignment task.