Wainscoting as one panel?

[myxpykalix]

As i'm sitting here waiting to play santa, I was mulling some ideas over for wainsoting. I have some questions that maybe you experienced millworkers might be able to answer.
Looking at the picture here what i see are several "elements".
1) You have the rails and stiles that make up the frame and the raised panel in the center.
2)You have the fluted 1/4 columns with the plinth blocks on top and bottom.
3) you have the dentil molding along with the chair rail.
Rather than make all those components I was wondering if the shopbot or specific software could design 2 to 3 panel sections on a solid piece of mdf and just attach it as a single 8' piece?
1)My thinking was (since i've never made wainscoting) that you would start with a solid piece of 3/4" mdf
2)Where you see the fluted columns the width might be 4" and you leave that thickness at 3/4".
3)Where you see the rails and stiles, and raised panel that could be rough cut down to 1/2" thickness.
4) Where you see the raised panel the "raised panel "grooves" could be milled down to 1/4" thickness.
I see several different toolpaths and bits here.
1) planing bit to get it to the correct thicknesses in the rough toolpass
2)corebox bit to make the flutes (a flat fluted panel might be easier to create) and the design on the plinth blocks
3) a Vbit to create the fake raised panel.

Has anyone made anything like this (or a fake raised panel door) design? Am I on the right track here? Are there things i haven't considered yet? Do you have any suggestions, tips, tutorials, files, anything that might get me in the right direction? Thanks!

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[cbradshaw]

Jack,

I have made this before, it is exactly what I have in my dining room, however I made it on my legacy woodworking machine. I have tried to make the rosettes and they should be very simple. Trust me it would a whole lot easier if you could macchine this in one piece on the shopbot.

[bleeth]

John: Search the forum for "free doors" and you will find a link to a program for shopbotters that will do the panels from MDF Developed by Mike Richards and Bruce Clark. Depending on what you want to do with the flutes, you may use the "Forney fluter" included in SB3,designed by John Forney. The rosettes, of course, are a piece requiring 3-d software. James Booth has a variety available quite inexpensively at his Vector Art 3-d site and offers a free milling software program for them. When I mill rosettes I go for a unique look that is obviously custom.
By milling the major parts (panels, flutes, rosettes)independently, and picking up stock moldings from your friendly neighborhood lumber supplier, you would save a great deal of time and expense, as well as much bit changing for each panel.

Dave

[ryan_slaback]

The only issue I can think of which would be a problem is your inability to get a perfect inside corner like you could get with the individual pieces. Whether anyone would ever look close enough to see that...I don't know.

[myxpykalix]

Carroll, I too have a legacy ornamental machine (900) and really didn't want to make the individual pieces and was hoping to try to design a single board. But the more i think about it, it seems like i could make 2 long rails for top and bottom, mill the flutes in the stiles (maybe on the legacy to get that quarter round look, do you have the pilaster mounting dogs?), make the raised panels but my confusion comes when I try to make the rosette design which sits higher than the surface of the flutes. I suppose i could make the rosettes seperate and then just attach them? There is no details on the legacy site about the millwork. Could i contact you and ask you some questions about it off this forum?

Dave, I think i downloaded that pgm but had a major crash and lost EVERYTHING, so i have to go back and reconstruct what i had. I'll check that out. That might be a timesaver for sure.

Ryan, Heck i don't care if the corners aren't cut perfectly square. If i could make it in one panel it wouldn't matter to me. What bit would you recommend to make the fake raised panel design? The time to make a bit change is not a problem for me. I don't have a shop that runs jobs all day, this is mostly for work i do on all my properties (and my amusement) so if you have suggestions or ideas don't discount them because you think it's too much changeover, i'd love to hear them. Keep this going, you guys are stimulating my braincells!

[myxpykalix]

It looks like maybe the free doors and the fluter might do most of what i need to do. I think i saw a free dxf of a rosette somewhere or i think i can design one myself.
Would anyone recommend i use 1/2" mdf instead of 3/4"? 3/4" is so heavy and i'm concerned about the weight on the wall.

[bleeth]

Stick to the 3/4". A few lines of liquid nail will keep the panel up forever.
A trick I use to avoid fasteners is to supplement the liquid nail with some small mounds of hot melt, put the panel in place, hold it for a minute and walk away-The hot melt will hold it in place while the nail sets up.

[foamcarver]

Jack-- You could try 3/4 Trupan. It's a little lighter than MDF and ALOT healthier to breathe. Bill Palumbo told us about it last year the the shopbot camp, and we really try and use it. It cuts alot cleaner than MDF also. It's a little more expensive, but I think well worth it. (3/4 MDF-$20 3/4 trupan is about $33)

[fleinbach]

Here is wainscot made to look like Castle stone. It is made from 3/4" MDF. All my theater rooms are primarily made with 3/4 to 1 1/4" MDF and they literally cover the entire walls in some of them. You can see more detail here www.theaterrooms.com/Nicosia.htm




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[myxpykalix]

WOW ! talk about inspiration....I'm gonna be looking real close at those pics for details for sure.