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mark34_gw

curved crown moulding under boxgutters

mark34
14 years ago

I've got a 1903 victorian with lots of curved crown moulding under the box gutters. I've got to replace it and have found very little good news if any about curving crown. I don't want to go with the flexible stuff as it's got to hold up the box gutters. It looks to me as if they cut the crown moulding in three strips and installed each strip seperately curving each one. Has anybody else done this?

Thanks

Mark

Comments (10)

  • Billl
    14 years ago

    Crown shouldn't "hold up" anything. If you have to have some extra support, cut a small width of stock that will fit behind the crown in the triangular gap that is left.

    I had to do something similar and the way I used was to cut the molding into small sections. Angle each cut inward (front to back) and downward (pie shaped). Then, you glue them back together they approximate a radius. A little sanding hides your construction. Of course, you need to be pretty good at geometry to do that with crown since you need 1 radius at the top and a smaller one at the bottom.

    If you have a lathe, you could also just start with a circle of wood that matches the height of the finished crown. Lay out the radius for each of the steps and just turn the whole thing. When you are finished, cut the piece into quarters.

  • mark34
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Can you upload pictures on this forum? The crown does in a way add support to the outer edge of the metal gutter. The outer edge of the gutter is nailed into the top of the crown, not sure if the flexible stuff will work. I would rather use real wood as that is what is up there now, and it is curved.

  • sombreuil_mongrel
    14 years ago

    Is your crown three solid strips? IOW, does each segment go all the way up to the gutter, or are they staggered?
    If solid, then that''s why it's capable of holding the gutter.
    It won't be a cheap replacement.
    I think that flex-trim will make you a solid, curved crown, that would support your gutter, but it is custom-made.
    Crown (or other shape) molding that has a triangle of "air" behind it is referred to as a "sprung" molding, in that it "springs" from the vertical plane to the horizontal plane bypassing the apex of the corner. It is very difficult to make a curved, sprung wood molding. The Fine Homebuilding technique involved cutting a lot of thin sections from a normal molding,(starting with twice as much stock to allow for the amount lost to sawdust/kerfs) and laying the plies on a curved form, with lots of glue and clamps, to build up the laminated yet sprung curved molding. It's something I've never tried.
    Casey

  • mark34
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    lets try this [IMG]http://i47.tinypic.com/2eocu2q.jpg[/IMG]

  • sombreuil_mongrel
    14 years ago

    so, you haven't taken a section down yet to see how it is constructed...

  • mark34
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Yes I have, it seems to be cut into three strips, there are no saw kerfs on the back either. You can see the three pieces seperating in this photo.

  • mark34
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Lots of curved crown moulding here.

  • macv
    14 years ago

    Here is an article

    Here is a link that might be useful: curved crown

  • sombreuil_mongrel
    14 years ago

    Yep. /\ That's the article. /\
    Casey

  • brickeyee
    14 years ago

    Laminating for exterior wrk is going to cause a lot of problems and likely have a short life.

    The conditioned space inside a house has far smaller swings in temperature and humidity compared to the exterior.

    Exterior work is usually rather large in detail to avoid very thin or small pieces of wood that are easily damaged by exposure.

    The really old stuff was often steam bent and then shaped.

    A simple task when wooden shipyards existed in most major port cities.

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