# Making Dentil Molding



## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

A week ago I went through all the jigs I had and threw most of them out. One of them was a home made finger joint jig that did work okay but I got a New Ibox jig for Christmas so I didn`t need it anymore. But I thought first I`ll make some dentil molding with it. The process for finger joints and dentil molding is very nearly identical except that the spaces between the teeth aren`t necessarily equal to the width of the teeth so you don`t need a key way like you do in making finger joints. Actually for either one all you need is a stop in the right place but the key way is better insurance of making the cut in the right place for the finger joints.

For a stop I thought a drill bit would work as well as anything else so I just drilled one into the jig and then left it in it. One of the photos shows the original jig with UHMW runners and what happens to UHMW when it isn`t supported- it curls. It also shows the key in place. The next photo shows the key removed and the drill bit instead. Another photo shows the first attempt with just straight teeth. I thought for the second try I would bevel the edge first and that gave another slightly fancier variation. 

For the third attempt I wanted to bevel the cut so I needed to make the jig so I could angle the board as it was going through. I did that by quickly swapping the UHMW for some wooden runners and attached a bar across them away from the main jig body a few inches so that I could rest the bottom edge of the board against it to keep the same angle as the board went through. The stop pin needed to be changed to the bar attached to the runners so I drove another drill bit in and left it in just like before. The last photo shows all 3 variations and the jig set up for the bevel cut.

I have no idea just how many variations of dentil molding there are but its a lot so 3 attempts only scratches the surface but it`s fairly easy to make and dentil molding can really add nice detail to some pieces of woodworking.


----------



## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

I lie it...
gotta love the KISS/MISS...


----------



## hawkeye10 (Jul 28, 2015)

I made this clock that has dental molding. I used my bandsaw with a stop so I wouldn't go to deep. Is there a better way to do it "you bet". This is just the way I did it.


----------



## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

and it cam out looking mighty fine...


----------



## Shop guy (Nov 22, 2012)

Nice looking clock


----------



## hawkeye10 (Jul 28, 2015)

Thanks guys but I just wanted to tell how I did it.


----------



## Nickp (Dec 4, 2012)

Charles...I surely hope you consulted the penultimate authoritative reference guide thread (sled runners) before attempting that most difficult and complex task of swapping your runners... :dance3:

(Okay...now I will go to the boo-boo corner) :crying:


Nice tutorial, by the way...thanks for sharing your jig's retirement...it went out in a blaze of glory, for sure...


----------



## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

Nick I have to admit that I cheated and just winged it. Worse yet, I already had one cut that I found laying on my backup saw made out of birch but I cut the other one out of pine so they didn`t even match!"


----------



## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

hawkeye10 said:


> Thanks guys but I just wanted to tell how I did it.


Quite right Don. A similar jig to mine would also work on a router table so that`s already 3 ways and I would imagine in the old days they cut the sides by hand and chiseled out the waste so that`s 4 ways. Dentil molding looks really good under crown molding on things like clocks, mantles, and hutches as your photo demonstrates.

If I were going to use a router I think I might use a quarter inch sacrificial board on the front side of the wood too to prevent chipping the teeth. Since one side of the bit is facing out during the cut, that side would be prone to tearing out.

Another thing I forgot to mention is always make an extra couple of teeth long because the ends have to be trimmed equally so that there is the same amount of tooth on each end. If not it will look like hell.


----------



## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

Cherryville Chuck said:


> Nick I have to admit that I cheated and just winged it. Worse yet, I already had one cut that I found laying on my backup saw made out of birch but I cut the other one out of pine so they didn`t even match!"


oh the disgrace of it...
done w/o turmoil...


----------

