Old House Trim Question

Brent Dowell

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So a friend is renovating an old house. They have some decorative trim on the house made out of old redwood.

Apparently they need about 45 of these little round 'nubby' things. Is there a name for them?

Would there be anywhere you could think of where they might be able to buy them? They look like they'd be a little bit of a pain to turn one by one.

roundnubs.jpg
 
Try house restoration sites. Often these things are made of Styrofoamed and stuccoed. Turning 45 of them would be a bit pricey. Or they could get a lathe and learn to turn, though spheres are not the easiest shape to make, let alone duplicate.

Sites like this one: http://www.historichouseparts.com

Good luck.
 
I's turn short dowels , turn one cut it off and then the next. Or turn a longer stock and cut the knobs off with a Japanese saw. For furniture that's what I've done. Your not going to buy them anywhere.
 
I's turn short dowels , turn one cut it off and then the next. Or turn a longer stock and cut the knobs off with a Japanese saw. For furniture that's what I've done. Your not going to buy them anywhere.

You don't think that having them end grain like that would be a problem?

I was thinking a screw chuck would be the fastest way to do it face grain, without Ed's fancy rig I think a quasi production turner could do them at around five minutes per so say $10-12 a pop including cutting the blanks and some not to fancy wood.

Practically speaking I'm with Brians solution :thumb:
 
Cheapest and quickest would be to make a mold and use Durham's "Rock Hard Wood Putty" to cast them. They'd end up being just a few dollars each that way.

Alternatively, casting in resin - or maybe two-part foam - would work, but be a bit more costly.
 
I could throw a 1/2 sheet of Azek (PVC) on the CNC and make all of them in one shot while I was out cutting the grass or something. It would be inexpensive.

The PVC buttons can be epoxied into place.

OR

they could be cast, but not by me though, I could make a mold.

If you are looking for a source, I could be interested.
 
This is what could be done on CNC in PVC (never rot)

About 1/2 days work.

I don't know the actual size but I figured at 2" diameter and total 3/4 high with 1-1/2" bubble.

inexpensive and all would be uniform

bubbles.jpg
 
She actually found some items at a craft store she thinks will work.

The funny thing is that the more we were discussing it on Facebook, she started getting facebook targeted advertising about things....

Spooooooky....
 
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