Scratchstock this molding?

[Andres Sender]

I have a one-off project coming up, with about six feet of this complex molding to do. I haven't been able to find a plane to match it, and finding the right sized individual hollows and rounds to build it up has proven difficult to do quickly.

I'm wondering if it fits within the limitations of a scratchstock or two? I've read up on them but have yet to use one. The wood is alder.
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[Jeff Burks]

Now might be a good time to buy a copy of Garret Hack's video "Beading with a Scratch Stock". You can certainly make that profile with a home made scratch stock assuming you rip the main face angle before hand. It will be a challenge to cut that profile into a single iron so you may benefit from making 2 cut from opposite edges.


Personally I think that moulding is not well thought out. You didn't mention what you are building, but that looks like some kind of interpretation of a classical cornice detail scrunched down into an almost unrealistic size. Do you actually expect anybody to be able to see those details on the finished piece? The more I look at it (turned 90°) the less I like it.

[Andres Sender]

Hi Jeff, thanks for your reply. Leaving aside my not-entirely-to-scale rendering of it, I agree with you about the molding. I am copying a historical piece, and probably by the time I sit down to cut the blades for it I will have put some effort into re-interpreting the molding's design.

[Jeff Burks]

Some Resources:

Scratch-Stock Moldings - Peter Follansbee
How to Make a Scratch Stock - Garret Hack (Video)
Beading with a Scratch Stock - Ernie Conover
Sliding-head Scratch Stock - Geoffrey Ames
Making a Scratch Stock - James D. Thompson
Scratch Stock - Kari Hultman
Scratch Stock Part I - David Pruett
Starting from Scratch - John Lloyd (PDF)
A Molding from Scratch - Roy Griggs
Homemade Profile Scraper or scratch stock - rubbishtunes (YouTube)
Making A Scratch Stock Blade - Roy Griggs (YouTube)
Using A Scratch Stock - Roy Griggs (YouTube)
Scratch Stock - David Moore (YouTube)
Making New Scratch Stock Cutter - Jack Baumgartner
Gouge carved molding - Peter Follansbee
Joiners’ work; green woodworking - Peter Follansbee
The Cabriole Legged Coffee Table Has Link for Curved Scratch Stock
Pencil Box - Bob Easton
Mini Groove - Kari Hultman
The Scratch Stock - Jack Baumgartner
Pair of End Tables - Derek Cohen
Scratch beads and mouldings (YouTube)
Hand Grinder Drives Model Shaper - Popular Science

Unlocking the Secrets of Traditional Design: Moldings George Walker (DVD)
Theory of Mouldings By C. Howard Walker (1926)
An Education in Moulding - "The Schwarz"
Designing Moldings - George Walker
The Enlarging and Diminishing of Mouldings - George Ellis

[Andres Sender]

Thanks for the links, a few of those were new to me and showed people doing more than beading which helps boost my confidence in this method.

Thanks especially for the molding references. I am very interested in geometrical design and have only, well, scratched the surface so far with regard to moldings.

[Jeff Burks]

A few more:
Scratch Stock - Tom Caspar
Duplicating Short Moulding Sections - Gordon Brock
Picture Frames You Can Make with Hand Tools - Popular Science