Most of my work incorporates mouldings. I love the rich detail they add. Often I need to make my own because the selection available for sale is so limited, especially in hardwood.
I buy my lumber in the rough, it is dried in a kiln,but not smoothed or surfaced.
To make this moulding I start by cutting the board into strips that are larger than the finished moulding.
In the next step I run the rough size lumber through a thickness planer which smooths the sides and brings it to exact size.
This is a moulding head with a cutter which goes into a shaper to actually cut the moulding profile into the wood.
Here the wood is fed through the shaper. I use a set of guides which are made for this particular moulding to hold the wood in the right position as it is cut in the shaper. A little thing like this makes the difference between making a nice clean moulding and making an expensive pile of kindling.
Here is the moulding next to the wood it is cut from, in this case the wood is Cherry.
The moulding, with one of its fellow mouldings in its new home on a flat file sorter.
