Making a broken arch or “gooseneck” crown mold
In the past several months, there have been a couple questions about making the curved crown molding for cabinets with broken arch ot gooseneck tops.
I took a few pictures while making the molding for a hanging cupboard, and will try to post them here.
The process begins by sawing out and cleaning up the edges of the blanks for the molding. The mold is made to conform to the shape of the arch top of the case. In this instance, the stock is about 1 1/4″ thick, and cut to a width of 1 3/4″, matching the thickness and width of a short run of straight molding. The straight mold will be used on the returns, the angled stiles on either side of the case, and was run on the shaper.
The curved pieces are laid out with a compass set to the the width of the topmost element, an ovolo about 7/16″ wide. Once the line is marked, with the pointed leg of the compass following the outside curve, the balance of the mold is wasted away to the height (depth) of the ovolo, about 3/8″, this depth taken from the straight run, using a combination squaer. I used an electric router with a flat bottom bit to hog off the excess material. I used flat chisels and shallow sweep gouges to clean up the curves of the ovolo’s inside perimeter, then rounded over the corner of the molding with a gouge of the appropriate sweep. A skew chisel cleaned up the inside curves, and the area around the flat reserved for the rosette.
Now the fillet between the edge of the ovolo and the large cove element is drawn onto the new lowered surface, and the cove is carved down to a line marked onto the inside edge of the blank. This line is measured up from the back side of the mold, and marked using the combination square, set to the height of the small ovolo (3/16″) plus the height of the fillet that separates the small ovolo from the bottom of the cove. About 1/4″ total. The curve of the cove’s profile is determined by using a gouge the matches the sweep of the straight run of mold. The area around the rosette flat, is cleaned up with shallow gouge, a fishtail, and skew.
Once the cove is carved down and cleaned up with a curved scraper, the small ovolo’s fillet is marked out with the compass set to the appropriate width, about 1/4″, following the inside curved edge of the mold. The fillet is set in using a parting tool, or “vee” chisel, then rounded over with a small gouge, and again, the skew.
After rough sanding, the mold is put in place, marked, and mitered. After the miter is cut and moldings applied, any discrepancies between the straight and curved segments are carved to match up, and all is final sanded.
Finally the rosette are cut out and carved, then glued in place.
Some old work has the molding coped around the rosette blank which is the full thickness of the molding plus the thickness of the carving. In this instance, the rosette is a thin disk, applied to a blank area of the molding itself. Different strokes.
Ray
edit: Hmm, for some reason, most likely my own clumsiness, the photo sequence is out of order. Ought to be 1, 4, 3, 5, 2, 6, 7…I think…
Replies
Ray, That is really great. It only took me 3 reads to get it all, but then I am slow..... and I have lots of questions... sorry to be obtuse.
I was trying to figure out where you made the connection for the top to the standard side moulding. In your last picture #7 it look like it might be a few inches from the corner. Is that correct. Or is just the shading of the wood that makes it appear that way? If it is cut at the corner, and has a compound miter, how did you determine that? I know you say marked and mitered, but I don't follow... Did you use a shooting board for the cut from your backsaw?
Sorry but .... When you designed this piece, did you make a full scale paper mockup? Or is this like your doors where you have done so many of them you know where and what without needing a drawing but just have a general idea of what curve you want etc. Kind of big step for us overhthinker I guess, my real question is how you get from idea in your head to layout on the board for the band saw.
So what goes in the center? A turned finial or will make some further posts (hopefully) that show that as well.
Enough questions but I have more....
Thanks and thanks again. Beautiful work Ray Beautiful indeed.
Morgan
Morgan,
"I was trying to
Morgan,
"I was trying to figure out where you made the connection for the top to the standard side moulding. In your last picture #7 it look like it might be a few inches from the corner. Is that correct. Or is just the shading of the wood that makes it appear that way? If it is cut at the corner, and has a compound miter, how did you determine that? I know you say marked and mitered, but I don't follow... Did you use a shooting board for the cut from your backsaw?"
Yes, the miter is cut at the joint between the front stile of the case, and the side stile, which is at a 45 degree angle to the front. It is not a compound angle, the cut occurs at a point on the curved mold where it just transitions to a horizontal run. The last inch or so of the broken arch's curve is straight, and even with the top of the side stile. The location of the miter is determined by placing the mold in position, and putting a tick mark where it passes by the angled joint.I clamped the curved mold in the miter saw to keep it from shifting, but its last few inches (that got cut off) were resting flat on the table of the miter box. I didn't shoot the miter, just a pass or two with a block plane to clean up the sawmarks.
"When you designed this piece, did you make a full scale paper mockup?"
The piece started out as a scaled drawing on a 8 1/2 x 11 sheet, which was submitted for customer approval. After consultation, and an amended scale drawing was approved, I made a full sized drawing of the top half of the piece. this is where all the curved stuff is. The curved sashbars in the door, the top of the door itself, and the broken arch top with its applied moldings, rosettes, the shell below the finial. I drew the finial full size too. From the full size drawing, I made the various patterns by putting 1/4 plywood under the drawing and tracing the various component onto it using carbon paper.
Attached are the approved small drawing, and a photo showing the molding being marked for the miter.
Ray
So, if you made the straight molding with a shaper, why dont you just make a pattern of the bottom side of the gooseneck and then run it on the shaper also. You would have to add the rosette to the top after you ran the molding but you are adding the carving anyway so it wouldn't show that it was added.
I'm not being critical, you do what lookes to me to be first rate work, I'm just looking for a faster way.
you are a master Ray , thanks for posting, hopefully one day i can get close to that level of workmanship.
Tom
Informative post. Thanks for the photos, Ray. I tried to rout one of those once using a template, but the goose kept moving his neck. ;-)
Beautiful work, as always.
Thanks All,
For the kind words.
Ray
goose neck molding
Well done Ray. I still have some poultry genes. I have to stack laminate a couple pieces of particle board cut to the curved molding shape and miter it for fit before I can commit that carved section to the compound cut.
Nice stuff
dan
Poultry Paltry Genes
Dan
Same here... guess you have to do this a couple of times. Aim smalll miss small.
Morgan
Thanks dan, for the kind words.
Ray
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled