Blue Ox Millworks, Historic Park, and School of Traditional Arts

Photo: Waller Street Victorian - San Francisco, CA
Blue Ox Provided: Moldings, Corbels, Doors, Spandrels, Gingerbread

Victorian gingerbread adorns this home on Waller Street in San Francisco

Molding Pattern Ideas
These are only samples. We can match any profile.

There are hundreds of distinct pieces of molding in Victorian architecture and here at Blue Ox we have made our share. With the world's largest collection of molder knives, and the ability to grind new knives when needed, Blue Ox has the ability to produce just about any molding that you might need for your project.

The following pages include sample patterns that we have run over the years from many of the main molding categories but this list is hardly representative of all the styles and functions available. If you have any questions about molding styles not included in this list, please contact Eric Hollenbeck at eric@blueoxmill.com. For more patterns from the Blue Ox collection, feel free to browse through our gingerbread pattern book.

Custom Balustrade for the Ship's Inn in Eureka
Redwood Gutter Patterns

Redwood Gutter Patterns

Blue Ox is proud to be one of the world's last suppliers of custom redwood gutter. Gutter is one of the most vital elements of any home, funneling away water that can cause rot and decay. Redwood gutter has been known to last over 100 years and is an integral part of any Victorian. Redwood gutter can be customized to match any environment from the freezing cold of New England to the torrential rains of Hawaii. For more information about installing redwood gutter, click here.

Custom Siding Patterns

Custom Siding Patterns

The siding is the largest visual part of any structure.  Most Victorians used a horizontal fancy siding design for the first, or the first and second floors with a fancy shingle pattern sometimes highlighting the remaining wall space.  Here are a few samples of siding that we have run.  Although shown mostly in 6 inch, these and other patterns may be  run up to twelve inches wide.

 

Crown Molding Patterns

Crown Molding Patterns

The crown is the beauty molding used at the joining of any right angle.  The clearest example is where the wall meets the ceiling, although there are many other applications for crown in interiors, exteriors, furniture, fireplaces and cabinetry to name a few.  A dentilated molding is a molding with small attached pieces, with spaces in between.  Dentilated Crowns are very eye-catching and are used on some of the finest examples of Victorian exteriors and interiors.

 

Door and Window Casing Patterns

Door and Window Casing Profiles

Used to cap off the jam edge grain and cover the space where wall and jam meet, door and window casing's function is primarily decorative and the patterns are as diverse as the molder men who created them.  These pages show samples of some of the varied designs.  The modified crown casing CS16 was developed for arced doorways.  We can reproduce this pattern or any other square edge pattern in an arch of your dimension

 

Baseboard and Baseboard Cap Patterns

Baseboard and Baseboard Cap Patterns

In addition to protection, base molding was designed to beautify and balance the place where floor and wall join.  Baseboards can range in size from 2 inches to 14 inches or more with a base cap on top.  Any design works here, and with an added 1/4 round shoe at the bottom it can be fancier still.

 

Wainscot and Wainscot Cap Patterns

Wainscot and Wainscot Cap Profiles

Wainscot is the wood paneling that covers an interior wall from the baseboard up approximately 36 inches.  The wainscot cap acts like the chair railing in protecting the wall and the paneling.  The term wainscot is derived from the middle German "wagenschot" meaning wagon partition.  Wainscot acts as a partition separating the wood floor from the painted or papered wall.  This molding is also highly decorative and may be designed in many patterns pleasing to the eye

 

Chair and Picture Rail Patterns

Chair Rail and Picture Molding Profiles

Chair Rail was developed to protect lath and plaster walls from abuse.  It can be used to separate two types of surfaces such as wall covering and paint.  Ranging in size from the small and delicate to the massive, chair rail can be incorporated into many designs. Picture molding was developed to afford secure mounting for framed paintings and photographs.  The molding was mounted anywhere from 12 inches to 18 inches from the ceiling and pictures were hung from it by wires. 

 

Hand and Bar Rail Patterns

Hand and Bar Rail Profiles

Hand and bar rails serve a dual purpose, adding beauty to a line and supporting hand traffic.  It is therefore made of grade A dry solid stock or laminated stock.  You may notice that handrails are always made in a pattern that discourages their being used as a shelf.  Another interesting fact on handrails is that they are the only pattern run twice through the molding machine.  This is to insure that both sides of the railing are identical since the hand will pick up variations that they eye will miss.

 

Cap Molding Patterns

Cap Molding Profiles

The term cap covers a wide variety of different moldings with many applications.  Basically all caps add a finishing touch by concealing an edge or an edge grain, thereby dressing up something that was plain and simple.  In addition to the numerous applications in a structure (capping wainscot, bricks, mantles, etcetera) these moldings are also highly important when used in furniture such as chests, stereo cabinets and buffets.

 

Drip Rail Patterns

Drip Rail Profiles

Drip Rail, like gutter, is designed to protect the structure from the ravages of water and decay.  Fitting under the lap of the first piece of siding, the drip rail directs the water runoff from the wall out away from the skirting and the foundation.

 

Lintel Molding Patterns

Lintel Molding Profiles

The term lintel is derived from the Latin "Limes" meaning border, and is used to describe the decorative sill placed over the exterior of a window.  Normally a lintel is a time-consuming and labor-intensive project involving a three piece build-up of two straight boards and a crown.  When a local renaissance contractor came to us with this dilemma, we jointly developed these exclusive one-piece lintels.

Misc. Molding Patterns

Miscellaneous Molding Patterns

This section, though a catch-all, is probably the most interesting to the molderman, offering him the creative challenge of solving a variety of complex patterns and shapes.  This concept is summed up in this excerpt from the book Machine Molder Practice, published in the 1940's;  "The molder appeals to the artistic young man... because the work gives the opportunity to display his mechanical ability, and it possesses enough variety to make it both agreeable and intensely interesting."

 

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