Putting the Moulding Planes to Good Use

[Steve Wargo]

Here is my last commission that was on the books to get out before I head out for school in <st1:state><st1>Oklahoma</st1></st1:state>. A nice Fireplace surround. The entire piece is out of Poplar, and all of the moulding, including the arch around the opening is hand cut with moulding planes and scratch stocks. Enjoy.

[Mike Wenzloff]

Really nice job, Steve!

Take care, Mike

[John Timberlake]

Great job, Steve. Wish I could have seen it before it was installed. Really nice finish job.

[Jim Becker]

Beautiful work, Steve!

[Mark Stutz]

This looks great Steve. Is this built up from several pieces or the profile made on a wide piece.

Note to self...DO NOT start to get interested in moulding planes!

[Michael Gabbay]

VERY NICE!!!! It is amazing what you can do with hand tools.

[James Mittlefehldt]

Very nice Steve I really like that and the fact you used moulding planes, rather than a tailed router.

I am also curious about the finish it looks great, and as MArk asked you can't just throw out a few pics without giving us some idea of how you went about it, though more pictures would help.

[tod evans]

and they`re soooooo quiet! very nice steve, thanks. tod

[Steve Wargo]

James,

The finish is a red brown/medium brown, water-based dye with a Sherwin Williams stain over top. then there are about 6 coats of hand applied General Finishes Oil based Urethane as a top coat. The color was made to match the existing trim in the house. The crown on the mantle is actually 6 or 7 layers of moulding cut, and then glued up. The whole piece took about 16-18 hours to complete, and the most time consuming part for me was using the scratch stock to create the 2" piece of rounded moulding the arches over the top and down the sides. I really wish I'd have had a router bit for that. All of the lumber was prepped with machines and then hand sanded. The construction is actually kind of neat. there are no exposed nails or screws. The top mantle is a torsion box and all of the attachment to the wall was done on the inside of the torsion box. Then the top plate was glued on and clamped at the customers house. The top is rabbetted and sits inside a rabbet and glued only in the middle to allow for some movement. The small quater round was added to compensate for the very curvy wall. Enough detail?

[James Mittlefehldt]

James,

The finish is a red brown/medium brown, water-based dye with a Sherwin Williams stain over top. then there are about 6 coats of hand applied General Finishes Oil based Urethane as a top coat. The color was made to match the existing trim in the house. The crown on the mantle is actually 6 or 7 layers of moulding cut, and then glued up. The whole piece took about 16-18 hours to complete, and the most time consuming part for me was using the scratch stock to create the 2" piece of rounded moulding the arches over the top and down the sides. I really wish I'd have had a router bit for that. All of the lumber was prepped with machines and then hand sanded. The construction is actually kind of neat. there are no exposed nails or screws. The top mantle is a torsion box and all of the attachment to the wall was done on the inside of the torsion box. Then the top plate was glued on and clamped at the customers house. The top is rabbetted and sits inside a rabbet and glued only in the middle to allow for some movement. The small quater round was added to compensate for the very curvy wall. Enough detail?

Most certainly and thanks for sharing it looks good, I have been thinking of trying to do something with moulding planes, nothing that complex mind. I suspect that the yellow poplar was a good wood to work with in that regard.

[Brad Schmid]

very sharp Steve! nice job.

[Mark Singer]

Steve Great work! Nice detail!

[Steve Wargo]

Most certainly and thanks for sharing it looks good, I have been thinking of trying to do something with moulding planes, nothing that complex mind. I suspect that the yellow poplar was a good wood to work with in that regard.

Tulip poplar cuts nicely, but mahogany holds a profile much better. When working with poplar, especially pieces this size, you worry more about dinging the profile after construction. Just about anything can be cut by moulding planes, it just depends how much clean-up you have afterwards. I've cut beads in ebony, but then spent just as long cleaning up the beads afterwards with scratch stock.