On 11/3/2014 7:08 AM, Sonny wrote:
On Sunday, November 2, 2014 4:51:59 PM UTC-6, Leon wrote:

Well I sure wanted the towers to stand by them selves but the customer
wanted crown molding, and that was a good thing for appearances sake. I
did not want to have to deal with attaching the crown to the towers
after delivery as something would have gone wrong. ;~) Rather than
leave it up to chance I make it all one unit.

I like it. Always, nice job.

Thank you!


As for as molding vs separate crown: A design idea - a separate crown, not permanately attached to the towers, etal., but just sits on top, held in position with non-glued dowels, pins or a recessed fitting, of some sort; If the SketchUp mantle pic is correct, matching the crown's design, to the mantle, would have coordinated the overall view of the two. Would the mantle/surround happen to be made of white oak, also (just wondering)?

With building this particular project I did see how I could have
probably built the crown assembly as a separate unit. I typically build
my crowns up as layers of strips of wood. This particular crown was a 3
pieces attached to a base cap. I probably would screw it to attach,
there are several screws holding this all together with the smaller two
strips, part of the crown, hiding the screws.

As for matching the mantle, this piece also is relatively close to the
kitchen, which has another style crown altogether. She was not wanting
to match so much as just have a crown top. The mantel is painted white
as is the fireplace. The piece I built blends well with the floor and
wall color.



I would have had confidence in your work, Leon, not to have had anything go "wrong" with either an attached crown or a separate crown. I would think, though, the assembling of the additional (and awkward?) weight of a separate crown, that high up, would be a bit of a task, even with a little help. Though I have not built it yet, I'm anticipating this kind of assembly difficulty with the separate crown for my entertainment center, 12' long and about 24" deep, even with the expected help I hope to get.

The top cabinets were sitting on the floor when I attached the crown,
the top is approximately 55" up from the floor. Attaching the crown was
easy at the height. The crown is rock solid and you can actually lift
the upper cabinet assembly by the crown.

My thought was that if I separated and reassembled the 3 top cabinet
units that there might be some displacement somewhere and getting the
crown, a separate unit to fit might be problematic, something I do not
want to tackle at a customers home. Through the years of delivering
pieces that I have built I steer more towards getting in and getting
out. I would much rather tackle a logistics problem at my shop than in
front of the customer.

Good luck with your endeavor.

Sonny