Crown Molding How To

Crown molding is the most difficult to do out of all the trims. A good 12" miter saw, a sharp 80+ tooth finish blade , and a crown molding jig are a must to start before cutting any crown molding. 

Always order 20% more crown molding than you need and expect to mess up some cuts. There really is no room for inexact cuts when it comes to crown.

Some of the crown molding jigs hold the crown upside down with the flat part flat on the saw fence. With the crown molding upside down you have to think backwards. The best crown molding jigs hold the crown the way it sits installed, so there is less chance of getting confused.

The angle crown comes off the cabinet is the spring angle. the spring angles of crown molding are 38, 45, and 52 degrees. Crown molding jigs will hold the crown at what ever your crowns spring angle is. the miter cut on the saw is still 45 degrees of a normal corner 90 corner.

If you don't have a crown jig then try holding the crown against the fence of the saw the same way it sits on the cabinet. This is a little difficult, you have to hold the crown very steady at an angle with a small amount of wood against the fence. This is only possible with a very sharp blade.

A good idea is to have some crown scraps with right and left outside corners, and right and left inside corners cut in them to help visualize at the saw. Corners are still cut at a 45 degree when the crown molding is cut with a jig and not sitting flat on the miter saw. There is a method for cutting crown laying flat with different degrees, but I will not go into that here.

I like to nail the crown molding to the cabinet using an 18 gage brad nailer , and some non drip glue. I use a small nailer because it leaves a very small hole to fill. The best fillers to use on some thing that is already finished are the waxy putty crayons.

Before nailing the crown molding use a stain pen that is close to your cabinet color in the inside of your miters so you're guaranteed not to see raw wood. Any gaps in your miters can be filled with the waxy type fillers as well.

Hopefully you planned your crown molding style before the cabinet installation and if you needed nailers they are installed already as gone over in the cabinet installation page.

If you're doing crown molding after the cabinets are installed, then you could try putting screws going up to hold a nailer, or nail into the body of the cabinet if there is room above the doors.


                                      
                                       Installing Toe kick, Light rail, and Scribe

Toe kick is either thin plywood or 3/4" plywood. If you have the thin plywood sneak in a little wood glue and use your 18 gage brad nailer . If you have the thicker toe kick then use a 15 gage finish nailer . When the ends of the toe kick can be seen, then they need to be back mitered or stained. If the floor is uneven then the toe kick will have to be scribed and shaped to fit the floor.

Light rail goes under the wall cabinets to help hide the under cabinet lighting and adds a decorative element. Attach the light rail with finish screws going up into the face frame, or use the brad nailer with glue. If you have frame less cabinets you may need to use small angle metal to hold the light rail in place. I find light rail harder to do than crown because it is hard to attatch, and the bottom of the cabinets are rarely flat side to face frame.

Scribe molding is used vertically against the wall when there is a gap between the wall and cabinet from the wall being out of plumb. I try not to use scribe unless there is no other option.