Cove Molding on a Table Saw

[mgoins]

Title – Cove Molding on a Table Saw

Been working on paneling our Reading Room over the last few months & needed about 40 feet of matching 3” crown molding made from old growth pine. Had seen a few magazine articles over the years talking about making large scale cove molding with a table saw. Finally, an opportunity to try it.

First problem to solve was: auxiliary fence angle and maximum blade height. Was able to take advantage of Fine Woodworking’s Cove Calculator for these settings.
Just input a few variables:
· Blade Diameter
· Cove Depth
· Cove Length
· Apex Offset
· Miter Gauge 90 (0 or 90)
and the proper settings are calculated in a click.

For the 3” molding, I went with a 2 ½” cove, yielding a 33 degree fence angle to the blade, and a maximum blade height of ½”.

Fence setup (I ended up taking off the extra 1x4 board on the left & ran everything using only the edge guide on the right. The extra fence didn’t seem to help anything.


Prior to running the boards, let’s take a moment to talk shop safety:
1) Mark each board to ensure the same edge is run against the fence each time, in case you’re not exactly centered over the blade.
2) Begin with a blade height no more than 1/16” to prevent kickback. And, raise the blade 1/16” every run thereafter.
3) Use pushblocks. I used jointer style push blocks to keep the wood steadily in contact with the blade.
4) Go slow. The process is a slow one, but the results are worth it.
5) Be careful. No distractions. The blade is exposed during these operations & must be respected.

First 3” test piece:


Finished product:


Up-close:


Installed – up close:


Link to the entire Reading Room project:
http://www.ncwoodworker.net/forums/f...aneling-28394/

Thanks for playing along…

[Ken Massingale]

Nice job, it came out great Marvin.

[Mt. Gomer]

wow, excellent work!

[toolferone]

It came out great. How much sanding did you have to do? With such long peices, did you have any feed issues keeping the board down on the table. I did a 5' peice as part of some ogee bracket feet I was making years ago.

[BobcatBob]

Looks like it turned out great. Thanks for the "how to make cove molding" post.

[G_ville_worker]

Did you hog out most of the waste first with a dado set, or use a solid board?

I've been contemplating this my self.

Thanks.

[mgoins]

Originally Posted by G_ville_worker

Did you hog out most of the waste first with a dado set, or use a solid board?

I've been contemplating this my self.

Thanks.

No dado blade was involved here - actually didn't think of it... At this point, I don't own a dado blade -- Looks like I missed an opportunity to pick up a new tool...

I'd say it'd work, given the multiple setups involved, am not sure any time would be saved, but, it may save wear on the saw blade though.

[red]

Great job. I made the same molding on the pewter cupboard in my album using the same method. It's a good feeling when it's all said and done to see it completed.

Red

[mkepke]

Making cove molding on the tablesaw is one of the cooler things you can do with a tablesaw.

I switched from using a regular saw blade to a Craftsman 3-knive molding head . Exact same set up and cutting process, but the molding head is a whopping thick steel plate. I feel like it deflects less during the cutting process and I take out about 1/8"+ per pass.

This is a sample piece cut using the molding head.



-Mark

[ptt49er]

That almost makes it look easy enough for me to do! Beautiful molding!

[Bob Carreiro]

Looks good Marvin. How many passes over the blade did it take? What hp does you tablesaw have?

[mgoins]

Originally Posted by Bob Carreiro

Looks good Marvin. How many passes over the blade did it take? What hp does you tablesaw have?

The original stock thickness was ~3/4", cove depth was 1/2".

Am thinking it took about 6-8 passes. To start, the blade height was set at about 1/16", then crank the blade elevation handwheel 1/4 turn every pass thereafter.


The saw used was a restored Rockwell/Delta Unisaw - 1 1/2 HP; 3-phase.