DIY Crown Molding Day 2: Making a Career Out of Ripping Three Boards

Tuesday a snow storm was rolling through Rochester on one of the coldest days of the year, so it seemed the perfect time to clear out the garage and set up my molding shop. No, I don’t keep space in the basement for this sort of thing. Garage shop = displaced cars in any weather.

The book said that I’d need backer boards on the ceiling to support the molding. Apparently it is “convenient” to rip 2×4′s at an angle so that you get twice the backer board for the least money. So I got out all of my tools, focusing the majority of my attention on Ye Olde Table Saw, an early 80′s Craftsman cast-steel behemoth that my father-in-law let me have. This saw weighs 100 pounds for sure, and with no wheels is like…

Kris moving his table saw.

Setting up the saw is a treat. The rip fence has to be attached to the table then positioned by measuring the distance from the blade. Next I had to raise the blade and then set it at a 45 degree angle, using super-human strength to turn the adjustment knobs that are frozen in place. I decided to run a little test board through first and flipped the makeshift on-off switch (a power strip lashed to the leg with some zip ties). The electric motor revved and the blade spun 2 or 3 times. Next I heard the electric motor-not-working noise before I heard a pop in the power strip. Reset the power strip, try again. Pop again… Alright I must not have enough juice to run the saw from the power strip, I’ll just direct connect the saw to the wall outlet. Bink! I heard a not-so-good noise, and the motor quit.

Well, I had popped a breaker. The same breaker onto which all of the basement electricity is connected, and therefore the entire Internet network for the house. So, I spent 20 minutes getting the Internet back up, and trying to figure out where I could get enough power to run the saw. I ended up finding a 20amp breaker to the mudroom off the garage. I ran an extension cord into the bathroom and finally got the saw to turn on. I’m now an hour into the project, and I have yet to cut even one board.

I’m ripping 12′ boards. I remember the horror stories from shop class where the teacher told us of a piece of wood hurling through the abdomen of a student because their saw bound while ripping. With this image in mind I took great care to set up supports on both side of the saw to set up the rip. There’s no safety cover on this widow-maker either, so I grabbed my guide stick. The first cut made it about half way down the board before the saw started to bind. I decided then to cut that part off and start the remaining 6ft from a fresh end. The rest of the rip went fine and I had my first lengths of wood 2 hours into the project.

The first backer board rip complete

Three feet into the second rip I could see a knot on the wood, but this novice had no idea what effect that would have. I figured I could take it real slow and power right through it. Nuh uh…the blade started to smoke, and then all of the sudden I saw a pulley rolling across the floor; then a high pitched whine; then another pulley rolling across the floor. Finally I was able to reach the kill switch to find out what had just happened. Basically the pulley holding the belt to the motor, the belt itself and the pulley holding the belt to the saw blade all fell apart under the pressure. I was left with a spinning electric motor screaming at me to shut it off. After a half-hour of monkeying around, I figured out that the saw was made to fall apart like this. I was able to screw the pulleys back on and reset the belt.

The first of 3 table saw explosions before I gave up

Here’s where my brain just exhibits no common sense. I figured it must have been a fluke that the saw exploded and went right about trying to cut through the knot again – same result. I was left with a pile of pulleys and belts for another 15 minute assembly job. This time I cut out the knot. 2 inches into the clean part of the wood, and the saw exploded again. That was ahem… IT for me.

With my patience wearing thin and the four letter words on the tip of my tongue I pulled out the circular saw. I clamped the last 2 boards to the table saw and went foot by foot with a saw the cut the wood like it was butter. Here’s some footage of the triumph, shot and narrated by my trusty assistant.

In the next installment of this gripping reality series, I’ll show you how we actually got to installing the wood in the room. Lest you feel that my projects are riddled with difficulty throughout every step, you’ll find that our Saturday labor was efficient and without incident. Pinch Me

DIY Crown Molding Project: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4,5 | Day 6