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Duplicating Old Moldings
One of the greatest challenges remodeling an old house is matching the old molding. Even though lumber yards carry a wide selection of molding profiles, it's difficult to find an exact duplication for houses 50 years or older. You can sidestep the job by removing old woodwork and replacing it with new moldings, but that's very costly. A better choice is to keep the original woodwork in place and add replicated old molding where it's needed.

In the old days, most moldings were custom-made on site by carpenters with hand planes. Today, you can duplicate short sections by using either a hand plane similar to the original tool or with a router and a set of molding cutters. We're remaking molding from a piece of poplar because it machines nicely and produces a smoother cleaner cut than pine.

Transfer the Profile

In order to duplicate existing molding, begin by transferring its contour to a piece of paper or light cardboard. Hold the paper tight against the end of the old molding and trace its shape onto the paper. Then cut the image of the molding from the paper. Use this positive pattern to decide which router bits or plane cutters best fit the molding contour and to position the router or plane. Use the cutout section of the pattern to check the molding's contour along its length.

The Plane

The traditional method of making molding is with specially shaped wooden planes. At the turn of the century, the well-tooled craftsmen replaced his selection of planes with a single multi-purpose plane, which today is reproduced as the CLIFTON Multi-plane.

Fitted with its slough, beading and fluting cutters the Multi-plane can duplicate a wide variety of moldings. Use the pattern you traced from the molding as a guide when choosing the cutters. Place the cutter on different profiles on the pattern to determine the best match. Use your imagination during this process because none of the cutters will be a perfect fit. The flat cutting plough cutters are used to remove stock and to create beading. Fluting and ovolo cutters match different molding contours. By combining them you can duplicate a wide variety of moldings.

When you've found the combination of cutters needed, mark the center line of each cutter with a marker. Then position the cutter on the pattern and transfer the position of the center line to the pattern.

Next, transfer the position of the cutter center lines from the pattern to the end of the board. Use these layout lines to adjust the multi-plane's fence. Position each cutter so its center is aligned with the mark on the wood.

With sharp cutters the multi-plane cuts quickly. When reproducing a wide molding like the one shown, use the 3/4-in. wide plough cutter to pare down the flat areas because wider cutters are hard to push. Start planing at the end of the board and work back so the plane gradually cuts deeper and deeper as you work your way down the board. The plane will stop cutting when the foot of the depth gauge comes in contact with the wood so you don't have to worry about cutting too deeply.

After the molding is roughed out with the plane, do the final shaping with a cabinet scraper.

The Router

The duplication process is basically the same with a router. The large radiuses were reproduced with a set of Craftsman router bits designed to make crown moldings. It's a seven bit set but only two were used. These bits along with various round over and other standard router bits allow you to duplicate most molding contours. A router table was used but any router that can be fitted with a fence will work.

Place the router bits on the pattern and adjust their position so it follows the shape of the molding. Then mark the center line of the bit on the pattern. Also note how deep each cutter must go in order to create the contour you want. Transfer the center lines you drew on the pattern to the end of the board.

Set the router table's fence so the center of the router bit is aligned with the layout line on the end of the board. Remember the board will be face down on the router table. If you are using a fence attachment on the router, adjust it in the same way, keeping in mind that the face of the molding will be up.

When setting the depth of each cut refer to the pattern. Set the depth of cut so the bit cuts the correct contour. Make several passes, each one slightly deeper with the large diameter bits so the router doesn't overload or burn the wood.

Finishing

If you are duplicating molding to trim out a window or door, you don't have to be fussy if the contour isn't exactly like the original, because it will not be close to the original. However, if you're patching in a piece of molding to fill a missing section you must be more precise.

An inexpensive set of three cabinet scrapers allows you to quickly remove marks left by a plane or router. It's also good for final shaping. The most useful scraper is shaped like a French curve with edges that have a changing radius. Depending on how you hold it, a wide variety of contours can be smoothed.

After final scraping, give the molding a light sanding. Use a contour sanding pad or wrap sandpaper around a sponge to sand in the convex areas. A light sanding is all that is necessary.

Written by the editors of HouseNet
Copyright HouseNet, Inc.

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