surements from the 1-in. mark, remembering to
ners are rarely 90º exactly, use an adjustable
and chaos eventually lead to
deduct 1 in. when taking readings.
bevel to record the angle needed and then make
wasted time and costly mistakes.
A 6-ft. folding rule with a sliding-brass exten-
miter cuts that bisect the actual angle.
sion is handy for readings of less than 6 ft.
Levels, —2 ft., 4 ft., and torpedo—should be part
because the rigid rule won’t flop around as a tape of any finish carpenter’s tool chest; use smaller
measure will. The sliding extension on one end of levels in tight spaces.
the rule is useful for taking accurate measure-
Buy or borrow a laser level if you need to set
ments inside cabinets as well as between door
cabinets at the same height or align different
and window jambs.
trim elements in a room.
A framing square held against a door or win-
dow frame quickly tells if it’s square or not—a
good practice when sizing up a trim job.
A combination square is both a square and a
45º miter gauge, so it can be used to mark square
Finish Carpentry
479
and a bevel (an angle cut across a board, in which
the sawblade is tilted)—hence the name com-
pound miter. It will also cut through wider stock
such as wide baseboards or crown molding.
A tablesaw may be the only table tool you need
if you are cutting only miter or butt joints.
Tablesaw guides are generally not as accurate or
as easy to readjust as the guides on power miter
saws, so recutting miter joints will be a bit more
work. With a power miter saw, you clamp the
stock steady and move the blade, whereas cutting
a miter on a tablesaw requires feeding long pieces
of trim at an odd angle to the blade.
Still, tablesaws, while costly, can be worth the
investment because they can cut stock to length
(crosscut) and width (rip cut), prepare edges for
joining, and cut dadoes (slots) easily.
A power miter saw is a must if you’re installing a houseful of trim. The 10-in. sliding compound
A miter trimmer (also known as a Lion Miter-
miter saw shown is big enough to make complicated beveled miter cuts in large crown molding.
Trimmer®) looks like a horizontal guillotine and
bolts to a bench. Because its blade is razor sharp,
it slices wood rather than sawing it. Although it
can shave off paper-thin amounts of wood until
joints fit exactly, it’s been eclipsed by power miter
saws for on-site trim installations.
An oscillating multitool (OMT) (see p. 49) is
the power tool when you need to cut a piece of
trim that’s already in place—say, you need to trim
the bottoms of door casing. OMTs have a wide
range of blades and grinders. A sabersaw also
works fine for cutting complex shapes in trim
that has not yet been installed.
Use a coping saw to cut along molding profile
Plate joiner (biscuit joiner) and biscuits. The fence on the front of the tool rests lines, ensuring a tight fit where molding meets in on the board being slotted for glue and biscuits.
inside corners. For more, see p. 487.
A plate joiner (biscuit joiner) is a specialized
Cutting
saw with a small, horizontal circular blade that
cuts slots into board edges. After slotting boards
Which tool you choose depends on how much
to be joined, inject glue and insert a football-
trim you’ll cut. Wear safety glasses and hearing
shaped wooden wafer, called a biscuit, which will
protection when operating any of these tools.
swell to create a strong joint with no need for
nails or screws.
A miter box with a backsaw will suffice if you
P R O T I P
are casing only a doorway or two. A backsaw has
shaping and sanding
a reinforced back so its blade is rigid; it should
For razor-smooth cuts and
have 12 teeth per inch (tpi) or 13 tpi, with mini-
A block plane and a palm sander are probably
tight joints, buy an 80-tooth
mal offset (splay) so it cuts a thin kerf. Also use-
all you’ll need unless you plan to shape board
carbide-tipped blade for a 10-in.
ful are a dovetail saw (a small backsaw with
edges to create complex molding, in which case,
power miter saw or a 100-tooth
20+ tpi) and a slotting saw, whose kerf is even
get a router.
blade for a 14-in. saw. if you
finer because its teeth are not offset.
save such blades for finish work
Block planes are most often used to trim miter
only, they’ll last a lifetime.
Buy a power miter saw if you’ve got at least a
joints for a tight fit. If you slightly back-bevel
roomful of trim to install. Well worth the cost, a
miters, the edges of the face will make contact
power miter adjusts to any angle for miters
first. Block planes can also shave down a door or
(angles cut across the face of a board, with the
window jamb that is too proud (too high above
blade perpendicular to the stock). A sliding com-
the wall plane), thereby allowing the trim to lie
pound miter saw, though more expensive, is more flat. A power plane (see the photo on p. 199) can
versatile. In one stroke, this saw will cut a miter
do everything a handplane can but more aggres-
480 Chapter 17
handplaning
nailing and drilling
P R O T I P
TipS
Because most trim is light, it is usually nailed up
don’t bring trim stock to a job
When handplaning, clamp the wood securely,
with finish nails, which have slimmer shanks and
smaller heads than other nails. Trim-head screws
site until the drywall joints are
and push the tool in the direction of the grain.
(shown in the photo on p. 106) are often speci-
dry and the building is heated.
While holding the shoe of the tool flat against
fied when molding is heavy or complex or when
otherwise, trim ends will absorb
the edge of the wood, angle the tool’s body 20º
moisture, swell, and become dif-
trim pieces will be subject to twisting or flexing,
to the line of the board, so that the plane seen
ficult to install. never store trim
as happens with door frames and stair treads.
from above looks like half of a V. At this angle,
in unheated areas or garages.
the plane blade encounters less resistance and
A finish hammer has a smaller head than a
framing hammer so it’s easier to control when
clears shavings better.
trying to avoid denting the trim. Stop when the
nail head is almost flush with the wood surface,
then use a nail set to drive the nail head below
sively, so practice on a piece of scrap and check
your progress after each pass. Caution: Befo
re
planing existing trim, use a magnet to scan the
wood for nails or screws, setting them well below
the surface before planing.
Rat-tail files and 4-in-1 rasps (see the bottom
photo on p. 50) remove small amounts of
wood from curved surfaces so that coped joints
fit tightly.
Routers are reasonably priced and invaluable for
edge-joining, template cutting, mortising, and
flush trimming when used with a router table.
Router tables vary, but on most you mount the
router upside-down, to the table’s underside, so
the router bit protrudes above the tabletop. A
guide fence enables you to feed stock so that the
router bit shapes its edges uniformly—much as a
large shaper in a lumber mill would.
Before setting up a router table, however,
read up. Fine Woodworking magazine’s website
(www.finewoodworking.com) has hundreds of
references on routers and router tables. Above
Sanders. From left: palm sander, orbital sander, and belt sander.
all, heed all safety warnings about routers: Their
razor-sharp blades spin 10,000 rpm to 30,000 rpm.
Sanders are needed for a variety of jobs. A palm
sander (or block sander) is useful for shaping
true grit:
contours and sanding in tight places and for light
Which sandpaper for What
sanding between finish coats. Orbital sanders are
intermediate in cost, weight, and power. Random-
orbital sanders sand back-and-forth and orbitally
coMMon
grit nuMber
nAMe
("teeth"/sq. in.)
uses
(the center of the sander’s pad shifts constantly);
they cut faster and leave fewer sanding marks. If
you buy only one sander, this is the one to get.
coarse
40–60
stripping finishes
Belt sanders are great for preparing stock and
sanding down
stripping old finishes, but they are so powerful
Medium
80–120
minor bumps
that they tend to obliterate details, so use them
sparingly. A belt sander is particularly useful for
Final sanding
Fine
150–180
before finishing
fitting scribed cabinet panels, as shown in the top
center photo on p. 367. Whatever the size of the
polish sanding
Very fine
(rarely used)
sander, change the paper often; you shouldn’t
220–240
need to lean on a sander to make it cut.
Finish Carpentry
481
A SAndpApeR primer
sandpaper is coated with tiny abrasive particles (grit), which make tiny cuts in the
material being sanded. sandpaper is rated according to the concentration of grit per
square inch and the size of the abrasive particles. the lower the grit number, the larger,
coarser, and more widely spaced the grit particles. conversely, the higher the grit
number, the finer and more closely spaced the grit is.
the abrasives on today’s sandpapers are aluminum oxide, silicone carbide, ceramic
particles, or garnet. Aluminum oxide is the most common abrasive for sanding wood
because it’s relatively long lasting. silicon carbide, being harder, is better for sanding
metal, fiberglass, and paint. if you’re renting a big drum sander to strip wood floors,
its belts will likely be low-grit ceramic sandpaper. garnet, the softest of the bunch, is
often the grit found on fine and very fine sandpapers.
if you’re sanding wood, avoid closed-coat sandpaper, which will clog quickly
because there’s no place for wood dust to go. A better choice for woodworkers is open-
coat sandpaper, in which only one-third to two-thirds of the surface is coated with
grit. closed-coat sandpaper is used to sand metal.
When it comes to finish nails and nailers, smaller is often
better. This pin nailer weighs less than 5 lb. and shoots
1-in. to 11⁄2-in. nails.
the surface. Always set nails before sanding
tips; some models can drive 250 or more 2-in.
or finishing.
screws on a single battery charge. (Whichever
tool you buy, get a spare battery for recharging
pneumatic finish nailers have largely replaced
while you work with the other one.) You’ll find
hand nailing because pressure settings can be
more on drills, drivers, and bits in chapter 3.
adjusted so the nail goes just below the surface.
You don’t have to set the nails manually. Finish
nailers won’t dent trim, and you can nail with
Materials
P R O T I P
one hand while holding joints together with the
Trim materials include custom-milled hard-
other. Production carpenters favor pneumatic
woods; softwood boards, molding, and stock
Most glues will bond MdF,
models with air hoses running to a compressor,
caps; medium-density fiberboard (MDF); and
but its edges tend to suck water
but cordless models with spare batteries work
polymer moldings that replicate detailed histori-
out of glues with thin consisten-
well, too, for installing small amounts of trim.
cal styles in lightweight, easy-to-install sections.
cies. to minimize this tendency,
Nailers are designed to shoot specific nail
double-glue joints (rub in a thin
gauges (thicknesses). Standard finish nailers
first layer to seal the edges, then
shoot 15-ga. nails, whereas brad nailers ( pin tack-
a second to bond the joints) or
ers) shoot 18-ga. to 20-ga. brads. (The higher the
Window casing
apply glue size to seal the edges.
gauge number, the thinner the nail shank and the
zzzzzz interior trim
Crown molding
polyurethane glue is probably
weaker the nail.) Most homeowners should stick
Picture molding
the best all-around choice.
with 15-ga. nailers, but brad nailers are great for
tacking up trim: Brad holes are tiny, so you can
easily pry off and reposition the trim if needed.
Brads are also useful for attaching thin cabinet
elements such as finish toekicks or cabinet side
panels. If you don’t have many brads to drive, use
a hand brad pusher.
Cordless drill/drivers are the essential tool in
most carpenters’ belts. Although they range up to
1⁄2-in., 18-volt monsters, unless you’ve got fore-
arms like Popeye, get a 3⁄8-in., 12-volt cordless
drill/driver, which has a keyless chuck for quick
changing of bits. A 12-volt model accepts either
drill bits or screw tips and has plenty of power
for finish carpentry tasks. For production car-
Chair rail
penters, the next step up in power (and price) is a
Baseboard
12-volt impact driver, which accepts only screw
Door casing
482 Chapter 1
7
triM options
Because trim is costly (especially hardwood
trim), buy it from a local shop that mills its own.
zzzzzz Common Molding profiles
That way, you’ll be more likely to get trim that
is straight, knot-free, and stored in humidity-
and temperature-controlled warehouses. If
Quarter-round
you’re trying to match existing trim, a local mill-
ing shop is also your best bet. You may pay a
Ogee
setup fee but, all in all, the final cost of a room
or two of custom trim may be more reasonable
than you think.
Talented woodworkers and carpenters some-
Splay
times re-create old trim when they need only a
few feet of it to complete a renovation. Veteran
woodworker Kit Camp uses a tablesaw, a block
Cove
plane, and sanding blocks, as described in “Site-
Made Moldings in a Pinch” ( Fine Homebuilding
issue #210.) A homeowner who’s good with a
router and can find the right bits may be able to
Fillet
do the same. Be advised, though, that the task
is very time-intensive: If you need more than
16 lin. ft., it’s probably worthwhile to have it
Ovolo
milled by a shop.
Stock trim from a lumberyard or home center
is often so warped that you must pick through
Astragal
the racks and eyeball each piece to see if it’s
straight. Discard any pieces that are obviously
heavier than the rest—usually a sign of excessive
moisture. (Trim is typically dried to 7% to 10%
moisture content.) Examine each piece for splits
and cupping across the width. Also, sight down
the length of each board for excessive twisting.
You can force a twisted piece into position by
toenailing and clamping it, but the extra stress
is likely to open a joint or cause splitting down
the road.
If you want the wood grain to show, be even
pickier or pay more for a select grade. But if you
plan to paint the trim, most surface blemishes can
be sanded, filled, or sealed with white pigmented
shellac (see chapter 18) or a primer-sealer to sup-
press knot or tannin bleed-through. Finger-jointed
Specialty blocks cover sawcuts,
molding, which joins short sections of clear soft-
However, if you want to dress up a room with
allowing you to join sections of
wood, is another option. Although usually painted complex crown moldings, consider installing poly- polymer molding without the need to conceal its glued finger joints, finger-jointed
Renovation 4th Edition Page 112