Reasonable - Or not?

[Tom Grice]

I'm in the process of building Norm's Tall Case clock - which is calling for a cove molding across the top of the case as trim.

The molding itself is 2 1/16" wide, by 1 1/4 "tall. I need about five feet. The plans call for a cove to be cut into it that is 1" tall and about 1 1/2" wide. The wood is QSWO.

I don't think I can pull off making this molding with my router - so I called the local millwork shop who quoted me $130. I about dropped the phone at that point. That being said - I have no idea what it should cost - so maybe this is reasonable. I understand the need to charge for setup, etc. But it seemed quite high to me.

Any opinions as to if this is a reasonable price, or is there a woodworker/shop around Madison, WI who could do this more reasonably?

Or could I do this with my router somehow? If it was possible - this could be my justification to buy a router table. :) Although I'm sure the bit to pull this off with wouldn't be cheap. I'm not really interested in buying a shaper either.

I'd appreciate any thoughts people have....

[James Phillips]

YOu can make large cove molding with a table saw. Look around the web. There are some great instructional sites

[Jim Becker]

James is correct...coves are the one thing you can make quite effectively on the table saw.

[David Cramer]

Tom, I'm sure many will disagree with me, but I don't think that the price is crazy. If you find the right shop, someone may do it cheaper, but not by much. You're paying for his time, material, setting up of the cutters, a percent of his tools, the workers hourly wage that he's paying to do it, and if he screws up, it's his responsibility to make it right.

Today, living in the 21st century and what things cost, no I don't think it's extremely unreasonable, but that's just me. Again, yes someone may do it cheaper, but with all things considered, I don't think it is an "out of the ballpark" quote. But that's just me.

Dave

[David Cramer]

Tom,

I forgot, I'm not saying you can't do it yourself. Just that if you don't want to, then the $130 bid from someone else is not a crazy bid. Not to me anyways. If the cut is on the tablesaw or the shaper or any other tool is irrelevant to me. It's still their time and work. Just my opinion.

Dave

[Gary McKown]

If the TS method scares you (it does me!), MLCS cove router bit #7873 is less than $30, free shipping. One of the new Eagle bits for making foot moldings might be appropriate, too, for "deeper" profiles.

[Joe Chritz]

There is a good mill shop about 6 miles from me. That price is about right from what I remember.

5 feet is very expensive.

5000 feet isn't as bad.

Several years ago a friend had some crown matched to some old woodwork. He paid the guy by the foot and bought his cutters, which was about 90 bucks.

I agree its time to make it on your own.

Joe

[Lars Thomas]

Given the uniqueness of the request. I don't think the price is crazy. However, you must be a wood worker or you wouldn't hang around with us nuts. So, I'd say do what you can to make it yourself.

[Frank Lopez]

The last time I had finish carpeters do custom mill work for me, they charged $100/hr. Considering most of the time required to make this piece is setup, the $130 sounds like it could be right. If you consider setup time, time to make the actual molding, material cost and markup... could get expensive in a hurry.

[Mike Langford]

Tom,
If you think you want to tackle it yourself, check out these links.....

http://www.binkyswoodworking.com/CoveMouldingTip.htm (nice pics)

http://dknudson.unixcab.org/covecut.html (this is a cove cut calculator)

http://www.woodcentral.com/bparticles/curved_coves.shtml (simpler calculator)

http://www.binkyswoodworking.com/BathroomProjects.html (another one from Binky)

[Russ Buddle]

I worked for a while in a cabinet shop that also ran a moulder. 90% of the price quoted is setup time. I do not know if they would have to grind knives for your profile, or not, but based on the price, I am guessing not. The setup time is the same for your 5 feet of moulding, as it would be for 1000 feet. If their rate is $80 per hour, setup cost per foot is very expensive for only 5 feet. The per foot rate is much less for a 1000 feet run of moulding. IOW the price is not out of line, just very expensive for your project. I would try to make the cove cut on a table saw. Set up your cut using poplar, or another softer less expensive wood, and make the final cuts in your QSWO.

[lou sansone]

table saw coves are very easy to do. just take small bites and you will be fine.
lou

[Jerry Olexa]

Agree w Lou. Test on some scraps. Be patient and take small bites. You'll be surprised how easily and well it works..

[Kurt Strandberg]

Maybe find someone with a Compucarve