The required joinery for a molding that transitions from level to rake around a corner frequently puzzles many carpenters. At first glance it appears that it should work, but upon experimentation, it can be maddening to find out that it won’t.
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Have you ever worked on an older remodel and needed a couple of sticks of trim to match but couldn’t find anyone who still stocked that profile? How about a piece to mate to a change in pitch on a rake run? Or have you ever had a designer draw something and then ask for a mock-up? There isn’t enough lineal footage (LF) to warrant having a knife made, much less the setup cost to run it. But there is an alternative—a good one. Make the moulding yourself. With a few moulding planes and some guidance, custom pieces can be made in the time it takes to find a millshop, explain what you need, and provide them with a scaled drawing! Read the full article…
There was a time—not too long ago, really—when carpenters approached problems differently than they do today, and the solutions they conceived were different, too. Some readers might suspect I’m talking about raked crown on an open pediment, but that’s a rare problem encountered in only a few homes. Read the full article…
On most jobsites today, the sight of a hand tool brings stares, questions, and, more frequently than not, a shaking of heads that some poor fool couldn’t afford a tool with a cord or a lithium-ion battery attached to it. Yes, many times a battery-powered tool is exactly the right tool for the job. But not always. Read the full article…