How To Replicate Molding Profiles

In this video, This Old House general contractor Tom Silva reveals various means and methods of making your own authentic reproduction moldings.

Steps for replicating molding profiles

If there’s a router bit that matches the profile of the original molding, you can use a portable router or router table to mill the exact-match profile into boards.
Replace a table-saw blade with a molding cutter head.
Select the cutters that most closely match the profile of the original molding and mount them to the cutter head.
Adjust the table-saw fence and height of the cutter head, then make a cut into a scrap piece of wood. Once satisfied with the cut, mill boards into moldings.
To replicate a very ornate or unusual profile, start by making a crosscutting through the molding.
Slip a piece of paper into the saw kerf and trace the shape of the molding’s profile onto the paper.
Fax or mail the piece of paper to a machine shop and it’ll make a pair of custom knives to match your molding.
Mount the knives into a molding machine to mill as much molding as you need.