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Building Wainscoting Panel - step for step diy wainscoting construction

 

Installing Wainscoting - Creating wainscoting panels Part 5 of 9

How to build and install wainscoting constructed from decorative molding

 

Now this is the fun part and once you get it down to a science I promise that you will be able to construct a complete frame in a record four minutes or less. How can we build a frame so fast you ask? Well let me tell you my new found secret… HOT GLUE. This component along with the carpenter's square has enabled me to build frames in less than two minutes flat.

A great support tool that you can use is the:

Clampmate Frame Clamp Clampmate Frame Clamp
Tightens all four corners simultaneously for ease of use...

Clampmate Frame Clamp


This tool will work whether you use hot glue or conventional woodglue and it ensures that your virtual wainscoting panels are square. Now we still primarily recommend hot glue because you only have to wait 15 seconds for each joint to dry. Another reason is that once the hot glue is dry, it's AS strong as wood glue. Now before I get too excited about the glue, let's get to the picture frame construction basics. Since the picture frames that we are making are square we'll simply be making 45 degrees cuts in our picture frame molding. See the reference below..

reference
Now there is one trick to making a perfect frame every single time and that is by simply ensuring that your miter saw is really cutting at 45 degrees. I know it's painfully obvious but many people, yours truly included, tend to trust the calibrated references on the miter saw. So,,, first things first… DO NOT trust the indicator on your saw no matter how much you paid for it. (Note: none of this applies if you're using a miter box). Now that that's out of the way lets find out where 45 degrees is on your saw. There are some very scientific ways to do it but we're going to use good old fashion trial and error. I'll post a more scientific method if I get enough requests.

Using the 45 degree indicator on your saw as the initial reference, cut two one foot sections out of a piece of the molding you intend to use for your wainscotting (decorative molding squares). Cut out two frame legs using the above picture as a reference. These sections are going to be used to help you calibrate your saw. After you have cut out the two sections place both of them inside of the framing square. Use the figures as a reference… If they are not perfectly flush with the edges of the square, make adjustments in the angle of your saw as outlined in figures or until you have a snug fit in the carpenter's square.

Now of course there are more sophisticated ways to determine the appropriate angle but I feel all of the sophisticated methods are very subjective. So trial and error prevail in my book. Once you have the proper angle set at exactly 45 degrees we are NOT going to move the saw again, so lock it down. Instead of adjusting the saw to cut for miter joint on opposite ends of the frame leg we are simply going to reposition our material.

Once you have your angles down you are all set. From here on out it's smooth sailing! Earlier we determined the overall height and dimensions of the fames. So all we are going to do now is precut all of the materials that we need to construct our frames. We will need two horizontal pieces and two vertical pieces for each frame. Based on the dimensions from our earlier example we will need the following for a single frame.

2 18" wide frame legs

2 20" wide frame legs

So for the four picture frames I'm building in this example we'll need at total of

8 18" wide and 8 20" wide

Now we're going to do this in an assembly line process. First thing to note is that all frames when cut will look like this…
reference

That's right! That's' the same picture I told you to get ingrained into your head a few sections ago.