what is this called?

larry merlau

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Delton, Michigan
need to make a couple and dont know the height. the trim is 4.25 high. tried to find them already made but no luck.. if i can get a height of them in relation to 4.25 base i can make them.. the ones i need are for inside corners.corner post.jpg
 
I would call that a Plinth block or a Plinth Corner Block. This usage is a bit non-standard as you don't have molding above it but it's not super uncommon for corners to be done like that.

This guy has a somewhat reasonable explanation. http://www.thejoyofmoldings.com/about-plinth-blocks/

My real question is how to do the inside quarter rounds on them so they hug the wall? Build up from three pieces? This is a bit relevant to my interests as the molding I put in ~12 years ago hasn't survived as well as I'd like on some of the round corners (3 piece build ups didn't all survive the predations of the four legged critters when they were around and active) so a short plinth block might just make a good replacement.
 
...
My real question is how to do the inside quarter rounds on them so they hug the wall? Build up from three pieces?...
For the outside corner, like Larry shows, it's a simple rabbet. Use a straight bit or a rabbet bit in the router table
For an inside corner it's a square and you only need to cut the top contour on two sides.
 
i've seen these in houses that were built in the teens and twenties. my grandparents house had them, along with rosettes at the top corners of doorways, and the house was built in 29. pop's house was built in 39, had the high baseboard molding, but not the corner guards. seems to have fallen out of favor by that time. i think they were used, along with the rosette treatments, to avoid any complications such as miter cuts, keeps everything at a nice, easy 90 degree cut.
 
Dan, I put rosettes at the top of at the doors when I redid our house (and cut them in a drill press with a rosette cutter for about 1/10 the home store price for precut including the cutter cost; not too bad if you have a spare afternoon or two). I really liked there look and yes it was much much easier than trying to get all the miters right which was my main motivation :)

For the outside corner, like Larry shows, it's a simple rabbet. Use a straight bit or a rabbet bit in the router table

The problem I have is that the corner where the walls meet is the new fancy rounded corners and because I'm a smidge OCD it would be nice to have the block fit flush around that junction. I'm certainly not redoing three drywall :eek:

I think the one Larry showed also potentially had a rounded inside corner.

Here's a quick sketch to illustrate where I'm not sure on the best way to make a good fit. There's also the potential issue of the corners not being actually square (my house? Yeah probably.. :rofl:)

IMG_20200220_150517.jpg
 
Larry, no extension. I imported it as a Match Photo image and set up SketchUp's camera to match the photo as closely as possible. Then I sized the image so the molding is the correct height and drew in the corner thingy.
 
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