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Regulator Clock – Stick Mouldings

October 9, 2017 by Bob 5 Comments

Gratitude: Matthew Bickford’s book

photo of a pile of shavingsThe last mouldings to be shaped are only two sticks. Neither is particularly difficult. Yet both have 90° coves. Matthew advocates the technique of using a rabbet to hog out waste and maybe more importantly provide some “guide rails” for easy control of the round plane. His suggestion is to make a rabbet with arrises about 5/8 the width of the plane. That works for coves up to about 60°. For coves larger than 60°, he suggests using two (or more) rabbets.

Taking a queue from the way Matthew illustrates the techniques, here are two illustrations showing the rabbet cutting schedule that removes most of the waste before reaching for a moulding plane. Brown shows the desired profile. The blues show the rabbets. There’s a turquoise pass that leaves a chamfer to guide a small hollow plane. White shows the work left for the moulding planes; not much; saves frequent sharpening.

patterns for cutting rabbets

It worked out very well. The simpler profile calls for a 3/4 inch radius, which in a perfect world would be shaped with a #12 round. The closest I have in my mongrel set is a #11, which worked out OK. The other profile wants a 5/8 inch radius cove, which would be a #10. My closest choice was a #9, and it too worked out well. The bead is 1/4 inch radius and I actually have a #4 hollow which did the job amazingly quick.

Planes used include a snipes-bill, which I  have really come to enjoy as a starter for the rabbets, my ancient wooden rabbet plane, a #9 round, #11 round, and #4 hollow. A few short minutes to sharpen the collection before starting made this work very enjoyable and left me a pile of gorgeous shavings.

Next is to cut these and assemble two beautiful stacks of mouldings.

photo of moulding with rabbets cut
photo of completed moulding
photo of completed moulding

Didn’t get much further because I stopped to build one of these:

… and to write a book review about Mary May’s new book.

Other articles in this series...

  • Regulator Clock – Done
  • Regulator Clock – Woodworking completed
  • Regulator Clock – Scratching the frames
  • Regulator Clock – Door Hinged
  • Regulator Clock – Case Dry Fitted
  • Regulator Clock – Jelly Side Down
  • Regulator Clock – Case Frames - 2
  • Regulator Clock – Glass - 2
  • Regulator Clock – Case Frames - 1
  • Regulator Clock – The Works work
  • Regulator Clock – Glass
  • Regulator Clock – Tongue & Groove planes
  • Regulator Clock – Completed Mouldings
  • Regulator Clock - Stick Mouldings
  • Regulator Clock - Plate Mouldings
  • Regulator Clock - Egg and Dart Moulding
  • Regulator Clock - Eat Dessert First
  • Regulator Clock - original description
  • Regulator Clock – Stock Prep
  • Regulator Clock – Plans for Moldings
  • Taming the Rabbet

Filed Under: Clocks, Woodcarving, Woodworking

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Matt McGrane says

    October 9, 2017 at 1:12 pm

    Nicely done, Bob. I can really appreciate the moulding process now.

    Reply
    • Bob says

      October 9, 2017 at 6:49 pm

      Thanks Matt!
      Keep havin’ fun.

      Reply
  2. Rich says

    November 1, 2017 at 10:04 am

    Your mouldings are great sir ! One question ( forgive me if it’s dumb, I’m new to mouldings by hand ! )
    When cutting the rabbets, which rabbet do you cut first, the one closest to edge and work in or work progressively downwards ?

    Reply
    • Bob says

      November 1, 2017 at 1:41 pm

      Great question Rich! Not at all dumb. Sequence is sometimes important.

      I don’t think there is a correct answer. I’ve tried both ways, and both work. Yet, I have come to prefer starting with the rabbet farthest from the edge. Very often, that one is a critical shadow line that needs to be crisp. I like to do it first because that’s when I’ll be most attentive and careful. If attention strays and I get sloppy, the damage will be less on one of the other rabbets. Then, I work outward and down.

      Reply
  3. Rich says

    November 1, 2017 at 4:05 pm

    Ah I see, good logic starting with the most critical shadow line. That’s a nice tip. Thanks for the prompt and helpful reply Bob.

    Rich

    Reply

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