Any experience with the Cut-N-Crown jigs?http://www.cutncrown.com/value_packages.php
I saw these at the Woodworking show recently and they seem like a very clever idea at a very reasonable price. They almost appear a little “gimmicky”, but I watched them being demo’d in person and they worked perfect every time.
One concern that I have about them is that since they only allow cuts to the left of the blade, the inside-left and outside-right cuts need to be made with the crown facing backwards. Isn’t it possible that the profile of the crown will make it sit at an angle other than the actual spring angle?
Replies
it seems to me they only allow for mitered corners. imo corners other than cabinets or furniture should be coped.
True, but remember the first step to coping is to cut the miter anyway.
Would not work with many crown profiles. Making all the cuts on one side means flipping long pieces end over end to cut both ends of the same piece. Lots of flipping the jig and molding...more awkward than just moving the saw setting IMO.
I made my own jigs. The one pictued handles most of the crown I cut.
My jig looks pretty much the same as yours. It's sized for 3-5/8" crown. I have a shim for the stop at the bottom so I can use it to cut 2-5/8" crown also.
I'm thinking that the crown coping jig I linked to might be useful for those times that you ONLY want to cut on the left, like if the worksite has space restrictions for example.
Our jigs are very similar in size.I sometimes leave the jig on the saw for casing and base too. It holds standard casing flat and 3-1/4" base standing up...nice to have continuous support for the moldings.I rip different size front curb fillers for smaller crown...like you mentioned.
oooh I like that idea, wish I would have had that 2 week ends ago when I was putting crown up on the kitchen cabinets.
I may have to copy your design. I now wish I had more crown to put up!!
Thanks for sharing.
Ebe
yur welcome.
I saw them at the show. I think they would slow me down.
I think the most important thing for cutting crown are some kind of stop. The saws I own have crown stops for accessories. Once they are set for the spring angle, you can cut from the left or right without any problems.
Other then Basswood using them on here I have never seen anybody using a jig to hold crown, gotta wonder how much one would really need it?
Doug
Basswood has the right set-up, a little long IMO . If you have the sawhelper stand all you need is about a 3' piece of 1x10 & 1x6 then clamp it to the stand. That leaves plenty of room to use the Collins jig on the end for coping- by far the fastest way to do it. If you have a few crown hanging j-hooks one guy can hang crown at a nice pace.
That leaves plenty of room to use the Collins jig on the end for coping- by far the fastest way to do it.
No its not
Doug
I'm with you on grinder coping.One advantage of my jig is that it holds crown securely and in the perfect position for coping.Here is a pic of two coped joints I did last month on the columns job. The crown jig can be used in a zero clearance fence configuation, so if you have a bunch of small pieces, like returns, to cut...none of the pieces go flying.
Brian
I don't doubt that the jig that you use works but I have never seen anybody use one, that's all.
Remember I lay my crown down to cut so I don't have the pieces go flying..... well most of the time!
I think in the last two years I have ran about 5 miles of crown(I'm sure that's a bit of an exaggeration) and laying it down seams to be the best for me. There is no way for the crown to be off as long as my saw is set to the proper angles/miters.
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Doug
Edited 2/24/2008 12:07 pm ET by DougU
I do lotsa things that nobody around here does. Nobody else I've seen using a grinder to cope or scribe, or Collins Clamps, or a crown jig, or molding glue...(few even glue miters here and very few even know about 23ga. pinners).In my backwater town, the bar is set rather low...but I feel I have a leg up on the competition with some of the stuff I do.One of the Twin Cities guys uses a crown jig that is nicer than mine (the front curb is adjustable for different sizes of crown--rather than my fillers behind a fixed curb).You get fabulous results cutting crown flat, so messing with jigs may not be interesting at all to you.Since I like cutting crown "in position" the jig helps me do it accurately and quickly. Lots of different ways to get good results. I would enjoy seeing your methods sometime. You get to work on lots of great projects. I am slowly getting a few more of those sweet jobs each year.
"If your reference to MDF is regarding crown then I don't use it for that but to say that you don't use MDF is puzzling?"
Your work is very nice and I'm not intending be offense. I've used a grinder on mdf in past and it worked well for me. I didn't feel it worked as well on wood, hence my fondness for the collins foot. As for not using mdf, I bought a molding machine and steer all my jobs toward using it. As a result I don't work with mdf. It kind of reminds me of an old Roy Underhill show I saw where they were restoring a period church and half the windows had been made using one method and half another. They both looked fine, but just imagine those 2 guys 150 years ago, each trying to convince the other to use his method. Best regards,
Keith
Keith
OK, I get what you meant by the MDF. We use it for carcasses and such but certainly not for moldings.
All of our moldings are made in shop, nothing bought out.
AS I said, we don't have to use the same techniques but when you said that the fastest way to cope a molding was to use the Collins coping foot I had to disagree! I don't believe that it is, but that's just my opinion.
What molding machine did you buy?
Doug
I bought the Woodmaster model 718 I believe. At first I wasn't sure about the quality of the 1 knife set-up but so far it is working very well.
I believe that the Copemaster would be faster, but I can't justify one. I've coped by hand and with a grinder, for me the Collins foot is faster. What do you use, BTW I don't work with mdf
for me the Collins foot is faster. What do you use, BTW I don't work with mdf
I don't know what the MDF reference is about but I use a right angle grinder to cope and there isn't any way that you can use a Collins foot and cope any where near as fast.
If your reference to MDF is regarding crown then I don't use it for that but to say that you don't use MDF is puzzling?
I'm not implying that you need to use the grinder, don't care what tool anybody uses but the Collins foot is not that fast!
But were not all supposed to do things the same way are we!
Doug
What blade do you put in the grinder for coping?Thanks, John
24 or 36 grit sanding disk.
I put one on with a rubber backer, I know that basswood puts his on back to back(sanding disks), seams like a good idea, I'll have to try it sometime!
Doug
OK, I'll show my ignorance, what are "crown hanging j hooks"?thanks
I don't know if they sell them pre-made but I read about them somewhere and made my own. They are just a piece of sheet metal (about 1" x 6") where you drill a hole near one end and then a couple of smaller holes next to it to create a old fashioned key-hole on its side, then bend it into a J-shape. Near where someone else would have to hold up that end drive a sheetrock screw and hang the hook. Put the molding on the hook and nail off, when you get near that end slide the hook to the side and over the larger hole, remove hook and finish nailing.
Thanks, I understand what you mean. I'll be making me a couple. I'm tired of fighting with 12's by myself.
"crown hanging j hooks"Fast Cap make a plastic version as well.
http://www.mcfeelys.com/product/FSC-3026/Crown-Molding-Clips-pack-of-25I have yet to use them. I keep using my 3rd hand poles to hold the crown up with success. Looked a job yesterday to install some crown around a upstairs landing. The runs over the stair will be a candidate for the clips.TFB (Bill)
Thanks. I'll probably make some but I really appreciated the link to McFeely's. wdb
They work! Watched the demo guy at the IBS last month for more than hour. What I found is that all of the trim guy's who had a "what if" or "but this" were just upset that they had not come up with the idea. Bottom line: most mistakes are made changing the angle on the saw, now it doesn't happen. In the perfect world of framing the 90 degree corner (not) is no longer a problem. I watched this guy over 3 days and there was not a question that was not answered. The ONLY down side is that you have to flip the crown molding end for end. I will exchange that for 3 missed miteres ant day.
The contention that most mistakes cutting crown are related to changing the angle on the saw, is contrary to my experience.The combination of my jig and the accuracy of the Hitachi SCMS has made it possible to cut dozens of crown miters per day without any mistakes.I also like to feed the stock in from on side of the saw, and cut all the pieces in order, from one long piece of crown, so the profile and grain are perfect matches. That jig would be way slower for me and with no gain in accuracy.
So glad it works for you.
The problem many people have is not the angle setting on the saw but keeping the spring angle consistent against the saw fence and table. The kind of jig I use solves that problem.The miter angle stops on the Hitachi I use are dead on, and most anyone should be able to get the kind of results I do...its not like changing the saw miter setting back and forth is difficult...but flipping 16' lengths of crown end for end seems more bother than needed.The crown I installed a couple of weeks ago would obviously not work on the jig in the OP
Like you said, that particular crown (which is quite beautiful, btw) obviously won't work in the crown jig I originally asked about, but I'm even suspicious about this scenario:
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It just seems to me that it would almost be a coincidence that the profile was designed in such a way as to keep the spring angle EXACTLY the same regardless if the crown is face-up or face-down.
I wouldn't be cutting pre-finished crown from the back anyway.
That thing is just silly![email protected]
I think you are right to be suspicious...really flat profiles might work OK, but not a bunch of the stuff I run into. Even if it did work for some stuff, I obviously have my own way of doing things. Hope I didn't get too carried away with my method in your thread. The crown on this hood I built would not work on that jig either (but a flat arts and crafts crown I used last year would be the best bet...if you can call that a crown):
I bought the Cut-n-Crown jig a couple years ago and LOVE it! All work is from the left side, and the instructions are right on each jig (38, 45 and 52 degree jigs).
Thanks. I do believe that in 35 posts, you're the only one with first hand experience. It's good to know that these things may have their place.
I don't get too many opportunities to install crown, but for the price and if I ever find myself in a situation where I can only cut from one side, I may give them a try.
Don,To test a piece of crown, to see if the profile will work on that jig, you could just lay the crown, profile side down on a table, and measure up from the table to the flat backside of the crown at both edges.If the table (or jig) is parallel with the flat side of the crown then it should work.
Good idea. And, by the way, I don't think you got too carried away with with describing your own techniques. This was a nice, healthy thread.
I still think it is an interesting approach...probably would work for common crown.I do wonder, with the cut off end, unsupported by neither the saw table or fence, if small cut offs get hurled out of the saw some of the time.I am going to retire my old jig and make a new one...so I will start a new thread about that sometime...it is a rather cheap and easy thing to do.Have a good day...I'm off to the shop to build drawers for a cabinet,Bass
Don,I have about a dozen different crown moldings out in the shop and I gave them the "CutNCrown" test...four of the profiles would not work, but most did.One of the dentil crowns I thought would not work, had the flat backside parallel with the face (center of pic). The crowns on the left and right sides of the pic would not work.