Arts & Craft Moulding Profiles

[Brett Bobo]

Is there an online reference catalog for the moulding profiles used for the millwork in homes during the arts and crafts era? I'm primarily trying to find a reference for all of the mouldings, e.g. door casing, base, crown, window, etc., that match the particular arts and crafts style.

I'm considering milling the simpler parts, i.e. door casing and base, myself as this may not be more than a router bit (chamfer, bullnose, etc.) or two to create the profile I'm looking for--clean, simple lines. Is MDF a good product to use for these applications, say compared to poplar? This will obviously be painted but I'm just concerned with the durability of MDF vs. poplar.

Thanks in advance,
Brett

[Matthew Dunne]

Robert lang has a series of books of shop drawings of arts and crafts furniture, including one called "Shop Drawings for Craftsman Interiors: Cabinets, Moldings & Built-Ins for Every Room in the Home." I don't have any of these, but I've only heard good things about them, and I like the stuff he does for Popular Woodworking Magazine a lot. Available on Amazon.

[Don Bullock]

Brett, I was in the same spot you're in a couple years ago. There are several helpful books on trim work that I found on Amazon.com. Robert Lang's book was helpful too. I've also studied many pictures in A & C magazines that show trim work. I ended going to one of the large hardwood lumber yards searching through their racks for profiles that fit the ones I decided to use. I found several poplar profiles that will work. I won't need to build my own this spring when I plan to get started working on my house. I haven't been able to find the same profiles in MDF besides I like the durability of the poplar. They have the same profiles in oak for the rooms where I'm planning on staining the trim instead of painting it.

[Randy Davidson]

Try this one. I use it a lot for reference.
http://www.amazon.com/Homes-Interiors-1920s-Cassandra-Eason/dp/0921335067

[Trace Beard]

Here's another good reference.

http://brenthullcompanies.com/hull-consulting/publications.html

[Brett Bobo]

I appreciate the responses--some good resources. I've found a window and door casing detail that I like, which is of all squared material but will the fillet and cap piece at the frieze board. Considering there's little detail for the trimwork for the windows and doors, I thought about using a high 7 1/4" base with just a simple chamfer. All of this I can mill myself. However, when it comes to the crown, I'll probably resort to purchasing it but most of the profiles, even "simple" ones, have more detail that the remaining trim. Do you think a more detailed crown would look out of place with the remainder of the trim?

Thanks,
Brett

[Randy Davidson]

My home is a modified Craftsman and I used something like what you are talking about for door and window casings. I used a plain 5 1/2" board for baseboards with plans to come back and add a little cove to the top. My crown is about a 6" cove with a little detail on the top and bottom. Looks pretty good and is simple.
189718

[Alan Schaffter]

I went through that about six years ago when I finished the interior of my shop. I ended up picking A&C elements that pleased my eye and seemed right for my interpretation of the A&C style. I had a bunch of oak milled from trees when they cleared my lot. It wasn't the best stuff and unfortunately there was much more flat sawn than the traditional A&C quarter and riff sawn lumber, so instead of trying to make A&C furniture I used it to make shop cabinets, doors, and fairly basic trim:

Shop office door (tenon pegs were an applied vinyl experiment):

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/500/medium/OffDoor-10.JPG

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/500/OffDoor-8.JPG

Casing and base detail:

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/500/Trim-21.JPG

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/500/BathDoor-10.JPG

Commode room door (half moon was vinyl also):

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/500/BathDoor-9.JPG

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/500/BathDoor-11.JPG

Paint prep and clean-up sink vanity and cabinets (box jointed drawer fronts were an experiment abandoned when I built the back bench drawers):

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/500/SinkUpper-3.jpg

Back bench:

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/500/Backbench-57.JPG

Window casing:

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/500/Trim-5.JPG