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I have a friend who wants me to put crown molding on his kitchen cabinets. They are only about five inches from the ceiling. Not much clearance. I was wondering if anyone has ever used their kreg jig to to fasten crown molding to a cabinet??  I tried it on some scrap lumber and it seems like it should work. Thanks.

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Generally molding/trim is fastened in place using brads or finishing nails.

In some instances, appropriate adhesive can be used.

You may find an answer here---

enter "crown molding", in the search field---

the search field is located in the upper right hand corner of this page.

http://kregjig.ning.com/forum/topic/search?q=crown+molding

Also, there may be something in one of the catagories.

http://kregjig.ning.com/forum/category/listByTitle

I doubt if the crown you are using will span five inches, so you probably will need a fascia board to extend the height of the cabinets.  Depending on how you will build the fascia, Kreg may help you.

I am going to attach the molding to the top of the cabinets. The molding is not intended to reach the ceiling. It's just looks. To dress up the cabinets, like on a hutch maybe. I just thought that if I used my kreg pocket hole jig instead of using a brad nailer I could avoid the nail holes in the front of the molding.

Make a rectangular box frame of 1x3’s, sized to fit the perimeter of the cabinet top.

The box frame intended to rest (loosely) on the top flange of the cabinet carcass.

Join the frame with pocket hole joinery.

Affix the crown molding, to the edge of the frame, front, end(s), as applicable---extend the lower edge of the crown molding ¼” below the bottom perimeter of the frame.

(The lower edge of the molding will cover the joint gap of the bottom of the frame and the top edge of the cabinet).

 

Install glue-blocks in desired locations, to provide support for affixing the crown molding to the frame.

 

When complete, slide this assembled unit on top of the cabinet top frame, so the crown molding lower lip mates with the cabinet top to cover the gap.

Result:  NO visible screws or holes.

Hi,  I have never used the kreg screw system to add crown molding to anything.  With the cabinets being about 5 inches from the ceiling the room is limited.  I have used the a system like Ken was describing with excellent results and run the crown all the way to the ceiling.  With cabinets being only 5 inches from the ceiling and you add some crown to this it would look much better to run it to the ceiling,  This also get rid of the small void between the cabinets and the ceiling of which is a dust and lint catcher and will often become a problem with dust and lint blowing out from air currents. 

I have some 10 1/2 inch high molding that I built that I have to install soon.  The room I have between the ceiling and the cabinets is 6 inches.  I am using crown with a 52 degree spring angle and will be using the framed system adding blocks set at 52 degrees every 2 feet.   On the inside of the frame I will add some 4 inch material set at 90 degrees to the frame so it will sit flat on top of the cabinets.  I will be applying the crown to the frame before I set it onto the cabinet top.  It is much easier to do it this way.  The crown I made is three piece and would be hard to cut and install from a ladder.  this has been my method on large multi-piece crown for several years and works well.

Once it is set on top of the cabinet I will use a small a few screws of which I will screw into the grid frame from the inside of the cabinet through the top.  Then a few brad nails through the top of the crown into the ceiling.  If you nail into the ceiling at different directions it will secure the crown at the top and keep the crown tight to the ceiling.  Any in-perfections between the crown top and the ceiling I use painters calk and paint it to match the ceiling paint color.  It is easy to fill the nail holes that I shoot into the ceiling using either a colored wax or oil putty that matches the crown color.

You can see photos of the crown on my page.  

 

Loctite Power Grab Adhesive is a helpful product for installing molding and trim.

http://www.loctiteproducts.com/project/55/Installing-wall-trim-or-c...

Yep, stay away from the brad nailer on projects that aren't going to be painted and unless you have already gone through the search for the holy grail, i.e. a wood filler product that works for you, meaning easy to apply, doesn't shrink, sands well, and winds up the same color under finish as the rest of the wood.  As long as the moulding is at least 1/2" or 5/8", I don't see why pocket holes wouldn't work, but I would use either construction adhesive as Ken suggested or some other type of glue to make sure the moulding attaches to the top of the cabinet with no gaps across the whole span.  Moulding is flexible stuff, which is great for walls and ceilings that aren't straight or square.  But where you want a tight joint the whole way across, the pocket holes will hold like crazy where they're located plus a few inches on either side.  But as the moulding dries and in the winter, you could wind up with visible gaps where there aren't screws.  Best to use glue, then use the screws as "clamps" until your glue sets.  

I hate telling people to buy tools, because there's almost always a cheaper way to achieve similar results that don't require a specialized tool, but this is one of those instances in which you're struggling because you aren't using the right tool.  What you really need here is a 23-gauge headless pinner, shooting 1" pins.  They're so small that they require no patching and up as high as they'll be here, you'll never see them.  And if you wait until they're up to put on the final coat of lacquer or varnish, the varnish will set right on top of the pins, so the sheen will match the whole way across -- they'll be invisible from where you're standing on the ground.  If they're 42" cabinets, then you definitely won't see them.  But fire a couple into a test piece first to set the power -- you want the pin to sink itself about 1/16" to 1/8" below the surface of the crown.  Put on a little glue, hold the moulding in place, pin the sucker at the corners and a few across the span to "clamp" it until the glue sets, and you're done.  You can pick up a really nice 23-gauge pinner at HD, plus the pins.  Hope this helps.  And be CAREFUL.  Wear eye protection and keep your hands away from the area you're pinning.  There's no heads on the pins and if you hit a soft spot, the wood won't stop a pin -- it'll go right through, entry wound AND exit wound.  They're also small enough to deflect, so make sure you're shooting at the PERFECT angle so they don't hit a hard piece of grain and shoot out the top or bottom.  Don't push too hard or you'll mar the surface with the tip, which defeats the whole purpose.

Thank you everyone..  I am still working on the project. I will have to use a my brad nailer. This is really a mess. This guy wanted to save money and installed the cabinets himself. As a result the tops of the cabinets are not even close to being level with each other. He adjusted the doors up all the way to hide this fact. Thanks for all your help so far tho!! I will definitely not give up! More determined than ever now!

The cabinets can be loosened---

adjusted, and aligned.

New mounting holes may be required.

It'll be worth it, to make it look better.

 

I've always gotten satisfactory results, using a brad nailer, 

with the adjustment so the head is recessed 1/32 to 1/16".

CAUTION: DO NOT insert a brad too close to the end of the work-piece, or it'll split.

I agree with Ken on fixing the poorly-installed cabinets if you can.  I've seen cabinets installed with two screws by homeowners:  one screw hit a quarter of a stud, the other hit only drywall and fiberglass insulation.  Really it was the four #6 screws attaching that cabinet to the ones next to it holding it up.  I've seen 1-5/8" drywall screws holding up cabinets.  I've seen people put them up with screws through the 1/4" plywood backs, ignoring the 3/4" nailing strip altogether.  

The trick is this:  Throw a straight edge (like a good, straight piece of lumber, or better yet a metal stud) across the bottoms at the front of the cabinets, level it, then jack it or otherwise secure it in place.  Then draw a level line on the wall where you want the bottom of the backs to be.  Make sure the line on the wall is level with the top of your straight-edge in front.  Then, unscrew the cabinets one at a time, let the front hit your straight edge support and take the weight of the cabinet while you lower the back edge down to your line and hold it in place.  Then have someone drive in the screws while you hold it.  Make sure they use nice 2-1/2" to 3" long screws or lag bolts.  If they're melamine or otherwise crappy cabinets, a washer never hurt anybody.  

I hate to disagree with Ken because he's usually right, but the difference between an 18-gauge brad with a head on it and a 23-gauge headless pin is night and day.  It's not the same ballpark.  It may not even be the same sport.  The 23-gauge pinner is absolutely the right tool for the job here.  But if you don't have one or can't justify the cost for one project (although I promise you when you have one, you'll use it ALL the time), use the brad nailer, but take it easy on the brads.  You'll have to patch, sand, stain, and finish the holes and bruises left by the heads.  It sucks.  I've done it.  A lot.  Here's a shortcut:  Put painters tape over the area you're going to shoot the brads through.  Then shoot the brads through the tape.  You'll see the holes in the tape.  Put your putty into the hole on TOP of the tap, pushing it into the hole through the hole in the tape.  When you peel the tape off, the putty will be in the holes, not all spread out in a big patch that you have to sand and then try to match with the finish.  That way, if the putty doesn't finish up the same as the moulding, the imperfections will only be the size of the bruise made by the head of the brad.

Good luck, sounds like a sh** show you got roped into.  Been there, done that, have the T-shirt.  Put up some before and after pics -- maybe you'll qualify for the T-shirt after this too!  ;-)

Russ,

What did people use before "Pin Nailers" became available?

Todays pin nailers are "air-driven"---

not everyone has air tools.

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