# Crown Molding with a Router



## JMatt (Mar 2, 2009)

This is my first forum post.

I am currently working on a project for the wife which involves crown molding. This is my first time purchasing crown molding and I have successfully mitered it for the boxes I made. That's not my question! haha. First, crown molding is very expensive. I see that several router bit manufacturers make the exact same profile that I just purchased. I am almost finished building my router table with a 3.25hp Freud router to mount in it. I would like to make my own crown molding for the rest of my project. I'm hoping that it would pay for itself after the first 40-50 feet of molding.

If it is possible, what type of wood do most of you make moldings out of?

Thanks in advance,
Matt


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## tooldad (Mar 24, 2008)

You can make moldings out of most hardwood. However I bought a casing trim bit, thought I could save some $. Wasn't worth the time. Handling long pieces on a router table is a challenge along with keeping everything tight, however a featherboard helps with that part. A molding machine is on my list before I worry about making my own crown.


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## JMatt (Mar 2, 2009)

I also have friends who own a really nice PM planer molder and a shaper. They said they would cut moldings for me as well. I just thought I might like to try to do it myself. Thanks for the info. I had figured I would need to mount some feather boards or guides to make them. Glad I was thinking correctly.

Does anyone know where I can buy cutters for a PM15 planer/moulder?


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## Moai (Feb 9, 2009)

Poplar is a nice hardwood to work with, is very stable, uniform and receive stains and paint well.


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## JMatt (Mar 2, 2009)

Does anyone have any pictures of a molding setup with a router table? For those that actually attempted it?


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## jm540 (Jan 14, 2009)

I make my molding out of whatever the project is made from


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## roman (Sep 28, 2007)

Hi Matt

I'm a somewhat experienced woodworker and I make my own crown molding but twice now I've had the crown molding kick back,...............very scarey. The piece trravelled right throughj a 3/4" thick plywood door, right through a book taking the book with it, right through the hard drive of my PC, and right through the windwo of the shop, stopping a few yards away by hitting the peg that holds the windshield wiper on a car.

The other kick back went right through the wall of my existing shop, sverely denting a pipe on my dust collecter, travelled through the shop wall leaving a hole in the interior 1/2" plywood, through the vapour barrier and insulation and through the exterior 1/2" plywwod as well as the 1" exterior siding.

I have a shaper which is considerably more powerful then a router but suffice to say that a router can be just as dangerous.

You need a big table as the longer the piece you shape the safer the procedure is which means you need a big long infeed table and a big long outfeed table. secure the fence on your router table and take wood off a little bit at a time, makiing multiple passes. feather boards are a "MUST". Setting it up is no different then any other kind of router bit.

Good Luck


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## builtinabarn (Feb 17, 2009)

I agree with "TOOLDAD". Long boards through the router table can be kind of a pain in the butt. If you're going to do it, you have to have several feather boards set up on the table and fence to keep that board stable. You also should make several shallow cuts until you reach the right profile. I have routed crown several times, and you have to understand that crown on a router table is only going to be so wide . Most bits are only about 2 1/2"(stand up style) and if you want the crown wider, you need to flip the board and route an additional area of the face of board (stand up style).If using the lay down style, you will be using several different bits with several passes on each.. Most crown that you would install on a wall or at the top of so cabinetry, tends to run 4 1/2" to 5 1/4" ( those are pretty standard). I wouldn't mess with the router table for those sizes. If you want the larger profile crown, get your solid stock, find a local commercial wood shop with a molder and ask them to run it for you. Most of the time they do it with out charge ( usually using the molder knife that is already in the machine) or if they do charge, its usually much cheaper then store bought ( especially with you supplying the solid stock). If you are going to route just some small crown, go ahead and do it on the router, get the experience and make your decision from there.


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## JMatt (Mar 2, 2009)

Thanks for the great advice. I'm going to be doing some trimwork in the house (which is big and very open) and I'll have need for a bunch of molding. If it's a big hassle, then I'll have my friends use their big machines to make it for me. For the price of a bit, I could still probably save a bunch of money. The trim is going to be painted so I think as long as the material will hold up, I don't need to go with super-expensive materials. Poplar is one of my candidates. Anybody do it with pine?


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## Woodchuck1957 (Feb 4, 2008)

Just to clear up a comment Doubthood made, Poplar does paint well, and accepts solid color stains well also, but it does not stain well at all when useing transparent stains, it doesn't even look good with just a clear coat and no stain. In other words, it's a good paint and solid color stain wood. Paint grade trim that is sold at the lumber yard or home improvement store in my area of the country is usually Poplar.


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## jm540 (Jan 14, 2009)

here are some moldings I made for a project I am currently working on. I do not have a crown molding bit so I made the crown with a raised panel bit and a roman ogee. the ogee did not give me the effect I wanted so I ran it on edge and on the face creating a 1'4 round to a filet then a qarter round I then ripped them to size and glued them up.


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## jm540 (Jan 14, 2009)

here is the molding I made for the middle of the project. I haven't made the base mold yet I am making it tommorrow and will post a picture of the setup for you


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