T-Molding Help

[cipriani2k]

Hi all,
    I've been building my arcade for a little bit now and I just recently started thinking about t molding. The only problem is I have a pretty sharp angle on my cabinet. Is there anyway to add t molding without it looking weird at that spot?



Any help at all would be very appreciated.

[Woodshop Flunky]

I don't think you're going to be able to use a continuous piece for that joint.

If I were to apply the t-molding, I'd use two pieces of t-molding and do a cope joint.



1. Make the first piece of molding butt right into the joint.
2. The second piece with butt right against the first piece.

When you first do this, there will be a small gap on each edge of the t-molding due to its curve.  If you cope the second piece (cut the end so that it's curved to match the curve of the molding) then it will butt right against the first piece without the small gaps.

I'd also make the first piece the one next to the monitor, and the second piece the one next to the speakers.  This will make the seam even less noticable.

Cheers 

[cipriani2k]

Thanks a lot for the suggestion. It makes sense, I couldn't really find any pictures for arcade examples. Do you know firsthand if it looks alright? I'm afraid if I route it and it looks bad I'm stuck going with t molding. I'm just not sure how noticable the seam will be with bright red molding.

There are a few sharp cuts too, so I might even have to do it a few times.

[Woodshop Flunky]

I've never done this with t-molding, but I've done it with other molding, and I don't think it will show unless you point it out to someone.  My own cab is full of tiny flaws that are clear as day if I point them out, but are impossible to detect normally.

However...

Since routing a groove is difficult to undo if you change your mind, do a test piece first.  Take a piece of scrap wood and cut the t-molding groove.  Then put a small  strip of your t-molding in there and cope another small piece.

See how good a fit you can get.

You can get a sample pack from t-molding.com if you don't want to invest in buying all you molding before you've made up your mind.

Also, the only place I would consider doing this would be here:



All the other joints I would use continuous t-molding.  If you don't like how it wraps around these other corners, you might consider softening them by rounding them over (just a bit).  I don't mean putting a one inch radius on all your corners, just enough to get the t-molding to bend better.  Again, you can use a piece of scrap wood to see what minimum radius works for your cab

[cipriani2k]

Thank you so much for the suggestion/advice. I ordered my free samples today, might even see how purple looks since I have the option. I'll let you know how it goes and thanks again for all the help 

[yaksplat]

just play around on some scraps.  That will be the only way to be sure how it will turn out.

Purple looks great

[cipriani2k]

Finally put the t molding up. I ended up going with red since I couldn't find a purple that matched my buttons. The ones they had were more blue than anything else. I'm really happy with how it turned out though, thanks for the great advice.