Some hand planed moldings (wip)

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Pekka Huhta

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I wanted hand planed moldings to my bathroom, they were a big part of the design from the start. I actually started the whole project by planing the first moldings, the story can be found at http://www.sihistin.fi/en/woodwork/moldings.html

Starting from the material: I use pine, as slowly grown as I can find, free of knots and cross-grain. Here is an example of what I mean:


Also the grain orientation is very important. The main direction of the molded surface should be perpendicular to the growth rings. Otherwise some of the growth rings tend to “peel” off the surface when planing. On first picture the correct grain orientation is shown at left, wrong at right. On second picture the same moldings from the front: the right way on top, wrong way on bottom. The difference is even bigger when looking the surface closer.



The first molding is really really simple: I just needed a shot molding to copy the idea of paneling used around the window. I could have modified it from the paneling itself, but this was actually faster than filling the groove on the panel etc.

I started by planing a groove to the middle of the profile just for a reference mark. The profile is OK when the reference mark just disappears. I use a #45 with a V-shaped cutter for the reference marks.



Next I just rounded the corners with an appropriate hollow. Last picture is from the finished paneling: it seems like the paneling continues around the corner. I had to start the paneling from the corner and continue to both directions from that on to get the effect. The same molding is also used on the bottom of the paneling on the ceiling.



The molding between shower glass and wall paneling is pretty much the same, except for the double beads on the sides and 45° cuts on backside for fitting to the corner. I used a lot of beads on the bathroom as they seemed to fit nicely to the beaded T&G paneling on the walls.




The architrave was a bit different than usual. Instead of just using the same molding to frame the whole door, the top of the architrave continues around the room on top of the paneling. I first made a few sketches with 3 and 4 beads and decided to go for 3.



As you can see from the pictures, I did not have proper timber for this and the end result left a lot to be desired. I had tu use a bucketful of putty to get the architraves decent before painting.

First I planed the triple beads with a #45 and bevelled the edges with a #98.



Then I made a shallow bevel from the beaded part towards the edges and rounded the edges with a hollow. On the end result you see that the architrave is almost flush with the paneling.


I planed the skirting boards already when making the big moldings, but the ends of the skirting boards were a slight problem as the architrave was almost flush with the paneling. So I ended up rounding the ends of skirting boards. This was done with a plane on the lower part and several in-cannel gouges and small files on the molding.


Rounding the end of a molding isn’t that common, the big molding on top of the paneling was done in a more traditional way.

First I glued a piece of wood to the panel rabbet to be able to cut the molding profile to the end of the molding. On the same picture there is the first try of cutting the profile.


Next I drew the profile to the end of the molding and used a coping saw to get rid of most of the excess wood. And finally finished the profile with small files.



The mitres on the corner were a bit challenging, but ended up well. I just carved the profile to the side of second piece and that was it.


The front of the windowsill was done in a similar way. There is also a small molding between the paneling and windowsill to prevent water entering behind the panel and the end of it was carved as well.




All in all, it’s fairly simple. Of course you must have the proper tools, but you can do a lot with a few hollows and rounds, a couple of beads and a #45.

Finally, a few pictures of moldings and tools used to create them.





The ”teak floor” was also framed and I used a jack plane –sized molding plane to thin down the frames.


All in all, it was fun and definitely worth it, although building the bathroom took about a year. I prefer to think about it as building a room-sized piece of furniture

Pekka
 
Oh my god, must not let the wife see that. Otherwise I'll have to start justifying the tools or even worse get on with the bathroom.

Cheers Mike .
 
Yep - some lovely work there Pekka. Not surprised it took you a year to do.

Cheers

Karl
 
Pekka Huhta":jiwdqede said:
Next I drew the profile to the end of the molding and used a coping saw to get rid of most of the excess wood. And finally finished the profile with small files.

If you cut the end using a 45 degree mitre saw, it makes a perfect line to follow with the coping saw - easier than marking.

BugBear
 
Great job, unbelievable. One question though, why is the top of the molding revealed in that one short section? Is it intended as a little shelf?

Pam
 
bugbear":34xtex8a said:
If you cut the end using a 45 degree mitre saw, it makes a perfect line to follow with the coping saw - easier than marking.

That's a good hint, thanks. It really was difficult to get the profile right. I ended up sawing a little here and there and doing the rest by eye.

pam niedermayer":34xtex8a said:
Great job, unbelievable. One question though, why is the top of the molding revealed in that one short section? Is it intended as a little shelf?

The top of the molding is revealed in all parts but the short section which touches the ceiling (the angled section). Umm, I just thought it would look nice that way :D I thought that as a small shelf at first, but it's only a bit more than two inches wide. A little narrow for everything else except maybe the shaving brush :wink:

Pekka
 
Pekka Huhta":3lck5x4g said:
bugbear":3lck5x4g said:
If you cut the end using a 45 degree mitre saw, it makes a perfect line to follow with the coping saw - easier than marking.

That's a good hint, thanks. It really was difficult to get the profile right. I ended up sawing a little here and there and doing the rest by eye.

It's not mine; it's quite old. It's also very counter intuitive; essentiually the moulding is magnified by 1.414 (sqrt(2)) on the cut section, but you then view the section at 45 degrees which reduces it back down to correct size.

Try it on a piece of cheap and/or scrap moulding.

BugBear
 
Pekka Huhta":lhbbry4v said:
...
pam niedermayer":lhbbry4v said:
Great job, unbelievable. One question though, why is the top of the molding revealed in that one short section? Is it intended as a little shelf?

The top of the molding is revealed in all parts but the short section which touches the ceiling (the angled section). Umm, I just thought it would look nice that way :D I thought that as a small shelf at first, but it's only a bit more than two inches wide. A little narrow for everything else except maybe the shaving brush...

Aha, as I thought, you aren't the one who dusts/cleans the house. :) The guys who design appliances persist in designing dust catchers, in spite of the fact they've been told for 20 or 30 years that their designs are hard to keep clean.

Pam
 
Pekka

An alternative would have been to make the moulding over length and then do a return mitre unless you didnt want to have a glued joint.

Dennis
 
pam niedermayer":2e2aeerd said:
Aha, as I thought, you aren't the one who dusts/cleans the house. :) The guys who design appliances persist in designing dust catchers, in spite of the fact they've been told for 20 or 30 years that their designs are hard to keep clean.

:D In fact I am the one who cleans the house - at least half of it. :wink: But then again, style comes before function, if you want pretty moldings. I made a sketch of a truly functional 30's bathroom with bent birch ply furniture and varnished ply walls, but decided to go for the older style. And do a little dusting every second week :D

A worse problem than dust are the dark, varnished surfaces on the cupboard. It has to be wiped twice a day unless you want to see yucky toothpaste spots and watermarks all over :)

dennis":2e2aeerd said:
An alternative would have been to make the moulding over length and then do a return mitre unless you didnt want to have a glued joint.

Yes, that would have been easy on the end of the molding, but then again it doesn't work on the varnished windowsill. Probably most of the people would have done it that way, but I'm a bit odd for doing everything the hard way every time :wink: And I really did not want to make a glued joint there, as that option wouldn't probably have been used at the time when they used that kind of moldings.
 
Pekka Huhta":1284v89o said:
...
A worse problem than dust are the dark, varnished surfaces on the cupboard. It has to be wiped twice a day unless you want to see yucky toothpaste spots and watermarks all over :)

Everyone ought to take a Fluid Dynamics 101 course before using a bathroom, much less designing one. :) Except for the abysmal looks of one, I'd much prefer one like those seen in movies, mental hospital shower rooms where you simply hose it down and walk away. But then I hate doing repetitive chores.

Pam
 
And men should either stop designing cookers or be made to clean 'em.
I used to sell reconned ones and I've cleaned hundreds, each with a string of curses aimed at the designers!

Roy.
 
Digit":28eaiisg said:
And men should either stop designing cookers or be made to clean 'em.
I used to sell reconned ones and I've cleaned hundreds, each with a string of curses aimed at the designers!

Roy.
Just to deviate a little, I've heard that cookers in MOD married quarters are the worst thing to clean before vacating as they have to be brought to 'new' condition...an old Line Manager of mine a while ago spent two days :shock: iIrc just cleaning the cooker before they were given the all clear to move - Rob
 
It's a job that should be reserved as punishment for criminals! I guarantee tit put 'em back on the straight and narrow. Unless they had masochistic tendencies that is.

Roy.
 
Bugbear

If you cut a 45 mitre on a moulding it gives you the opposite profile to the one that you need unless you mean to make a scribing block which you would place square on your moulding and mark round it to give you your profile

Dennis
 
Dennis

The 45 degree trick definitely works - I've done it dozens of times on cope cuts on complex moulded skirtings.

Pekka - lovely work, well worth the time investment it must have taken

Cheers, Ed.
 
Ed

Yes the 45 works for an internal corner I have used it for over 45 years on skirtings etc but in this case it is an external corner so as I say you could use it to make a scribing block to mark your moulding but it would be the wrong profile to follow if you cut it on your actual moulding.
Dennis
 
You're right now I think about it properly Dennis, you would end up with the inverse of the profile, which as you say is no good for an external corner.

Ed
 

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