Finish carpentry 0-8094-9520-1

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THEARTOFWOODWORKING

HOMEWORI$HOP

W O R K S H OGPU I D E SCRIBING F i t t i n gt h e e n do r e d g eo f a p i e c eo f m o l d i n go r t r i m s q u a r e layg a i n sat w a l lt h a t i s n o t p l u m bc a n b e d i f f i c u l t .T h es i m p l et r i c ks h o w na t r i g h tm a k e st h e t a s k s i m p l eB . u t tt h e b o a r da g a i n stth e w a l la n d h o l da p e n c iw l i t h i t s e d g ea g a i n stth e w a l la n d i t s p o i n t c o n t a c t i ntgh e f a c eo f t h e w o r k p i e c eS.t a r t i n g at the t o p o f t h e m o l d i n gs, l i d et h e p e n c i dl o w nt h e w a r r ; t h e m a r kt h a t i s s c r i b e do n t h e w o r k o i e c w e ill orov i d ey o uw i t ha c u t t i n gl i n et h a tw i l l e n a b l ey o ut o f i t the pieceperfectlyin place.Youcan alsousea logbuilder'sscribe(page42) for this task.Scribinghas n u m e r o uasp p l i c a t i o nisn,c l u d i n h gelping to fit baseb o a r dt o a n u n e v e nf l o o r .

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CHECKING ANDTRUING A CARPENTER'S SOUARE T o c h e c kw h e t h ear c a r p e n t e rs' sq u a r ei s t r u e ,t a p ea s h e e to f p a p e rt o a p i e c eo f p l y w o o a d n d ,h o l d i n go n eo f t h e a r m so f t h e s q u a r ea g a i n sat n e d g eo f t h e p a n e l d, r a wa p e n c i a l l o n gt h e o t h e r a r m ,m a r k i n ga l i n ea c r o s tsh e p a p e rT. h e nt u r n t h e s q u a r eo v e r

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anddrawanother line,asshown at right.Thetwomarked lines should beparallel, lf not,thearmsarenotperpendicular to eachother, Truethesquare asshown below.

Totruea carpenter's square, beginbymarking a straight line between theinside andoutside corners of thesquare. lf the angle formed bythesquare isgreater than90', youwillneed to movethetwoarmscloser together: Place thetip of a center punchonthelinenearthesquare's outside corner andtapit wrtha ball-peen hammer. lf theangle is lessthan90', spread thearmsapartbytapping onthelinenearthesquare's inside corner(right). Truinga square mayrequire several taps,but checkyourprogress aftereachattempt.

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Cent.erpunch

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THEARTOFWOOD\,VORKING

FINISH CARPENTRY

THE ART OF WOODWORKING

FTNTSH CARPENTRY

TIME-LIFE BOOKS ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA ST.REMYPRESS MONTREAL. NEWYORK

r 3 I I THE ART OF WOODWORKING wasproduced by ST. REMY PRESS PUBLISHER KennethWinchester PRESIDENT PierreLdveill6 SeriesEditor SeriesArt Director SeniorEditor Editor Art Directors Designers PictureEditor Writers ResearchAssistant Contr ibuting I IIustrators

Administrator ProductionManager SystemCoordinator Photographer Administrative Assist ant Proofreader Indexer

PierreHome-Douglas FrancineLemieux Marc Cassini Jim McRae Normand Boudreault,Luc Germain, SolangeLaberge H6lEneDion, Michel Gigudre ChristopherJackson Andrew Jones,Rob Lutes,David Simon Bryan Quinn GillesBeauchemin,RolandBergerat, Michel Blais,)ean-GuyDoiron, RonaldDurepos,RobertPaquet, Maryo Proulx, JamesTh6rien NatalieWatanabe MichelleTurbide Jean-LucRoy RobertChartier Dominique Gagn6 GaretMarkvoort ChristineM. Iacobs

Time-Life Booksis a division of Time Life Inc., a wholly ownedsubsidiaryof THE TIME INC. BOOK COMPANY

TIME-LIFEINC. Presidentand CEO JohnM. Fahey Editor-in-chief lohn L. Papanek TIME-LIFEBOOKS President Vice-President, Directorof Marketing ExecutiveEditor ExecutiveArt Director

Iohn D. Hall Nanry K. fones RobertaConlan Ellen Robling

ConsubingEditor iohn R. Sullivan ProductionManager MarleneZack

THECONSUIIANTS Karl Marcuseis a self-employedcarpenterand contractor in Montreal.He hasworked as a home renovatorin many countriesand is now completingrestorationofhis centuryold home. Giles Miller-Mead taught advancedcabinetmakingat Montreal technicalschoolsfor more than ten years.A nativeof New Zealand,he hasworked asa restorerof antiquefurniture Scott Sdruttner is a carpenterand home builder in Fairbanks, Alaska.A frequentcontributor to FineHomebuiWizg,he has beenbuildingstaircases andteachingaspiringcarpenters for closeto 20years. fosephTruini is SeniorEditorof HomeMechankMagazine. A formerShopandToolsEditorof PopularMechanic$ he has worked asa cabinetmaker,home improvementcontractor and carpenter. Finish carpentry p. cm. - (The Art of woodworking) Includesindex. ISBN0-8094-9s20-l 1. FinishcarpentryI. Time-LifeBooks.II. Series. THs640.Fs631994 694'.6-dc20 94-13533 CIP For information about any Time-Life book, pleasecall l-800-62I-7026,or write: ReaderInformation Time-Life CustomerService P.O.Box C-32068 Richmond,Virginia 2326r-2068 @ 1994Time-LifeBooksInc. All rights reserved. No part ofthis book may be reproducedin any form or by any electronicor mechanicalmeans,including information storageand retrievaldevicesor systems,without prior written permissionfrom the publisher,exceptthat brief passages may be quoted for reviews. Firstprinting.Printedin U.S.A. Publishedsimultaneouslyin Canada. TIME-LIFE is a trademarkof Time WarnerInc. U.S.A. R 1 0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 r

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CONTENTS 6 INTRODUCTION 12 FINISH CARPENTRYBASICS 14 Finishcarpentrytools 16 Basiccuts 20 22 23 30 33

MOLDING Molding styles Baseboard Chair and picture rails Crown molding

38 40 42 46 52

PANELING Panelingstyles Tongue-and-groovewainscoting Frame-and-panelwainscoting Paneledceilings

56 58 59 6I 69 75 81

WINDOWS Basicwindow trim styles Installingwindows Picture-framecasing Stool-and-aproncasing Making a window sash A glazingbar half-lapjoint

84 DOORS 86 Anatomv of a door 8 8 Toolsand door hardware 90 Frame-and-panel doors jambs 95 Door 100 Hanginga door r07 Locksets II4 116 118 I23 I28 I32 136

STAIRS Anatomyof a staircase The stringers Treadsand risers Newelposts Handrails Balusters

I4O GLOSSARY 142 INDEX 144 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

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HOWI BLIILD DOORS

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hardwooddoorsfor a living,but no matterhowmany $ makecustom,high-quality A doorsI see.I alwaysmarvelat the craftmanshio involved:Thewaya door maker canbringout thewoodgrainby usingquarter;wn boards,for eximpie,or how joinerymakesa joint thatwon'topenup for 100yearsor themortise-and-tenon the craftmanship tirat alwavsstrikesme. more.But there'ssomethinselsebesides Englishcastleor a modIt doesn'tmatterwhetherit'ia thickoakdooron a medievai assembly with a delicatearchingsash.In someway,all doorsare ern stained-glass justbeyondtheturn magic,offeringusthepossibiltyof mysteryor theunexpected, oftheknob. I uselocalwood I buildmy doorsmuchasdoorbuildersof old worked,Forstarters, thathasbeencut andmilledbywoodmenI know Whenthefelledtreesarelyingin I climboverthelogsandselectprimepiecesfor milling.Thoserough freshstacks, boardsarelaterdroppedoff at my shop-a stonestructurethat I built myselfin mill themto revealtheiruniquegrainpatruralNewHampshire-whereI carefully terns.I selectthefinestsoecimens andthendrv themin a solarkiln that I alsoconthatgivesoptimumstabilityto structed.Afterproperaginganddrying-a process the wood-I finallybring into my shopa pieceof woodthat probablyhasbeen touchedby only a coupleofpeoplesinceit stoodasa treein theforest. Cherryandoakaremy favoritewoods,andtheygrowwonderfullystrongin the andno matterhow areawhereI live.Theirgrainpatternsareinvariablyspectacular, manytimesI assemble a door-typically I workfrom customdesignplans,soevery a thrillwhenI pullthernilledboardsout of theplanoneis unique-thereisalways er andmarvelat theDatternthat is revealed. my doors,I relyon powThoughI usemanytraditionalhandtoolsto assemble Tolerances of %' inchin door er toolsto gettheprecisionmy clientscometo expect: piecessuchasstiles,rails,andpanelsarecolnmonin my shop. I amproudof whatI produce,andit'sneverboring.Therangeof stylesthatpeoplelook for in customdoorsalwayskeepsme on my toes,alwaysdoingsomething interesting. WhetherI'm workingwith a localblacksmithto fabricatesomewroughtgeometryof cutiron hir-rges for a Tudor-style dooror figuringout thecomplicated ting centerovalsin a doorthat'stakenmea weekto complete,I neverhavea dull day. iswhentheprocess comesto an end.Thesedoors TheonlythingI find disagreeable overto make aresomethingI havepouredmy heartinto, somethingI've sweated beautiful.I justhateto seethemgo.

CustontDoors,a GrontTayloris theownerofLamson-Taylor Taylor two-person shopin SouthAcworth,NewHantpshire. NorthAmerica. hasbuih cltstomdoorsfor hotrses throughout

INTRODUCTION

Ion Eakeson

MAKINGTRIM ANDMOLDING J waked in and I knewwithin two minutesthat this wasa quality-builthouse.It I wasa modestsplit-level-no vaultedceilings,no spectacular centerpiece. In fact "outstanding." therewasnothing Eventhe trim wassimpleand unobtrusive,but a closelook aroundthe windowsshowedprecisemiteredanglesandno signof nails. It wasthe trim aroundthe bottom of the wall that saidthe most:tight cornersand carefullyconstructedreturns.Veryfewpeoplebotherto do that today. Tiim andmoldingswereoncethemostobviouspart of both furnitureandhouse interior finishing.Thereweresimplemechanicalreasonswhy mostof it hasdisappearedtoday.Thebeautyandcreativityof moldingdesignswasan outgrowthof the needto hide constructionjoints aswell asjunctionsbetweendifferentmaterials. Modern materialshavechangedall that.With drywallreturnson windowsand taperedcorners,manymodernhousesnow usetrim onlyto hidethedoorframesand the intersectionbetweenwallsand floors. Wecanbemoanthe sterilizedlook of particleboardfurnitureandbox-likehouses-or we canseethe absenceof joints asliberatingmolding from its mechanical needto hide something,allowingits shapeand placementto be determinedsolely by our estheticdesires. Makingyour own moldingsis oneof themostsatisfyingwaysof lettingyour creativity showin your woodworking.Althoughrouterscaneasilydecorateedgesand with a bit of work evenmakefull moldings,it is the tablesawoutfittedwith a threeblademoldingheadthat canreallyproduce.In my experience thekeysto success in makingmoldingor trim on a tablesawarevery simple: . Usevery sharpknives. . Usewood that is eitherflat or easilypressedflat on the table. . Usefirm hold-downsthat preventvibration. . Advancethe wood just fastenoughto preventburningbut just slowlyenough "waves" to avoid on the faceof thewood. Honing your molding knivesfor that very cleancut is easierthan it may seem. Nevertry sharpeningthe curvedend:Youwon't getall threeto match.Layeachknife flat on a very flat sharpeningstoneand grind the entiresideof the knife,the same lengthof time for eachone.Youwon't makeit much thinnerbut you will honethe cuttingedgeand keepall threebladesexactlythe sameshapeand lengh.

lon Eakeshas beena cabinetmakerand customrenovator in Montreal, Canadafor more than 20 years. He is known primarily for his teachingthrough books, videos,radio, and the TV showRenovationZone.

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CHALLE,NGE OF BI.]ILDING STAIRS

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, learnedstairbuilding thewirymostof us do-fron-rbooksancltrial anclerror. Honever, thebooksof 30yearsagousuallycoverecl suchsubjects eitherrvithrudil-nentary abruptness or arcaneterminologv. Neitherapproach nreanc'lI satisfied haveconreto understaud that thereis r.noreto considerthantheclbviolrs fr.rnction of delivering peoplefromoneelevation to another. A gracefirl isoneof themostprominentarchitecturirl staircase features in a home anda showcirse of a u,oodworker's talents. Thecareandpatience thatgointobuilding stairsmtrybeon displavfor 100yearsandnot easilyremodeled or repaired. A staircase mustbemaderocksolid,asit will serve asrrplilyground, slide,anciracervay for cl-rilclren. A stairbuilder mustbearvirre thirtusers become physically attunedto tl-restairs. Our legsquicklypick Lrpa rhythmfor trsetof stairs,rvhichafteroneor trvostepsallorvs r"rs to negotiate therestwithouta1l-absorbing attention. \\hen facedwiththeseconceurs, it is notsurprising thatnor,ice carpeuters shvalvay fl'ombr-rilding arstairway. A minormiscalculation canresultin onestepbeingout of synclvith the restandevenif not discernable visually,it mayresultin a stumble for theul-rwarv. But not to ivorry.AlthoughstairbLril