Scratch Stick Molding

[jteneyck]

I got a call last week from a lady who bought a house in Niagara Falls with good bones.  That's a nice way of saying a real fixer upper.  Built in 1920, tudor style.  She and her husband are rehabbing it themselves with the intention of selling it and moving back to FL.  I'm not sure how much hubby is doing but this girl was all in.  She had the ceiling in the kitchen torn out doing duct work and plumbing to the bathroom above, drywall work in other rooms, had put in a new floor in another room, had restored and remounted the mantle above the fireplace that she found in the attic, and had stripped a lot of the original red oak molding downstairs.  Oh, and she works 2 jobs, too, and has a kid.  

She had widened the doorway between the kitchen and dining room, and had reused the moldings on the sides but needed new pieces of matching molding to fit over the top.  She got to me from another person I had done work for in NF. 

The cap molding was easily made on the tablesaw and router table.  The main piece, however, had a profile that I did not have a router bit for, and for which may not exist, nor did i have a molding knife that matched, so I decided to make a scratch stick to cut it.  Here's what the original molding looked like (this one's pine, but the one she needed is oak):



I used a piece of metal from a joist hanger to fashion a scratch stick to match that profile on the left edge.  I used my chainsaw chain sharpener, a bench grinder, and files to shape it. 



Then I made a little cradle to hold the scratch stick so it couldn't slip left/right and to limit the depth of cut. 



I defined the deep part of the molding with a cut on the TS, and cut a rabbet to define the tongue on the left edge, then tilted the blade and cut off some of the waste to reduce the amount the scratch stick had to remove. 

I took about 15 minutes of work for the scratch stick to do the 8' long piece.  I had a pretty good head of steam worked up when it was done.



And here are the two pieces of new molding.



I think she'll be pleased.  And I think she may be calling me again in the near future with more work.  

Hope you enjoyed that.

John

[Woodworm!]

I got a call last week from a lady who bought a house in Niagara Falls with good bones.  That's a nice way of saying a real fixer upper.  Built in 1920, tudor style.  She and her husband are rehabbing it themselves with the intention of selling it and moving back to FL.  I'm not sure how much hubby is doing but this girl was all in.  She had the ceiling in the kitchen torn out doing duct work and plumbing to the bathroom above, drywall work in other rooms, had put in a new floor in another room, had restored and remounted the mantle above the fireplace that she found in the attic, and had stripped a lot of the original red oak molding downstairs.  Oh, and she works 2 jobs, too, and has a kid.  

She had widened the doorway between the kitchen and dining room, and had reused the moldings on the sides but needed new pieces of matching molding to fit over the top.  She got to me from another person I had done work for in NF. 

The cap molding was easily made on the tablesaw and router table.  The main piece, however, had a profile that I did not have a router bit for, and for which may not exist, nor did i have a molding knife that matched, so I decided to make a scratch stick to cut it.  Here's what the original molding looked like (this one's pine, but the one she needed is oak):



I used a piece of metal from a joist hanger to fashion a scratch stick to match that profile on the left edge.  I used my chainsaw chain sharpener, a bench grinder, and files to shape it. 



Then I made a little cradle to hold the scratch stick so it couldn't slip left/right and to limit the depth of cut. 



I defined the deep part of the molding with a cut on the TS, and cut a rabbet to define the tongue on the left edge, then tilted the blade and cut off some of the waste to reduce the amount the scratch stick had to remove. 

I took about 15 minutes of work for the scratch stick to do the 8' long piece.  I had a pretty good head of steam worked up when it was done.



And here are the two pieces of new molding.



I think she'll be pleased.  And I think she may be calling me again in the near future with more work.  

Hope you enjoyed that.

John

Excellent

[Steve N]

Old hand saw blades, card scrapers, or metal like the framing hardware you used can all be used, and it's more fun making it, then using one that's pre-made. Files, grinders, and anything that can cut, or depress metal is fair game. Big fun too, just make sure you have some good goggles, or a face shield to protect those eyes when making the form into the metal.

[Duane N]

Very nice work from start to finish.  Amazing what can be accomplished with some thought.

[Tony Z]

Nice job!

[stav]

Awesome. I never would have thought of that.

[Hank Knight]

Nice job, John. A scratch stick is just a click or two up there technology scale from a rock. It's amazing what you can do with such a simple tool.

[Dave Diaman]

I have a big stack of card scraper stock that I use for exactly that purpose. Sometimes if I’m copying a molding from an original that is the only way to get it dead on without having a knife custom made for my shaper. Typically I use a combination of metal shears, my grinder and files to get the profile right. It is also a nice way to smooth out moldings that were cut using a router or shaper. I have a whole bunch of various shapes I keep in a drawer for my most commonly used profiles.

[Stwood_]

[Steve N]

Just a heads up to anyone interested in making a scratch stock or 5. Dominic (Blacky's Boy) is selling card scrapers, and scratch stock. Awesome prices, excellent quality, and a trustworthy seller, can't miss with this stock. I get nothing for saying this, just one of many satisfied buyers.


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