I found this article a while ago about cutting crown moulding. http://www.dewalt.com/us/articles/article.asp?Site=woodworking&ID=2

After reading it I decide I would give crown moulding a bit of a shot in my house. This is the second time I had tried to do crown moulding. The first time was disaster cause I had no idea what I was doing and no where to start. Once I read the article and made a few miss cuts I had it down decent. I only had to do 6 joints so I would say I am still very green in doing crown moulding. Im sure next time I will get better as I go.

Hope this article helps someone try to do some crown on there own. Also Home Depot and Lowes are crazy expensive for there moulding. If you are getting a few feet but if you get a bunch shop around. My baseboards and door casing at home depot would have run about $1400 just for the material. A supply house I got it for under $500.

...nice writeup...sometime i will share some pics of what i put together with you...
...btw, ganahl usually has it alot cheaper than home depot for the primed material...;)

build yourself a router table, buy some cool bits, and make your own crown moldings!

No Ganahl lumbers down in San Diego. We have Dixieline instead. They still want over buck a foot for the baseboard I used. I think I paid 68 cents a lineal foot for the 5 1/2" base I used and 49 cents for the casing. I grabbed the crown at home depot and it was $1.40 a foot. If I would have needed more then about 30' then I would have gone elsewhere to get it. One thing about buying at Home depot, sense they sell by the foot if you measure out all the pieces you need at home you can rough cut them to within an inch of what you need at the store so you don't have to buy any scrap. Makes their price a little more reasonable.

Post up some of your work Tbars4. I always like to see other peoples work so I can get ideas for myself. Also do you cope or miter your inside corners?

...miter only...i used to cope many years ago but people can't afford it...it is becoming a lost art...so is custom hanging, custom doors...i will post some install pics in a bit, mainly cabinets, but i got a few of light well stacks i will share...my crown pics look like everyone elses...;)

...here's a few of diff lite well boxes and a custom little fireplace i made but the owner did not want fluted sides....:dunno:
...note the use of crown at the floor of the fireplace hearth...;)

http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/9910/tyscrown009boq7.jpg
http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/5382/tyscrown003byy0.jpg
http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/9056/monteafter018bqv0.jpg
http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/327/cisnafamroomfinal041tn0.jpg

....and a couple more of my projects... don't tell anyone, my specialty is structural framing, so be easy on me...:D

...btw, can you guess which pic i did the tile work on??? :scratch:

http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/4871/desertkitchen1zb5.jpg
http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/2291/rickinstall2008bfa7.jpg
http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/5412/cisnatile007buc1.jpg
http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/9503/bessigger017bzi4.jpg

...if you want more or have a need for a certain type of picture not shown here, let me know...:D

http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/327/cisnafamroomfinal041tn0.jpg

Yea, I like that fireplace. Is that a tile or stone in there?

...i custom built everything, including the cabinets in that room and i also laid the floor....i did the tile on the fireplace with tile supplied by the owner....the tile, a travertine, came from lowes and i believe they still carry it...i have a sample piece i can give you to match if you wish...

Ah, I'm thinking of re-building my fireplace mantle with a black soapstone, and I need ideas on what to do for the sides and such.

...you can actually router or grind it for a quarter round and finish it off with 400-600 grit sand paper...

Very nice work!:thumbsup:

...thanks, thats what we do when we aren't playing with the trucks...:D

How much does a fire place mantle like this cost?

...it's a bit...had to frame and redhead the deck first, all solid real maple, every piece, custom color match stain, and aplique, it was about 1200 plus 300 for tile install...now mind you, this is in a very exclusive neighborhood and i was about half of the other bids...but then again, an average 1 bed apt. out here right now goes for about 1600 a month, so things cost more out here...

...a couple more detail shots of the fireplace wood work...again, i usually put fluting on the front so this is a simple version...;)

http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/4720/cisnafamroomfinal032ai7.jpg
http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/761/cisnafamroom021ls0.jpg