Pinning tall narrow mouldings

[louisesimon]

Good afternoon, the moulding I'm struggling with in particular is Rose and Hollis A140, I use a Cassese cs88 foot operated underpinnner, and I am rarely able to stack wedges in it without them breaking through the sides of the frame. Any advice much appreciated.

[Gus]

I don't have a catalogue in front of me, but assuming it is bare wood and going to be finished in some way (stain/paint/wax etc) then I would try drilling and nailing in at the sides - with smallest nail you can get - then fill the slight hole, sand and finish.

Use wire cutters/pliers to cut the head off the nail first and a punch to drive the nail below the surface so it's easy to fill.

[prospero]

Yes it is a skinny one isn't it. Forget trying to stack wedges into it. You are going to have to cross nail it.

I would do it like this: Put a shallow wedge in - toward the inside. This will hold the bottom and keep the joint aligned while you put the nails in.
A miter vice or strap clamp is handy at this point. Strap clamp is preferable as you can clamp all four corners at once and you can leave it clamped while the glue sets if practical.
Drill a couple of pilot holes near the top (staggered, so they don't intersect) and tap some thin veneer pins in. 20mm ones should do it. Tip: Don't knock one in fully and then the other. Tap both in nearly all the way and then finish them off in turn. Use a punch to sink them slightly. If you do one at a time fully then you can get the joint going out of alignment.

[pramsay13]

If I am using a tall skinny moulding I pin it the same way I do plastic mouldings. So I glue it and hold it together for longer, around 30 seconds, then my first stack goes near the front, and I stack the full number. The next stack goes no further back than the middle of the moulding and I don't go any higher than 3 high as they will come through.

[louisesimon]

Thanks Prospero, tapping the pins in at the same time makes sense. I'll give it a go tomorrow. I'm finding the narrow mouldings very popular at the moment, shame there's no aluminium ones that are narrow and able to take a spacer.

[Not your average framer]

I have just looked up that moulding in an old Rose and Hollis catalogue that I keep at home. In this old catalogue this moulding is available in Ash, Beech and Oak.

Personally, I would not even try stacking wedges in that particular moulding in any of those wood combinations. My preferred course of action would be to glue the mitres with Araldite (not Araldite Rapid) and as already suggested join each corner with one wedge only (close to the rebate) and clamp in a band clamp with the araldite sets fully (at least 24 hrs). Then drill and pin as already suggested.

Renaissance Mouldings and (if I remember rightly?) Wessex Pictures / Frinton Mouldings and perhaps Mainline Mouldings have a range Oak veneered mouldings, (probably on obeche?) Assuming that one of these suppliers has an appropriate profile, then this could be an alternative solution to the problem.