Based on what you said, I wouldn't deal with the first company. Imagine how it will be waiting to get the final product.
I can relate to not being able to find salvaged moldings. As I mentioned earlier, the molding in my house was used in thousands of houses and buildings in this area in the 1905-25 timeframe, yet none of the salvage places ever seem to have it for some reason.
The moldings in my house are white pine and they were originally painted, so to "age" the reproduced pieces, I took a screwdriver and put a few scrapes and gouges here and there. Then, I used a wood scraper to shave a little around the areas that would have seen more abuse (at the height of the door lock). After priming and painting it looked just like the molding that's been in place for 99 years.
Getting Trim Custom Milled
-
1918ColonialRevival
- Knows where blueprints are hidden
- Posts: 907
- Joined: Tue Jan 26, 2016 8:58 pm
- Location: Baltimore, MD
- Contact:
Re: Getting Trim Custom Milled
Normally, the profile (cross-section) gives the clearest description of moulding; esp. if there's no egg-n-dart or dentil detail. If emailed to someone, a dwg. scale next to the tracing would be helpful.
~James
Fourth generation in a family of artists, engineers, architects, woodworkers, and metalworkers. Mine is a family of Viking craftsmen. What we can't create, we pillage, and there's nothing we can't create. But, sometimes, we pillage anyway.
Fourth generation in a family of artists, engineers, architects, woodworkers, and metalworkers. Mine is a family of Viking craftsmen. What we can't create, we pillage, and there's nothing we can't create. But, sometimes, we pillage anyway.
-
Gothichome
- Moderator
- Posts: 4184
- Joined: Sun Aug 16, 2015 8:34 pm
- Location: Chatham Ont
Re: Getting Trim Custom Milled
- IMAG0094.jpg (534.37 KiB) Viewed 322 times
- IMAG0095.jpg (586.15 KiB) Viewed 322 times
- IMAG0096.jpg (635.59 KiB) Viewed 322 times
- IMAG0097.jpg (535.06 KiB) Viewed 322 times
Willa, there are seven rosettes, two are cracked
Seventeen of the ten inch plinths
Nine of the smaller plinths
Re: Getting Trim Custom Milled
Gothichome wrote:Willa, there are seven rosettes, two are cracked
Seventeen of the ten inch plinths
Nine of the smaller plinths
I have PM'd you about this. Thanks so much for checking. It looks like the taller plinths will work as long as they are the right width.
Re: Getting Trim Custom Milled
Willa wrote:Has anyone here gotten trim milled to match what is in their house ?
My kitchen trim was hacked up when the awful 70's MDF cabinets were installed. I have been searching for antique salvaged trim to match what is missing, but it seems to be an uncommon profile. There is nothing locally available that comes close to matching, even in width (it's 4.75" wide x 3/4" thick).
I have been going back and forth with a local place that claims to be able to get this made to match. The price I have been quoted so far is about $ 500.00 to get the knives made, then about $ 3.00 per linear foot. BUT - this place has been pretty slow with direct answers so I am guessing they are communicating with a mill who actually does this for them ?
Does anyone else here have experience with this process, costs, etc. ?
I have a molder and I made some smaller moldings, but have contracted out bigger/longer runs. Your molding looks like a pretty common late 19th century profile. Any shop that have been doing it for a while should have that knife. The cost seems to be pretty average(at least compared to Boston prices) I would like to see a breakdown of the $500 though. Knifes only cost about $50-$100 to make and the rest is a setup charge.
Re: Getting Trim Custom Milled
This place has not been forthcoming with anything. Only once in awhile will they even cough up a number, which is never an exact number. Going through their foodchain and their mark up from whoever means the knife itself costs $ 500.00 ? Or that includes set up costs ? Who knows ? The latest dude I was dealing with is now on holidays. If I can get my hands on that antique trim, and the ReStore plinths are the right size then this battle is over.
But it's a lousy way to do business ! Like I don't want to be wasting anyone's time - but a few direct answers, or FAQ's sheet regarding a custom order would have saved everyone some time I think ?
But it's a lousy way to do business ! Like I don't want to be wasting anyone's time - but a few direct answers, or FAQ's sheet regarding a custom order would have saved everyone some time I think ?
-
phil
- Has many leather bound books
- Posts: 4616
- Joined: Tue Aug 18, 2015 6:11 pm
- Location: Near Vancouver BC
Re: Getting Trim Custom Milled
Just brainstorming this a bit , but assuming you wanted them painted. those corner blocks, even the plinth blocks could actually be cast.
you can make a mold in different ways. one way might be to coat it with a mold release and then paint that with silicone or latex. and then get a cardboard box line it with a plastic bag and fill it most of the way with plaster. set the corner block or plinth in there so it's flush with the top of the plaster, maybe attach it to a stick across the top of the box so it can't sink. then when dry remove your original and the latex rubber should stay in your plaster mold. that helps it release and also picks up the detail. Now you can pour more out of plaster using the same mold. If that isnt' tough enough there are various plastics you could use. you could even put a little plaster in to coat the mold and fill some of the space with wood so the thing would be mostly wood but it would take the shape of the mold..
another easy way might be to just fill the box with spray foam and then lay a sheet of thin plastic over that. wrap the part in handi wrap and set it on top of the wet and foamy spray foam. let dry and that can be your mold. the two thin layers of plastic keep the original separate from the spray foam so it doesnt' get stuck in the mold.
If you want clear finished wood not only do you have to match the profile but also the species and color. some woods are easier to get to match than others. even the baseboard could be wood but coated with plaster and you can use faux painting techniques to make it look like unpainted wood,
I know it's kind of cheating but it would save cost and be fast, and you could choose what materials you like to work with for the mold and the replacement piece.
the corner blocks with cracks. I'd just fill the cracks with epoxy. dont' try to clamp the gap shut or it might break. I'd just fill the crack. You can use wood putty if you prefer. or epoxy wood filler , it's like Plasticine and you can pack it into the crack. Once its nailed in place no one will notice if you match your filler color. pre drill a little hole for your nails so you don't split it when you put it on.
I think Mick might be able to help with fine tuning the molding process as I described it ,, but this can actually work very quickly and cheaply, and if it's painted wood or painted plaster, no visual difference really. there a lot of different materials to make molds with. some for molding small parts are expensive, but plaster or spray foam is cheap. silicone calk, like you'd use around your bathtub can also be used to make molds but it is very slow drying so you might need to do it in layers.
I've seen people cast radio knob repros from wooden knobs and if you pick the right molding materials it can even pick up the wood grain patterns in the detail and you can mix epoxy and wood dust wood chips , pigments even coffee and make the object from that.. you can produce stuff that looks very convincingly like wood. Ive seen some just made from brown colored epoxy and then if you rub in brown paints to enhance the gain pattern, they can look very good.
I'm not saying real wood is not the way to go but you can see how easy it would be to make copies of those missing corner blocks with a casting process.
You could just try to cast one of those corner blocks and see how it works, if the process works then you could do the plinth blocks or even the baseboards..
those corner blocks could be turned on a lathe with a chisel, or you could make up a rotating cutter to cut the shape in much like drill bit, either is a lot of work or expensive , that's why I'd instead make a plaster copy of it,, I'd try faux painting if you want it to look like wood. or if you can find someone with a wood lathe you could provide him with some blocks of the shape you want and he could try to copy the profile with chisels. to hold them in a lathe you might need to screw somethign to the backside and clamp that in the chuck.. some metal lathes have square chucks. I have one like that at work , and it's possible to hold a block like that and put blades in the toolpost. then the wood block would spin and the toolpost would hold your special shaped blade or you can try to copy the shape freehand.. most people with metal lathes dont' like getting wood dust all over but this is possible too. I don't think yo'll find a wood lathe with a square chuck so You'd need to attach a fixture to hold the wood part.
Ive got a rotating cutter, it's intended to cut big dimples into wood framing to use special shaped washers. It could be adapted with a blade to cut the profile.. you'd have to grind the blade to shape, that can be done with a chunk of blade steel and a dremil but cutting the profile out of the blade is a fussy job. I could take a pic or offer to lend of sell the cutter holder I have.. it could be run in a drill press with the wood clamped down. it's roughly 3-4 inches in diameter..
cutting in this manor can be difficult because there is a lot of surface area on the blade and it'll want to chatter as it's cutting.
If you pay a place that makes moldings to do this you can.. I dontl think it'll be cheap though, that's why I'd consider making molds.. put those ones in places you dont' see so often and use the wood ones for obvious places.. or maybe you can find more baseboards and trim like that. I dont think its common here , but maybe there it is ?
you can make a mold in different ways. one way might be to coat it with a mold release and then paint that with silicone or latex. and then get a cardboard box line it with a plastic bag and fill it most of the way with plaster. set the corner block or plinth in there so it's flush with the top of the plaster, maybe attach it to a stick across the top of the box so it can't sink. then when dry remove your original and the latex rubber should stay in your plaster mold. that helps it release and also picks up the detail. Now you can pour more out of plaster using the same mold. If that isnt' tough enough there are various plastics you could use. you could even put a little plaster in to coat the mold and fill some of the space with wood so the thing would be mostly wood but it would take the shape of the mold..
another easy way might be to just fill the box with spray foam and then lay a sheet of thin plastic over that. wrap the part in handi wrap and set it on top of the wet and foamy spray foam. let dry and that can be your mold. the two thin layers of plastic keep the original separate from the spray foam so it doesnt' get stuck in the mold.
If you want clear finished wood not only do you have to match the profile but also the species and color. some woods are easier to get to match than others. even the baseboard could be wood but coated with plaster and you can use faux painting techniques to make it look like unpainted wood,
I know it's kind of cheating but it would save cost and be fast, and you could choose what materials you like to work with for the mold and the replacement piece.
the corner blocks with cracks. I'd just fill the cracks with epoxy. dont' try to clamp the gap shut or it might break. I'd just fill the crack. You can use wood putty if you prefer. or epoxy wood filler , it's like Plasticine and you can pack it into the crack. Once its nailed in place no one will notice if you match your filler color. pre drill a little hole for your nails so you don't split it when you put it on.
I think Mick might be able to help with fine tuning the molding process as I described it ,, but this can actually work very quickly and cheaply, and if it's painted wood or painted plaster, no visual difference really. there a lot of different materials to make molds with. some for molding small parts are expensive, but plaster or spray foam is cheap. silicone calk, like you'd use around your bathtub can also be used to make molds but it is very slow drying so you might need to do it in layers.
I've seen people cast radio knob repros from wooden knobs and if you pick the right molding materials it can even pick up the wood grain patterns in the detail and you can mix epoxy and wood dust wood chips , pigments even coffee and make the object from that.. you can produce stuff that looks very convincingly like wood. Ive seen some just made from brown colored epoxy and then if you rub in brown paints to enhance the gain pattern, they can look very good.
I'm not saying real wood is not the way to go but you can see how easy it would be to make copies of those missing corner blocks with a casting process.
You could just try to cast one of those corner blocks and see how it works, if the process works then you could do the plinth blocks or even the baseboards..
those corner blocks could be turned on a lathe with a chisel, or you could make up a rotating cutter to cut the shape in much like drill bit, either is a lot of work or expensive , that's why I'd instead make a plaster copy of it,, I'd try faux painting if you want it to look like wood. or if you can find someone with a wood lathe you could provide him with some blocks of the shape you want and he could try to copy the profile with chisels. to hold them in a lathe you might need to screw somethign to the backside and clamp that in the chuck.. some metal lathes have square chucks. I have one like that at work , and it's possible to hold a block like that and put blades in the toolpost. then the wood block would spin and the toolpost would hold your special shaped blade or you can try to copy the shape freehand.. most people with metal lathes dont' like getting wood dust all over but this is possible too. I don't think yo'll find a wood lathe with a square chuck so You'd need to attach a fixture to hold the wood part.
Ive got a rotating cutter, it's intended to cut big dimples into wood framing to use special shaped washers. It could be adapted with a blade to cut the profile.. you'd have to grind the blade to shape, that can be done with a chunk of blade steel and a dremil but cutting the profile out of the blade is a fussy job. I could take a pic or offer to lend of sell the cutter holder I have.. it could be run in a drill press with the wood clamped down. it's roughly 3-4 inches in diameter..
cutting in this manor can be difficult because there is a lot of surface area on the blade and it'll want to chatter as it's cutting.
If you pay a place that makes moldings to do this you can.. I dontl think it'll be cheap though, that's why I'd consider making molds.. put those ones in places you dont' see so often and use the wood ones for obvious places.. or maybe you can find more baseboards and trim like that. I dont think its common here , but maybe there it is ?