# Need advice on making back band for window/door casing.



## RickDel (Mar 14, 2009)

Hello, I’m building up my window and door casings so they extend beyond the chair rail. I’m thinking of adding/making a ‘back band’ similar to these:


























I’m not sure, but the painted casing doesn't appear to overlap like most other back band moldings I’m seeing online.

I’m not very experienced so can you guys offer some advice on making this, especially the profiles and which bits to use? Here’s my materials and their dimensions:

*My casing:*

Width – 3.25

Thickness - 0.6875










*My Bead board: *

Georgia Pacific Ply Bead Panels

1.6" on-center beaded patterns 

4' x 8' panels are shiplapped on the 8' edges to virtually hide seams 

Available in 11/32" thickness (0.34375)











*My Chair Rail Molding:*

Thickness - 0.688











I’m thinking of making a simple back band 1” wide with a .25 inch overlapping the casing (.75 between the casing and the bead board). The last portion of the casing profile is .5 wide, so I intend to overlap it .25 and leave a .25 reveal. 

If possible, I’m trying to keep the profile no more then 1” wide because I only have 1.75 from my window casing to the edge of the stool, so adding .75 from the casing to the bead board will leave a 1 inch reveal on the ends, which if I read correctly is the proper amount of reveal. 

Here’s a great link that shows several back band profiles, but since I’m trying to keep it within 1” I’ve only selected a couple simple profiles I think could work. I'm thinking I want the back band to be the width of the chair rail and bead board, plus a .16 reveal, which totals approx 1 1/16”. These profiles are both wider than 1" so if possible I'll have to modify them a little (or extend it out a little farther and cut into my 1" window stool reveal). 

Here’s the Back Band Profiles I think could work: 

































Questions:

1. Is adding a 1” wide back band wide enough for the .5 thickness increase I’m trying to accomplish, of should it be wider? (the casing will total 4” inches wide after adding the back band but the thickness/depth will increase a half inch in last inch of the casing….. is this change in depth too drastic?) 

2. I really need stock 1” wide x 1” thick to make the profile, but I can’t find anything other then 1x (.75 thick) at Lowes, so can I glue two pieces of 1x together and rip it down? I’m thinking I can glue it together and then sand the outer edge to blend the seam.

Please feel free to critique my plans and offer alternate solutions. ANY details on how to make a professional looking back band that blends smoothly and gives the depth I need to stay proud of the chair rail is GREATLY appreciated. Thanks!!


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## RickDel (Mar 14, 2009)

Hmmmm, my pictures didn't post.... Not sure why??

Update: added them again, so I hope they're visable now.


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## jschaben (Jun 21, 2009)

Hi Rick - I don't know a lot about backbanding but it looks to me like you have the thing pretty well thought out. For the backbanding looks like you are using a ogee or classical which is a nice choice, in my opinion. As far as the baseboard, you could use almost any molding bit that strikes you. Heres a relatively inexpensive set, unless you already have one you liike:
5 pc 1/2" Shank Specialty Molding #2 Router Bit Set - eBay (item 130409731365 end time Jul-19-10 20:23:28 PDT)
Good Luck. 
Nuts, save the pic off the internet, came through kinda small. The link will give you better pics plus cutting lengths, radii, profiles, etc.


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## RickDel (Mar 14, 2009)

Thanks John.... I actually bought that set back when I purchased my router. Though, I'm not going to be doing the base. I'm using the 3.25 casing I already have and plan to add a back band to make it extend beyond the chair rail. 

Thanks for the back band router bit suggestions. I was thinking ogee too!! (I'm still VERY, VERY new to using my router, but I'm glad to see I was thinking the same as a more experience person).


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## jschaben (Jun 21, 2009)

RickDel said:


> Thanks John.... I actually bought that set back when I purchased my router. Though, I'm not going to be doing the base. I'm using the 3.25 casing I already have and plan to add a back band to make it extend beyond the chair rail.
> 
> Thanks for the back band router bit suggestions. I was thinking ogee too!! (I'm still VERY, VERY new to using my router, but I'm glad to see I was thinking the same as a more experience person).


Hi - I just took a closer look at your drawings. The RM-404 may give you some problems. Looks to me like you are trying to cram a lot of profiling into an 1/8" of vertical space. That is if the numbers aren't typo's.


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## RickDel (Mar 14, 2009)

Yeah, I see what you mean. Although, those back band drawling aren't mine, they are just pics from a site that sells back band (link). I posted the those two back band moldings because they seem basic enough that I think I can make a simple profile in a small area. The dimensions of the picture and the actual profile I want to make are going to be slightly different, because I only have 3/4" between my existing casing and the beadboard.

For example: I want a 1 1/16 thickness/depth, and a 1" total width (with 1/4" overlapping the casing). Since the casing is 3/4" I should really have 1/4" of material above the casing to cut a profile, NOT 1/8. (At least this is what I'm thinking, but I could be wrong. I've made it so complicated that I'm actually confusing myself). 

Thanks


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## jschaben (Jun 21, 2009)

RickDel said:


> Yeah, I see what you mean. Although, those back band drawling aren't mine, they are just pics from a site that sells back band (link). I posted the those two back band moldings because they seem basic enough that I think I can make a simple profile in a small area. The dimensions of the picture and the actual profile I want to make are going to be slightly different, because I only have 3/4" between my existing casing and the beadboard.
> 
> For example: I want a 1 1/16 thickness/depth, and a 1" total width (with 1/4" overlapping the casing). Since the casing is 3/4" I should really have 1/4" of material above the casing to cut a profile, NOT 1/8. (At least this is what I'm thinking, but I could be wrong. I've made it so complicated that I'm actually confusing myself).
> 
> Thanks


Hi Rick, my opinion, I think you got a handle on it. Go for it and post some pics


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## jlord (Nov 16, 2009)

jschaben said:


> Hi - I just took a closer look at your drawings. The RM-404 may give you some problems. Looks to me like you are trying to cram a lot of profiling into an 1/8" of vertical space. That is if the numbers aren't typo's.


I think the profile on the RM-404 is more like 1/2" not 1/8" (1-3/16" minus 11/16" = 1/2"). The total finish piece is 1-5/16"w x 1-3/16"h.


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