Crown Moulding reference books

[David Gutierrez]

Spent one day this week end trying to install crown moulding and was not very successful. Are there any good books on the crown install that anyone can recommend? i would like like to improve on this. i am just a week end wood hack trying to improve my understanding and skill.

Thanks

[Jeff Monson]

I have this book, http://www.amazon.com/Crown-Molding-Trim-Install-Like/dp/1581125941, its a good reference and covers a lot of great points. They do all the cuts with compound cuts, which I have had limited success. I have a simple jig from Rockler I believe, that just holds the crown at the spring angle while you cut. You only have one mitre angle this way, works very well for me.

[Frank Drew]

David, I'm sure there are some good books that cover the subject (don't know any offhand), but I think you can find a lot of information on the internet; try googling "installing crown molding".

What kind of saw are you using?

[David Gutierrez]

Frank - Yes there is and i went there first but it is not like i can leaf through the pages, so i thought i would take advantage of any experience others may have had.

Jeff - Thanks for the link.

[scott vroom]

The best instructional book I've seen on crown moulding is the one Jeff mentioned. It's well written, well illustrated, and has useful compound cut tables.

http://www.amazon.com/Crown-Molding-Trim-Install-Like/dp/1581125941

[ed vitanovec]

It is a little tricky for the first time, can be very wasteful. I bought a kreg crown jig to help me, it was worth it.

[Erik Christensen]

David I feel your pain - crown is much harder to get perfect than conventional molding that is in a single plane (door, window, baseboard, etc). I have tried any number of ways and even after coping the joints (a time consuming PITA) I was never able to get consistently good results. If you do it as a pro full time you can acquire the skills to get it right the first time or you can compensate for the lack of finish skills with tools. I then got a Kapex with the crown attachments and pretty much every crown joint since then has been perfect. The Kapex has 2 features that make crown cuts super accurate - the crown attachments that hold the crown in position so you do not have to do a compound cut and the angle gauge that lets you bisect ANY angle so if the inside/outside corner is 88 or 92.5 degrees it does not matter, your corners will be perfect. I also use a Grex 23 ga pinner to hang the crown - I put 2 pins at opposing angles at every location - just shoot into the drywall - it holds more than good enough (I know from the few times I had to remove a nailed up piece) even before i caulked the edges. The 23 gauge pins do not need filling - they just disappear under the paint.

A buddy wanted to hang crown in his entire house and he is NOT any kind of woodworker so I told him I would loan him my tools and show him how to do it. We did one room then I wished him luck and he & his wife finished the rest of the house. It looks like a pro install.

[phil harold]

i am just a week end wood hack

Thanks admitting the problem is the first step ;o)
once you learn to cope your crown will look better