Easy & FAST install of Crown Molding

[walter cruse]

          With 30yrs. experience as a builder I have chased the process of Better, Faster, Easier every day I work, with that said I got the FESTOOL bug about A year & half ago and
man, working with these tools has made work fun again. + (much more professional results)  THANKS FESTOOL.

          I want to pass along to my fellow festool friends my technique for installing crown, I"m very particular to build everything square,however we all know that with drywall
corners (inside & outside) the mud process  & other reasons you always have to tweak & compensate for this. I"ve tried every method I have read , every gauge & some gimmicks
all with subpar results.

          I come up with this method the old fashion way (trial & error) and I should take pictures but I will try to explain. I very seldom ever check to see if a corner is (in or out of perfect)

          First thing, with the same crown thats to be used, make a pair for each type of corner in the room (90/45/ inside-outside ect.) I make these exactly 6" long and perfect true miters.
6" is important for a later step.  take your pair to the corner & fit together till your miter matches perfect, this will require you to roll one or sometimes both to compensate for your (+ or -)
that your corner is out.

            Once you have a perfect fit on the standard miter cuts,  hold in position and with a sharp pencil mark  both pieces at the 6" ends & also a lite mark either on wall or ceiling to reference
your position, do this for all corners in room.

            Now the beauty of the marks ( the 6" marks) burn 12 " at one mark & measure to the other & you have the exact length corner to corner , much more accurate than measuring to the corners.

            I know some will say coping is the only way to go, (did that for years) compaired to this method very slow and I hate coping,

            This is not 100% all the time ( if your corners are way out ,plan b of bisecting the corners is your only option, however this method works mostly every time.

            Hope this makes sense & helps to make more money (to buy more FESTOOL)

          Walter Cruse

 

[peter halle]

Walter,

Welcome to the forum and thank you for sharing your experience.  I hope you will stick around and share even more.

Peter

 

[Chris Hughes]

I use a simular technique.  I found a long time ago it is easier to pre-build my corners.  I use a bevel to read the corner to now cut the parts open, close or at zero.  I use crown clamps and glue to fix the parts together and after a few  minutes pin the corner to the wall.  If in a run I have both inside and out side corners I pre-build the inside first, it is easier to adjust an outside corner on the ladder.

 

[justinmcf]

hi walter and welcome to the forum.

thanks for sharing your experiences here, i also install crown moulding the exact same way.

however, i dont get much opportunity to install it here in queensland.
i did install a lot of moulding when i was serving my apprentice ship in ireland and when i lived in sydney.

here in australia, most builders use the moulding which is made from the same material as drywall/ plasterboard, or as it commonly known here...gyprock.
i never install cornice now, it is always installed by the drywall/plasterboard company.

different strokes for different folks!

all the best, justin.