Crown molding adds a touch of class to your home, but purchasing the molding can be a financially damaging experience. Making your own crown molding can save you the financial heartache and still give you the look you desire. You can use recycled wood in your project as a further cost-cutting measure. Use caution and good sense when you create your crown molding, though, or you may end up with a finished product which doesn't live up to your expectations.
Instructions
1. Visit a local lumberyard or construction site to see if they have any old wood they won't use. Many times, places like these will reject a strip of wood for use due to mild water damage or other small flaws. You can take this wood off their hands for a fraction of the original price or even for free.
2. Cut the pieces of wood to the length you need for your crown molding with an extra 4 inches of length on each side. Draw pencil lines 4 inches from both ends of the wood to properly illustrate the correct length of the molding.
3. Place the wood on the edge of a worktable. Fasten the wood in place using table clamps. Position the table clamps so they put pressure on the edges of the wood, past the pencil marks.
4. Run a router with a rounding bit along the edge of the wood strip starting at one pencil line and stretching to the other. Make several passes over the edge of the wood to create a smooth groove on the edge.
5. Cut the ends of the wood along the pencil lines at a 45-degree angle, either angling inward to the center of the wood or outward from the center of the wood. Determine whether you need an outward or inward angle based on the wall corners where you will install the crown molding (an inward angle for inward-facing corners and an outward angle for outward-facing corners).
6. Sand the face of the wood and the ends to remove burn marks and splinters left by the saw and router. Start with 60-grit sandpaper and then sand again with a finer grit sandpaper to give it a smooth finish.
Tags: crown molding, your crown molding, center wood, edge wood, ends wood, inward angle, pencil lines