I started creating some more door moulding last night. Namely the entablatures for the second floor doorways.
I should note that I love Ken O’Brien’s web site, thejoyofmoldings.com. I’ve used it for inspiration for many years. Check it out, it’s worth it!
I’m a hobbyist woodworker, hence I have enough tools to do a few things myself. I like creating moulding, and it’s relatively easy with a table saw, miter saw and router table with a reasonable router. Ken likes to use MDF, and I do too, because it’s inexpensive and easy to form. The downside is that it’s not terribly durable; it won’t survive dings as well as solid oak (not even close), or even poplar or aspen. I don’t generally worry about such dings, except from vacuums. For that reason, I tend to use red oak shoe moulding, even if I’m going to paint it and use MDF baseboard. But it depends; if it’s simple quarter-round or similar, it can be MDF since I can repair it with Rock Hard Water Putty or even joint compound.
Anyway, my usual entablature at my current home is pretty simple. I start with 3/4″ thick MDF stock, and cut and route two pieces to make the cornice. The top one gets a classical ogie profile, the bottom gets a cove. Yes, I could buy cove moulding, but I find it easier and much nicer-looking to not make separate mitered returns. Here’s a picture of my cornice stack-up, upside down and fresh from the router table. Note that I made this one from finished MDF (intended for shelving) I had on hand instead of the usual primed MDF, hence the thickness to the existing white finish.
I don’t bother to sand at this point, in part because I don’t enjoy sanding bare MDF (it’s not very effective to do so). Instead, I go straight to priming the bare MDF with Zinsser B-I-N, which is shellac with white pigment.
I love Zinsser B-I-N and shellac in general for this purpose. It is a joy to sand, and since it dries incredibly fast, you can start sanding in about 15 minutes (sometimes less) with zero clogging of the sandpaper. I sand lightly with 220 grit, usually the 3M flexible paper (‘Pro Grade Precision Ultra’). Note that shellac sticks to just about everything, and is hence compatible with any paint. I always have Zinsser SealCoat (clear, dewaxed shellac) and Zinsser B-I-N on hand because it’s always part of my finishing process for interior pieces.
With some light sanding, I wind up with something like the photo below, which also has my frieze piece in the stack. The frieze is a single piece of 3/4″ x 3.5″ MDF with a bead routed about 1/2″ from what will be the bottom. Sometimes I create this in 2 pieces and use a bullnose bit to create a piece that’s larger than the frieze (known as ‘necking’), but the bead cut is faster and easier while still adding a nice detail. I’m creating these for 2nd floor hallway doors (three), so I’m OK without necking.
Assembly-wise, I glue and nail (18 gauge pneumatic nailer) the cove piece to the frieze, then glue and nail (again 18 gauge or pin nails) the ogie piece to the cove piece. Installing on the wall is just a matter of nailing through the frieze.
What I like about doing my entablatures in this manner: there are no miter joints to line up, and no miter joints that might separate from temperature and humidity changes. I’ve had entablatures in my home built this way for many years, and none of them have changed in any visible way. They look perfect forever.