Process

After milling the stock flat and parallel, here, it is cut to width by ripping on the table saw.

Above showing the table saw set up for ripping stock to width, and the hold downs, more here. Next, the shaping of the stock into moldings. On the molding pictured, I will first mill the rabbet, as once the molding is shaped, there will be little to reference against.

Above, an image of the spacer bar, that is screwed to the stock. Notice the holes for recessed screws, equally spaced on the ends of the spacer bar. The bar is clamped in the end vise, allowing the stock to be above the bench and open to being worked on. Below, spacer bar and stock ready to be worked. On the end of the stock, the profile is penciled in.

Above, I'm using a small, wooden scrub plane, to quickly rough out the shape of the molding. That's an entirely serviceable antique I'm using. Scrub planes have a convex blade and are designed for fast removal of waste.

Here, the shape is being refined using a small block plane. In both pictures above, I'm using one or more of my fingers as either a fence or a guide, to hold the plane steady, and cutting the same angle for the full length of the stick. This will be followed by a random orbit sander with a flexible pad, to further refine the shape.

For this molding, I have some photos to view, but no actual dimensions, so I'm hand shaping it, eyeballing it until it feels right. A fairly quick process, but done over a few days to allow for "tweaking" the shape. Leaving it, then looking with fresh eyes, is an enormous help in producing a satisfactory shape. Changing the lighting, and viewing position, looking at it in a mirror, or on it's side, are variations of the need for a fresh perspective, time away just one of those. The result was accurate molding legs, that when mitered and joined were as close as machined moldings would have been.