Customer Projects Page

Projects from our customers that used our products to make the perfect cut each and every time.

	Wayne, Home theater has been a hobby of mine for many years.  Three years ago, my wife and I purchased a larger home affording me the opportunity to construct a theater of our own.  Dream Theater is the result of many, many hours of work.  In short, we built a 15’ by 20’, 7 seat, acoustically treated theater with a 106” diagonal screen.  An LCD ceiling mounted projector provides a fantastic picture.  A 13” riser was built to elevate the four rear seats and a 12” stage containing 2,400 lbs of sand was constructed to harness sub vibrations, provide a barrier between audience and screen, and to add a sense of flair to the theater.   Proper wood trim enhances the beauty of any room.  I knew I wanted to install crown, chair rail, and base molding to our theater. However, I was somewhat apprehensive about cutting crown.  My doubts were realized as I began to pile up expensive scrap wood using another advertised method.  Soon I found myself at my local home improvement store holding three books on cutting and installing crown molding.  Needless to say I bought your book.  I dropped the crown molding around the seating area about 4” to allow the glow from blue rope light to accent the area.  “Crown Molding & Trim: Install It Like A PRO!” enabled me to effortlessly install crown around six columns and the entire room.  In addition, stepping up the chair rail to the second row of seating proved so simple compared to the effort it took me to do this before I had your book. I will never tell you how long and how many pieces of chair rail it took me to “turn a couple corners.” Thanks again for your book and all of your support.  Robert C. Bowie, Maryland.

Wayne
This was a fun project.......all using your book, True Angle Tools and techniques....thanks again for all of your email and phone support. Steve S. Dallas, Texas.

Please note that Steve stacked his crown/trim. Baseboard was applied to the wall and then the crown was mounted on top of it.

Before
During
After

Wayne,

Sometime back I purchased your crown moulding book, True Angle® tools, and Miter Excel Program spreadsheet in preparation for installing crown moulding in my home. Most of the rooms were fairly straightforward, even though some were cathedral ceiling. The most complex was my master bath which has a cathedral ceiling and a number of complex turns. I sent you some pictures and you were very kind to give me advice about how to cut the crown for the "problem areas".

I finally finished the project and want to share some pictures of the master bath.  Thank you very much for all your help and for the time and effort you put into writing your book. I’d have never been able to complete the project without it.
Michael & Norma H.,  Tustin CA. USA

Hello Wayne,

Several weeks ago I talked to you on the telephone prior to my crown molding project start. Thank you very much for answering all of my questions.

Before :-(   My first attempt at crown molding was the pre-mitered corners (corner blocks) you can purchase. We installed the pre-mitered crown in one side of the room to see if we would like it. Shortly afterwards, I found your book and tools on your website and ordered your Complete Package #2. Well, after reading your book and looking at all the examples, that pre- mitered stuff came down in a hurry.

During :-0

These photos show different views of my project. You will notice my wife loves to paint.  She chose to paint the molding after it was installed.  She enjoyed painting the crown while it was up rather than before it was installed as you recommend in the book.

After:-)
	Well, I have to tell you, with the first phase of my crown molding project just completed, the results are better than I ever expected. My relatives are in awe and envy at the elegant touch crown molding has made to my living room, kitchen, hallway and bathroom.
Your book was so easy to follow. My results are truly wonderful. I have had several people ask me to help them with their crown molding projects. Thanks so much for your book and the True Angle tools and the rest of the material you sent me.  It truly made my project easy and the look is so elegant. My first phase was completed this week. After the Christmas holidays, we will continue with phase 2, crown installation upstairs. You and your book have made installing crown molding fun. Thank you for all of your help. Steve R.,   Aiken, South Carolina.

Wayne,

Thanks for writing such an easy to follow detailed book. I have installed crown molding in two rooms so far. I had to make some adjustment on my miter scale

on the saw from your chapter on "saw calibration" in the book. Thanks again for your help on this. I found it to be the root of my inaccuracy.

I have received a lot of satisfaction from the work I have done using your book

and true angle tools. I have had several request from friends and family to do

some crown molding in their homes, but it's just a hobby for me. I have attached some photos of my first crown molding in my den. I chose to scrape the ceiling texture off the perimeter of the ceiling and I think it turned out great.

Thanks again for all of your help. Best regards, Bill M. Alberta, Canada

Before	After	After
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Wayne,

As a shop teacher in high school some 20 yrs ago it was difficult fining "good"

books on any given technical subject. I am happy to see that has now changed. How refreshing it was to find your book on Crown Molding. Your examples and illustration are terrific. You have a step by step approach to the procedure in

order to produce perfect joints. I thank you for all the efforts you have put into

the book, and your quick response to my e-mail questions.
Thank you, Bob & Jean W., Lynden, Washington

Hi Wayne,
Its been awhile since my last email telling you that I finally understood how to

do the corners of my cathedral ceiling in my living room. I have finished the job

now and I can not thank you enough for the book that you wrote and for the

true angle tools and mitre excel program. I could never have done it without

your products.

I did a two part crown molding job. Crown molding in the ceiling/walls and upside down chair rail four inches below the crown molding. Then I painted the crown,

the chair rail and the four inches of exposed wall in between all white. This makes

it look like its all one big piece. Its awesome (thanks). My daughters took these photos. I've told everyone about your book and how you were interested enough to email me back and answer my questions. I was really impressed about that. Thanks again and again for everything. Take care and keep up the good work. Doyle S., Orange Park Florida.

Wayne,

Here are both before and after photos. I also included another job that I was

able to install by using your information I obtained from purchasing your book
"Crown Molding & Trim: Install It Like A PRO!", and "True Angle Measuring System Tools" (Package #2). I never would have been able to do it without your very detailed directions and photo examples from your book. I now am able to do jobs that other trim carpenters would not even attempt. It has actually opened up new opportunities for me with contractors and homeowners.

I want to thank you again for your help in my last project and how quickly you responded to my emai requests. It really helped me in my installation. The

customer was very happy with their crown molfing. Thanks. Gary M., St. Louis Missouri.

Wayne,
Thanks for helping me out on my project. Your products worked just like you said they would. I bought a compound miter saw and thought all I had to do was tilt
the saw and cut the crown molding flat at a 45 degree cut. Boy was I surprised when the crown did not fit. I phoned and you gave me all the right answers. Your angle gauge and your book worked awesome. Thank you again for the assistance. You have a fantastic web page. This mantle was in a magazine article in a woodworking book. I had set it aside to build one day. I finally had the time and started on my project. I made the complete mantle out of solid red oak. I applied and oil base stain followed by several coats of finish. Thanks. Bob R. Opp, Alabama

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Wayne,

I ordered your software a while ago and it has been very helpful. Here is a

picture of a hood vent cover that was made possible by your software.

This customer wanted custom cherry cabinets with matching millwork. We built

both the cabinets and millwork. This kitchen features a separate pantry, large commercial range, custom hood vent and vent surround and a large paneled archway over the garden windows. Hand carved cherry corbels accentuate the archway and the island. Thank you. Carl M. (Professional Builder), Danville, California.

Wayne,
Thank you for the prompt and kind reply to all of my emails. It was much appreciated! I will go with the “Standard Return” that you suggested. Here are

a few photos that show my stairway project. You will see that my stairs are dual direction and that the front foyer stairway section has a slightly different design requirement than the kitchen stair section. By the way my saw has a “Face Angle Scale” as you describe in Chapters 12 & 13 in your book and not the standard

scale that most saws have. I also built the portable fence from the plans that

you show in Chapter 14. I plan on using the portable fence to make two parallelogram wall frames with acute angles in each of the stairways.

I have been doing crown molding & trim work throughout my home. The crown molding and chair rail that I installed in my dining room turned out perfect.

Although it is very time consuming and challenging, I have learned a great deal about finish carpentry techniques from your book, not to mention the thousands

of dollars of increased value and beauty I have added to my home.

Your book and tools are one of the best purchases I have ever made. For the

small investment cost of your products, the return value to me has been monumental.

Thank again you for your unheard of customer support. I will send you a few

more photos when I complete my projects. Herb L., Charleston, South Carolina.

Wayne

I found decorative dental crown molding which wasn't already primed for painting like the shelves I had made for the bedroom and used a 1x8 for the shelf and a 1x6 for the back. The shelf is 5 feet long and the back is 4 feet long. The shelf is attached to the backboard with 1 inch corner braces spaced 1 foot apart and the boards are also glued together. This saved me from drilling holes in the shelf. I left the crown molding at it's original angles 52 & 38 degrees. Instead of using the router to put an edge on the shelf and back  I found decorative rope edging and cut and glued that to edges of both the shelf and back. I used my router and keyhole bit to cut the mounting holes and used 2 3/4 inch masonry screws to attach the mantel to the fireplace. I stained it with two coats of red mahogany stain and sealed it with polyurethane. The whole mantel is made out of pine and the total cost of the materials came to about $80. The dental crown molding and two 8 foot pieces of the rope molding were the expensive items. One other thing I found that I had to do to keep the mantel level was to glue a shim to the backboard. There was tendency for the mantel to roll a little forward. There may have been a little bit of a curve to the board. For a rank amateur in carpentry, however, I'm pretty proud at the way it turned out. BTW, except for the corner braces, the entire mantel was glued together using carpenter's glue. The whole project took about one week because I had to wait for the stain and polyurethane to dry.
Howie, USA 

Wayne

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I contacted you in February about installing crown molding in our master bedroom.  This room looked difficult to me as it was vaulted returning to level at the top as you can see in the pictures.  I was somewhat frighten to start this because I was unsure that I could complete it. 

The information and your products helped me immensely,  to get the job done.  I made a slight bobble in one place, but was able to work it out,  so that it is OK.  I am really quite proud of the finished job. 
Thanks for your help, Regards,
Jim Kelly 

Before (click to enlarge)	After (click to enlarge)	Wayne, I have attached pictures of my last job. Customer is very happy with the results. I did 5 rooms, two with Cathedral Ceilings, about 350 feet of crown. Pictures #200 & #203 illustrate a solution to a common problem where the entrance hall wall cuts off higher than the bottom of the moulding coming down the wall and the horizontal run is also uneven. I installed a piece of 1 x 4 poplar and painted it to match the walls. In essence I lowered the wall. I found the tables and the Excel program invaluable. Before attempting a Cathedral Ceiling you should be comfortable with horizontal ceilings. --Cliff,   Illinois, USA
#200	#203

Hello Wayne,

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I purchased an 18 inch True Angle® Tool and Crown Moulding Table. I feel they are a great value and in my case became invaluable installing the moulding in the above pictures of our dining room in our 80 year old home. This was a total do-it-yourself project from start to finish. The room was stripped to the studs. The room has a 9 foot ceiling that I framed to become a tray ceiling. The True Angle® Tool and Crown Moulding Table made cutting the crown moulding precise and resulted in flawless miters. I also used it in the bay area where I had to replace some damaged baseboard to accurately measure the angles of the walls. This was truly a case of having the right tool for the job and I have to emphasize again the cost of your tools were amazingly inexpensive.

Frank R.,  Syracuse, NY

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Hi Wayne,

I spent the better part of a day trying to install some crown  molding in the dining room, well, after 4 hours and wasting about 12 feet of  molding,  I decided to call a professional.  To my dismay, no one returned  my  calls.  I had seen your website previously, but was really skeptical that a  spread sheet would give me the answers to my problems.  Well now I had no  choice and figured for $12.95 I really had nothing to lose.  So I paid my  money and downloaded the Excel Spreadsheet.  I didn't even bother to set the compound miter saw up in the dining room, I figured I would "test" it by plugging in the parameters for the  outside corner that was consistently giving me a one inch gap at the top,  even using a jig on my miter saw to hold the molding properly against the fence and cutting a 45 degree angle.  The spreadsheet tells me to set a 34+ degree miter angle...34 degrees!!!, that's not even close to 45 degrees, but I follow the directions blindly, and cut both sides of the miter per directions.  I then took the two pieces upstairs for a trial fit and....I almost fell off the ladder, an outside corner without any gaps!!! I really couldn't believe it. I then proceeded to finish the rest of the room and it looks GREAT.  I just had to say THANK YOU WAYNE!!!!
Larry

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Hi Wayne,

The True Angle® Tools and compound miter program works great.  Here are a few pictures of some crown molding projects I've done. A few are multiple step crown projects and others are panel moldings.  I have done 5 step crown molding on a ten foot ceiling and 3 step molding on an eight foot ceiling. They are a hit particularly on outside corners. 
Regards,
Mark Mackmiller

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Dear Mr. Drake,
My husband & I ordered your compound miter package.  I am here to tell the world how easy you made this job. We added crown moulding to our dining room, foyer, great room, sunroom and breakfast area. We were surprised how quickly we could get these done. We had inside and outside 90 degree corners that were a breeze. We were worried about doing the ones in our breakfast area that has an angled wall making inside and outside irregular angles. We used the True Angle® Tool and looked up the compound miter angles in the table. Perfect fit first time. This is awesome. You can see from the photos I took how well the entire project turned out.  We installed blocks cut from 2 x 4's to make attaching the crown moulding even easier. We also installed, 6 inches down from the bottom of the crown moulding, a piece of "base cap moulding" upside down, added medallions, caulked, then painted the whole thing one color. The entire effect is gorgeous.  Everyone comments on how great this looks and they cannot believe we did this ourselves.  If you ever have anyone that wants references on your system, have them contact us.  Thanks again,
Barbara G., Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina

Monday -10/08/2001 Wayne

Here is one of my creations that I built using your wonderful program.  This is a special birdhouse I made for a friend of mine who recently was married in Mexico.  Your program made possible the roof and some of the planters you see on this birdhouse. 

This house took me two months to make.  The trees with flowers that you see, I make using real limbs from trees and hot gluing silk flowers to them.  I protect the houses with three coats of clear gloss outdoor furniture protector that I buy at Home Depot.   The house is made entirely from old redwood fence boards from an old fence that I just took down.  It seemed a shame to me to throw out all that wonderful wood so I make items like this out of them and my bird friends seem to enjoy them.  Thanks again for the wonderful program. They have made my hobby so much more enjoyable.  Thanks again. GOD BLESS AMERICA

John T.     Reno, Nevada 

With the Crown Molding & Trim book, Excel program, compound miter chart, crown molding table, flowerpots & birdhouse chart, and the True Angle Tools, you will be able to master any compound miter angle you wish.  Install crown molding (moulding) like a pro on cathedral ceilings.  Cutting and installing crown molding, decorative moulding, baseboard, base moulding, and chair rail for your home and house restoration couldn't be easier with the step-by-step instructions and the compound miter tools contained on my web site.   Building flowerpots and birdhouses for your home, your friends, and for profit will be fun and easy.