Technique Question: Crown Molding on Cabinets and Finishing Nail Holes

[John Viercinski]

I have a general question that involves both the installation and finishing technique of crown molding on kitchen cabinets.

Here's the scenario. I recently painted kitchen cabinets using Magnalac lacquer via my HVLP gun. They came out pretty good considering I didn't strip the old finish off the cabinets. I also wanted to add crown molding, so I sprayed a few 12' long pieces of crown molding with the lacquer and was able to install them fairly easily using my brad nailer.

Now my problem... how do I fill in the nail holes I created during the crown molding installation and then make them invisible (or near invisible) ?? I can't possibly spray lacquer over the cabinets now... its not even feasible. Do I fill in the holes using standard wood putty then take a small paint brush and dab it over the holes?? How do I hide these holes?? In general, I don't know how any craftsman hide these things. When I look at kitchen and bath magazines, I see tons of pictures of custom installed crown moldings over cabinets that must have been installed at the job site and there HAD to have been nail holes.. is there a general rule of thumb for installing these and not getting holes?? What gives?

In the future, I may follow Norm's advice and pickup a pin nailer than doesn't leave visible holes.

R,
John

[Mike Spanbauer]

I use a well blended putty (no, not straight out of the can ) and then a paint brush with #1.5lb shellac. It's a close enough match that is very, very hard to see once done.

mike

[frank shic]

john, don't feel too badly. the reason why you don't see more holes in the cabinets that appear in the magazines is that the shot is too far away! seriously, your two best options are putty or wax. in the future, if you want to get away from nails, the next option would be to use something like 2p-10 (superglue) just make sure that you have enough hands to hold the crown while it dries. all pin nailers leave holes and the 23 gauge pinners are not designed to hold up crown. i'll stick to using an 18 gauge brad nailer and covering up the holes with either putty or wax.

[Roland Chung]

John,

Here is a nice wax kit. There are enough colors to take care of most wood varieties. You can even mix the wax colors.

http://www.fastcap.com/prod2.asp?page=softwax

[J.R. Rutter]

CRAYOLA!

I raided my son's box for brown tones last kitchen I installed.

[Bob Wingard]

Another tip you don't see/hear very often .. .. .. put little pieces of blue painter's tape anyplace you're going to shoot a nail .. .. .. after the moulding is up, you can push a dab of filler into each naiil hole and then touch it up with matching paint after it dries & shrinks. THEN remove the tape, to find out you never got even a speck of filler or paint on the surface.

[frank shic]

CRAYOLA!

I raided my son's box for brown tones last kitchen I installed.

sheer cheap BRILLIANCE.

BTW john, did you figure out how to do the beaded face frames?

[J.R. Rutter]

Re: beaded frames (non-mitered beaded doors actually) - probably getting slugs for the magic moulder to do samples, Morso hauncher if I get contract.

The crayon fillers buff out nicely as a bonus, stain grade only obviously.

[John Viercinski]

Thanks for the suggestions. This is one of those things I thought I would figure out when I got to that point. I'm going to look into using wax or putty. I'll be sure to post pictures when I'm done.

I haven't started the beading project yet. I'm still renovating the house and not ready to make the cabinets yet (two seperate projects here).

Thanks,
John V.

[Aaron Frank]

Frank -

What length brad or finish nail do you shoot to hang crown?

Thanks
Aaron

[Ed Peters]

in stain grade red oak, I choose to use staples. I shoot them in line with the grain and then fill. The fill disappears due to the strong grain of oak.
I have also developed a system for applying crown that is a bit different and works well. I bevel cut a 3" to 4" wide strip of ¾" plywood to compliment the angle of the moulding and glue it to the back of the moulding and staple through the front every foot or so. The plywood allows for a ¾" overlay of the crown and the extension of the plywood lays on top of the cabinet providing: A] A great surface for application that will not require staples to be filled in the field or the sealer to be touched up. B] A great reference surface for turning complicated compound miters into simple miter cuts with the bevel angle at zero. I assemble the trim in full 12 and 16 foot lengths and generally have several on hand to stain and seal with each run of cabinets that require crown.

Ed

[frank shic]

aaron, i usually use 18 gauge 2" nails.

[glenn bradley]

Putty or wax and get the pinner, you'll love it.