A Crowning Achievement
As is the case many times in life, things don’t always go as planned, but just as often then tend to work out anyway. Small town living reared its ugly head once again when I went to rent a radial arm compound miter saw. There wasn’t one to rent. So I had to switch to Plan B. Plan B meant I would make due with the tools I had and hope for the best. As it was, it turned out pretty good.
The 10-inch compound miter saw I have will make it about 90% of the way through the wood. Normally 90% is good enough, but when it is something like crown molding I would rather have a saw that is going to make the cut in one pass.
Here you can see that the saw just doesn’t make it all the way through.
I have to saw the rest by hand and it leaves an imperfect cut. If you want a tight seam it needs to be perfect. I have to sand down the rest, which still isn’t going to be perfect.
Here you can see the crown molding I put around The $19 Medicine Chest. The seam is pretty tight.
The seam I ended up with on The Frankenstein Hutch is not quite as tight. In this case its OK because I’m going to be painting, and as my neighbor Gary likes to say, “That’s what they make paint and putty for”
Here you can see the top part of the hutch with the crown molding on.
Actually, not having the rental saw worked out well for another reason. I decided to strip the paint off the crown molding before I installed it. This was salvaged from the 2-story addition I demolished last fall and it had a thick coat of latex paint on top of the one coat of wholesome lead paint put on in the ‘20s. I’m painting with an oil based enamel and so the latex had to go. Had I had the rental return time hanging over my head like the Sword of Damocles I might not have opted to strip the crown molding before I nailed it to the hutch. It would have been much harder to strip after it was nailed up.
As it was, it took me a little over 4 hours to cut, strip, sand, nail, and putty the crown molding around the 2 hutches. I would not have made the 5:00 return time and would have had to pay for a full day rental. So, it worked out. What do you know?
In other news, I got a call from the mill and the flooring will be ready Thursday. That means somebody gets to drive to Placerville this weekend. Can anyone guess who? I’ll give you a hint: It ain’t my cat.
6 comments:
The Frankenstein Hutch looks really good with the crown on it and those seams look pretty good to me. And they will be painted, so they will look even better. We do without all kinds of tools here. We don't even have a tble saw. Steve clamps things and we manage with me guiding the boards while he mans the saw.
That neighbor of yours sounds like a real treasure too.
After seeing all the projects you have managed to piece together I have one question. Wanna build me a dining room table? :)
A little ingenuity and determination win again. It looks good & shows that you can do it with what you have. Another benefit you failed to mention is the money you saved that you can now spend on something else!
Greg - Saw your comment on another blogger's site about photos for your house's entry into the historical process.
I've been to Eureka several times to visit friends that live down by the golf course, and I have driven past your house and enjoyed the work you've done to it -- I -love- victorian architecture. I'm also happen to have worked in high-end photo processing for several years, and if you can link to or send me an email at karl AT katzke dotnet (remove the obvious, for spam protection) detailing the requirements, I might be able to help you find a process that'll meet or exceed their requirements.
Yes Greg, it really does look good. I would be very happy with a seam that tight. Someone once told me that Dennis is the Welsh pronunciation of the name Dionysius. Thanks for acquainting me with the myth behind the Sword of Damocles phrase!
SD
Lookin' good!
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