Making Some Cove Molding

Leo G

I needed to make some cove molding for a mantle I am making. Simple mantle. The cove molding started out as a 1 3/8" thick x 7" wide chunk of Poplar. Here is the setup I used on the tablesaw. It is the biggest radius I can do, 5". I put the fence on the saw at 90º. I made 1/16" height adjustments for each pass until I was at the depth I needed. Here is the setup.




Took about 10 passes to do the trick. I put the feather board and the hold down on for the last 3 passes. I used a 60 tooth Amana blade. I tripped the heaters in my magnetic starters 3 times. Pushing the board a little to fast.

Here is the cove molding that came out of it.




I put a 30º-60º angle on the cove. Which made it 5 3/4 tall by 3 1/4 wide nest. And when I tried to cut it I found my 12" saw couldn't handle it. I had to cut it on the flat. What a pain. Took me a while to find the bevel and miter angle, just guessed my way through it. After I found the angle I found this site (bottom of page) that calculated the miter and bevel angle by inputting the spring angle and the wall angle. Should have done that first , but I found out that the angles I got [by trial and error] were perfect.

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mmike032

you do any sanding to that finished piece in the pic?

Leo G

No sanding. You can see the saw marks it you look close. I hate doing cove this way because of the sanding that is required. The 12' length was divided into a 8' and 4' pc. I sanded the 8' pc and the ends of the 4' pc after the miters were cut. The 4' pc is going to be the returns which are only about 10" long. I'll sand it to 150 grit after it is on the mantle.

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mmike032

why not just buy some cove crown?
is the money saved justified by the time it takes to make it?
I cant see how it could be.

or is it just a pride of making some homemade crown..
I could understand that also

WarnerConstInc.

Poor saw blade.

Doing that, like that, sucks.

Leo you could get a Festool LS130 sander to do all that hard work for you.

I bet the mantle will look nice.

Leo G

Could you direct me to a local source that I could have bought a 7" cove with a 30º spring angle today?

That's why.

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WarnerConstInc.

I know the 3 mill shops around me wouldn't have something that big. They might be able to make it but, it is not that difficult is it Leo?

WarnerConstInc.

Speedy.

mmike032

the local lumberyards here have it in stock...
dont know about in yankeeville though

Five Star

My local lumber yard also stocks that cove crown up to 9" or so..anything else would take a few days to get!!

its not cheap though, around $7-$10 ft.

Looks good though leo nice job!! cant wait to see it finished!

if i had that new yankee workshop of yours i would of probably made it too, seeing as i have so much time on my hands!!

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Leo G

It is a great saw blade. Amana 60 tooth alternate bevel grind. It is pretty much all I use. Good quality and great price. If I could have changed the blade mid cut I would have put in a much more aggressive blade for all but the last 2 passes. But it would be a pain to swap out and get the setup back to exactly where it was.

It'll look like this, just primed. The mantle will be made from two 3/8" pcs of MDF, the top layer will have the panels and firebox cutout and the bottom layer will just have the firebox cutout.

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Leo G

1/2 hour to make and $28 for the board. So, cost me about $60 for the molding. I made 12 ft. So it cost me about what it would have to go get it. If I had a place to get it from.

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Five Star

i think you did good probably saved $20 or so for lunch !!

im working on a garage shop of my own so i can start doing stuff in house like mantels and light built ins. see where it goes!

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Leo G

This is a simple mantle. The hardest part was cutting the angle on the cove because I had to cut it on the flat and figure out the angles. Wouln't fit in the 12" saw as a nest.

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WarnerConstInc.

I just meant I felt sorry for the saw blade, that is hard cutting like that, at least I think.

Leo G

Sawblade had no problem. It was the saw that had the problem. 3 HP got used up pretty quick when pushing as fast as it'll go.

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WarnerConstInc.

Well yeah!!

What tooth count and hook do you use on your ripping blades, 10"?


Hold it I checked. AB grind. Always 60's?

I might have to send you a present, I am due for a couple free saw blades.

Gus Dering

That looks cool Leo

I was having trouble with my Unisaw trippin out on big rip jobs a while back. PITA
Never did anything to fix it and it seemed to heal itself. Wierd.

Is that even possible?

Leo G

Inside the magnetic starter are devices called heaters. The current flows through them and when they get hot enough the will trip the magnetic starter off. You usually need to press the off button and then it will start again. If you put the same load on the saw soon enough it doesn't give the heaters time to cool down and they will trip easier. There is an adjustment in the starter, a small dial. When I got my saw it was set at 9 amps. That isn't enough to produce 3 HP. I turned it up to a bit over 11 amps. Now it only trips when I really push it. You could check your settings and reset them if they are set to low from the factory, like mine were.

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Gus Dering

I knew you were worth having around Leo

I bet you are glad I came back from vacation huh?