I've noticed that many 18th- and early 19th-century period cornice moldings are single-piece sprung moldings glued to triangular full-length backing blocks. As an amateur and hobbyist maker of period furniture, I've assembling a good working collection of period hand tools and wooden molding planes. I've used these planes to make cornice moldings using the method described above but I'm not sure why early cabinetmakers used this method. Was it to save valuable mahogany? Some of these cornices were small enough that it seems the effort was not worth the trouble.
Some other things that became apparent to me (or rather, more questions):
1) Was it not easier to make the individual elements of a complex molding and then laminate the elemnets to make a "built-up" molding much as one would do today with a router table?
2) Were other moldings constructed in similar fashion such as the surbase and base moldings? It seems these were stuck individually when the design called for a complex profile?
3) How does one efficiently form the delicate bead at the base of many cornice moldings where, for example, a cove or an ovolo transitions into a bead (not an astragal). Scraping seems inefficient.
4) Did early cabinetmakers have several sizes of snipes and side rounds to work these difficult transitional areas mentioned above?
While I appreciate any comments, I'm particulary looking for advice using traditional tools and early cabinetmaking methods. Thanks.
Simon Stocker
Some other things that became apparent to me (or rather, more questions):
1) Was it not easier to make the individual elements of a complex molding and then laminate the elemnets to make a "built-up" molding much as one would do today with a router table?
2) Were other moldings constructed in similar fashion such as the surbase and base moldings? It seems these were stuck individually when the design called for a complex profile?
3) How does one efficiently form the delicate bead at the base of many cornice moldings where, for example, a cove or an ovolo transitions into a bead (not an astragal). Scraping seems inefficient.
4) Did early cabinetmakers have several sizes of snipes and side rounds to work these difficult transitional areas mentioned above?
While I appreciate any comments, I'm particulary looking for advice using traditional tools and early cabinetmaking methods. Thanks.
Simon Stocker