Troubleshooting Moulder Tear-Out Tweaks to the knives, the feed rate, the drive belt set-up, or the bed board may help eliminate moulder chatter and tear-out. August 29, 2005
Sanding Problem with Hemisphere Mouldings A woodworker asks for advice about sanding a complex moulding that's coming off the CNC with a rough surface. But the answer turns out to lie with improving the CNC side of things. September 17, 2014
Shaping with a Table Saw Lacking the machinery to run a large moulding, a woodworker spends a few hours using his table saw to cut the curve. May 28, 2010
Stock Moulding Start-Up Tips A millwork installer moving into moulding manufacturing gets advice on running his new business. June 23, 2006
Sanding with a Flap Wheel Head Jacob Malherbe of flap-wheels.com supplies a brief explanation of how flap-wheel sander heads work, with tips on getting the best from your machine. May 4, 2010
Stating Dimensions for Crown Moulding Crown molding sizes can be looked at two ways: The thickness and width of the board, or the vertical and horizontal distances it will span when installed. Depending on the situation, either could be important. December 2, 2006
Selling small quantity custom profiles Dealing with customers who don't comprehend the work and cost involved in the manufacture of custom knives. June 6, 2001
Tweaking the Feed Rollers on a Moulder Woodworkers suggest reasons wood might get stuck going through the moulder, and suggest ways to fix the problem. December 6, 2006
Sanding Moulding Profiles Tips and tricks for sanding the profiles surface of trim moldings without overly softening the sharp edges. August 21, 2006
Vacuum Bag Versus Clamp Jig for Curved Moldings For a small molding laid up from laminated plies, keep it simple: a curved jig and clamps works as well as vacuum baggin, or better. June 23, 2006
Sharpening Tongue-and-Groove Knife Sets If you choose the right knives to begin with, tongue-and-groove profile cutters can be sharpened repeatedly. March 5, 2008
Home-built moulder Advice on the construction of a moulder, and encouragement to follow an easier path. November 18, 2002
Increasing production flow Presenting to a boss the numbers that prove production flow could be improved. (Business Forum) May 17, 2003
Fabricating Radius and Curved Mouldings Here's a detailed discussion comparing two approaches to creating curved and arched mouldings: the CNC route, or the dedicated moulder and shaper setup (which may involve templates). July 13, 2010
Moulding prices Pricing product in a small, start-up moulding manufacturing operation. October 9, 2002
Moulding Quality Issues A batch of mouldings with quality problems sets off a discussion of proper dimensions, back-relief, and surface smoothness for base, casing, and jamb stock. December 15, 2005
MDF as Interior Trim Does MDF make good trim, especially in a humid climate? Pros share their observations. December 20, 2005
Machining S-Curved Crown Moulding Woodworkers weigh in on a complex machining challenge: crown moulding with both an inside and an outside curve. September 5, 2006
Radius Shoe Molding Determining radius of cabinets in order to match molding. July 20, 2004
Repeatability at the Shaper Advice on ways to set up shapers to consistently produce mouldings that are identical to a previous run. June 16, 2010
Jigs for Elliptical Moulder Work Aftermarket jigs let you do complex curved work on the moulder, especially if given additional shop modifications. May 21, 2007
Improving Moulder Efficiency Two guys have their hands full trying to satisfy a busy shop's moulding needs. Here, they get some advice on how to streamline their operation. March 29, 2006
Moulder Options for the Small Shop Pros discuss the cost-effectiveness and convenience of various moulders, singly or in combination. November 9, 2005
Is It Necessary to Sand Mouldings? Sanding equipment for your moulding operation shouldn't be needed if knives are sharp and well balanced and the machine is well set up. September 5, 2006
Making Templates from Existing Mouldings Moulding shop pros discuss how to scan and import profiles of existing mouldings in order to make exact drawings or manufacture new knives. November 10, 2006
Running Baseboard and Casing in One Pass Can you run baseboard moulding or casing on a four-head moulder, using the first knife to create the necessary back-relief? October 14, 2006
Machining Small Radius Molding The problem: holding a small, curved piece of brittle wood fixed while machining a small moulding profile into it. Here, pros offer various solutions. December 20, 2005
Replicating a Custom Moulding Profile For a matching finish job, a craftsman needs fifteen feet of a non-standard moulding. Pros suggest several methods, from ordering custom moulder knives to engaging in router-and-tablesaw sculpting. November 10, 2005
Keeping Tally of Moulding Runs Moulding manufacturers discuss efficient systems to keep track of moulding production (including tracking defective and rejected pieces). September 3, 2005
Fabricating and Installing Curved Baseboard Suggestions for this curved baseboard situation include using flexible stock, or clamping and laying up thin layers of MDF before profiling with a router. July 12, 2012
Focusing a Moulding Business Shop owners discuss whether custom small-volume runs or large stock moulding jobs are the preferred path to profitability. June 12, 2005
Are Small Moulders Practical for Small Runs? Here's an extensive and informative run on the hows and whys of buying and using a small moulder to make short runs of custom profiles. October 19, 2013
Arched Crown Moulding You may never have to do it, but just in case you do, this thread with expert analysis, practical tips, and great pictures will help you wrap your head around the problem of fitting crown moulding to a barrel-vault wall-to-ceiling joint. November 2, 2010
Crown Moulding Corner Fastening Techniques Advice on using adhesive to fasten outside corner joints in large crown moulding, along with other practical tips for installing crown. October 12, 2007
Compression and Chatter Pros discuss the meaning and causes of "compression" and "chatter" in moulder operation. October 4, 2005
Climb Cutting on a Moulder Molding manufacturers discuss the potentially dangerous but sometimes necessary practice of climb cutting. January 22, 2006
Choices for Sanding Moulding Hand-sanding mouldings is tedious and time-consuming. Here's a set of suggestions for mechanizing the process. July 23, 2005
Applied wainscot Creating fake raised panels for the lower portion of walls. April 3, 2002
Cutterhead Options for a Five-Head Moulder Shop owners who machine S4S mouldings discuss the relative merits of carbide versus high-speed steel knives, and 2-sided versus insert cutter heads. September 15, 2006
Crown Moulding and Cathedral Ceilings The joint between horizontal to rake treatments when applying crown in a cathedral-ceilinged room involves some complex geometry, and usually creates awkward visuals. Here's more discussion on this pesky problem. April 6, 2007
Brush Backed Flap Sanding Wheels A simple question about where to buy a replacement sanding wheel prompts an information-filled thread about brush and flap sanding technology. August 29, 2014
Crown Moulding on a Radius For crown to follow a curve is a tricky dimensional problem. Here, woodworkers discuss various approaches to creating a piece that will work. October 2, 2007
Avoiding Tear-Out with Very Small Mouldings Thin stock chatters going through the moulder or shaper, which can cause major tear-out. Here's advice on ways to overcome the problem. March 4, 2009
Arched Moulding Glue-Ups Advice on sawing thin strips and gluing them up for arched moulding blanks. July 22, 2013
A multi-faceted challenge An architectural woodworker gets ideas for making a too-wide handrail intersect gracefully with an octagon-shaped newel cap. December 17, 2003
Cutting a Bead on a Curved Backband Moulding Tips on fine-tuning an elliptical shaper jig so that it will profile a bead correctly on the inside edge of a curved piece. June 24, 2007
Coping on a Shaper For large quantities of base shoe and cap, coping ends on a shaper could be worth the setup expense. Here's a discussion of the fine points. November 10, 2006
Crown moulding on a radius Upside down, backwards, and bent; lots of ideas for making crown flow sexily around an inside curve.
Baseboard Transition at the Top of a Stair Wise advice from a pro helps a trim carpenter detail the juncture where hallway baseboard moulding turns and goes down a staircase. November 14, 2014
Chip-out from a year-old moulder The moulder had worked perfectly for a year when all of a sudden, chip-out reared its ugly face. June 14, 2000
Coping Crown Moulding Coping crown moulding, and recognizing un-copable crown moulding. January 28, 2007
Figuring Helical Trim Twist Here's a long and detailed thread with pictures and photos about a real head-scratcher of a problem: calculating, modeling, or mocking up and then fabricating a piece of molding that follows the underside of a helical staircase. January 20, 2011