Beading Wainscoting

[David Fried]

I'm helping a friend who just bought a 1890 farmhouse. The dining room has wainscoting on three walls but it was removed from the fourth wall. They took a piece of the existing wood to the lumber yard and found pine flooring that was the same width. I was given the task of cutting it length and beading the edge.

I thought this would be really easy. I cut the boards to length and tried cutting a bead on a small off-cut. No problem.

Next I tried cutting the bead on a 34" piece. The board wasn't flat on the table at the beginning of the cut so the bead varied from zero to full over the length of the board. I also had a short wooden sub-fence on the fence. While feeding the board through, balanced on the narrow tongue, it wobbled causing the bead to vary.

Given the recent spate of router incidents reported here I decided to fix this as best I could before proceeding. I made new sub-fences out of the off-cuts from the wainscoting so they would be the same height. I dug out the hold-downs that came with the table but I had never used. I borrowed the push stick and pulled the feather board off the table saw. In addition, I use a foot switch to have both hands free. Here is the final setup.
router_tbl.jpg
While this setup worked well, I think I'll pick up another hold-down when I get the chance!

The bead is just a simple 1/4" bead on the tongue side of the board.
beads.jpg
Here are all in the pieces lined up.
wainscotting.jpg

Some of the boards have wear marks from being banded and some have knots. I have two more planks so I will make four extra boards so that they can pick and chose.

Dave Fried

[Rick Thom]

Don't forget to prime the backs before installation. Don't want any extra movement later what will cause T&G to open and close seasonally, or boards to cup. That is frequently the problem found with the originals. You may want to consider a relief cut down the back to leasen the risk of cupping.

[David Fried]

Don't forget to prime the backs before installation.
You may want to consider a relief cut down the back to leasen the risk of cupping.

Rick,

Luckily I don't have to install this! I'll pass along the priming advice. I think they know to do that but we all forget stuff, especially in the excitement of setting up a "new" house!

Can you tell me more about the relief cut? Modern molding I see has the back hollowed out so that it is staple shaped. I thought this was to encourage it to sit flat despite imperfections on the wall but removing that mass would also reduce movement. Is this what you are referring to or is a simple pass over the tablesaw with the blade low enough? (Anyone??)

Thanks in advance.

Dave Fried

[Rick Thom]

David, I've found that this helps relieve stress that may exist or develop as the seasons change. Just a shallow cut 1/8" or so deep on a 3/4 board with a standard saw blade is all I did. Doesn't weaken the board or particularly increase the odds of it cracking unless of course they are installed too tightly together to begin with.
Seal the backs prior to install. If they are going to be painted, i would prime and give a first coat before install as well. That way will lessen any movement, ensure if they do move and the tounge is exposed it will be less conspicuous, and it is a lot easier to just roller it on. For priming, I have had good luck with Zin.
I did the same routine on open front porch floor boards.
Good luck.