# Setting up shop and being Professional



## StrongTower (Mar 4, 2010)

ubcguy89 said:


> I'm not here to question anyone, but do you guys do this with $8-10/ft trim? I'll do this with paint grade tract home trim, but when it comes to the stuff that's expensive I charge a premium to ensure a perfect install.



I may go a room full at a time on more expensive moulding, but usually it doesn't matter. Mostly it's up to how much space is available to trim at a time. I don't care if it's tract homes or custom homes, I put quality first. I charge more for customs because of the liability of replacement. It's all the same motions.


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## gbruzze1 (Dec 17, 2008)

ubcguy89 said:


> I'm not here to question anyone, but do you guys do this with $8-10/ft trim? I'll do this with paint grade tract home trim, but when it comes to the stuff that's expensive I charge a premium to ensure a perfect install.


It doesn't matter to me. I can get an accurate measurement, mark and cut on any level of trim "production style"

I can also get an inaccurate measurement, mark and cut doing each piece one by one. 

It really doesn't matter, "production" style can yield high end results if it's done the right way, just like anything else. 

Production techniques have a stigma as being associated with sloppy work, when it's really not true. 


Gary


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## Justin Huisenga (Apr 10, 2013)

ubcguy89 said:


> I'm not here to question anyone, but do you guys do this with $8-10/ft trim? I'll do this with paint grade tract home trim, but when it comes to the stuff that's expensive I charge a premium to ensure a perfect install.


Yes. I apply many of the same techniques to paint grade "production" trim that I would use in "custom". Production isn't a type of job, it's how you do the job. I'll adjust them to a point depending on material being used but by and large they are the same. 

A production approach and its associated techniques have as much benefit in a high end setting as they do in a tract house. If anything an organized, systematic, "production" approach yields a higher quality finished product by eliminating errors. Pre-assembling casing results in tight fitting durable joints, using stops to cut heads insures accurate and precise results, measuring legs with a stop cuts down on errors and again yields perfect results. I can keep going. 

A good cope is a good cope and an accurately cut miter will be tight whether the material is FJP or walnut. An IC to IC measurement doesn't change based on how much the material costs.


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## ubcguy89 (Mar 23, 2013)

I agree maybe im just apprehensive because this is a remodel/ addition and its by far the most high end job I have done to date. Not the largest, and not the most expensive but the largest with high quality material


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## antonioooooooo (Mar 8, 2010)

I used to do stupid things such as measure and cut long on more expensive, limited materials. I found that it caused so much extra hassle and time, I just went back to measuring and cutting presicely.


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## WarnerConstInc. (Jan 30, 2008)

I just cut until it fits.


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## EricBrancard (Jun 8, 2012)

antonioooooooo said:


> I used to do stupid things such as measure and cut long on more expensive, limited materials. I found that it caused so much extra hassle and time, I just went back to measuring and cutting presicely.


I find the opposite and there is nothing more precise than marking in place.


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## Justin Huisenga (Apr 10, 2013)

antonioooooooo said:


> I used to do stupid things such as measure and cut long on more expensive, limited materials. I found that it caused so much extra hassle and time, I just went back to measuring and cutting presicely.


There's nothing stupid about marking outside corners in place. It accounts for many variables that a tape measure or a laser distance meter won't. Efficiency isn't just about speed. Lack of deficiencies also factors in. Footsteps added to insure accuracy are rarely wasted.


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## tucnasam (Feb 1, 2016)

EricBrancard said:


> I find the opposite and there is nothing more precise than marking in place.



I have an older carpentry book. It says the same thing. The most accurate measurements are made by laying in place and using the trim already in place to make a mark. :thumbsup:


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## Justin Huisenga (Apr 10, 2013)

ubcguy89 said:


> I agree maybe im just apprehensive because this is a remodel/ addition and its by far the most high end job I have done to date. Not the largest, and not the most expensive but the largest with high quality material


My biggest rule of thumb for improving efficiency is if it feels like it's taking too long then it probably is. When a job starts getting pear shaped like this I pause and take a no BS look at how I'm doing the job. I look for places where I can cut out footsteps and make those footsteps I can't eliminate go faster all without sacrificing quality. Look for systematic ways to approach the task at hand. Look for ways to group tasks or cut multiple parts off stops. Look for places where you can machine multiple parts in one setup or sitting. Look for better places or more organized ways to stage material (how you handle and stage material makes a huge difference).

I have systems I use for many tasks. Every system you use must be accurate and precise. A system is only good if it meets the criteria for both. Accuracy is the closeness of the measurements you are making are to a number with no error. Precision means the results can be repeated reliably. Accurate and reliable systems can't really help but make the job go quicker. Speed is a natural byproduct of dead on measurements and joinery executed repeatedly well. Once you've got an approach that works for you the rest of it it repetition. The more you do it the faster you get. 

After every job I do or every day on a job I take at least a few minutes to review my results and look for ways to improve.


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## OVContractor (Nov 9, 2015)

Creating the cut list is the slowest part of my trim jobs. I take my time and will often draw a diagram of the room layout to prevent confusion at the cut station. 

High precision outside corners are best marked in place. Paint grade I measure the angle and cut .5* obtuse to ensure tight contact on the face. Leaves a teeny tiny hole to fill on the top edge which is covered by caulking easily. Stain grade needs to be bang on so the extra time for mark in place is justified.

I have a block of maple in my shop apron front pocket that has a 1/8" rabbit on two adjacent sides and 3/16" on the opposite corner. This is my reveal block and I use it to scribe reveal marks on all jambs and jamb extensions before starting the cut list. Using the block I can guarantee that all of my reveals are consistent, and all of the subsequent measurements taken from them will produce trim at the appropriate length. 

Also in the apron is a selection of pencils, my Accuscribe, Old Standard tape, and a variety of sand paper sections. I will usually have a low angle block plane in a pouch hanging on my belt to add small chamfers or address fit issues as they come up.


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