Light/wiring escutcheon

[Figment]

Isn't that just a sweet little detail?

Just thought I'd share.

[jlroberts280]

Looks great. What is your cabin sole made of?

[Figment]

Well my cabin sole is rotting plywood covered in nonskid-painted fiberglass with several different colors of paint and epoxy dribblings.

The cabin sole in the photo, I don't know. It's just a photo I came across on facebook.

[Quetzalsailor]

Amazing. Tell us more.

My house was first wired in about 1927. Wiremould is now plastic, was painted steel, but originally was wood. You screwed a strip of wood to the plaster which had two grooves, and a ploughed recess on its exposed face. You laid the old style single conductors into the grooves. And then screwed a wood cap into the ploughed recess. Very neat. Fixtures and switches had wood bases which lined up with the wood wiremould. Interestingly, the old single conductors, which we all know from seeing strung through ceramic tubes and tied to ceramic knobs, were once color coded black and white. When I removed the wood cover, the colors were clean, clear and fresh, the bituminous and fabric-reinforced insulation was flexible. On most of the other wire in the house, exposed to the air, the insulation was black and variously a little flexible, brittle, or had simply fallen off.

[Hirilondë]

I have had to make decorative wire chase often. You aren't fooling anyone with it, they all know you are hiding wire, but it still looks good anyway. Tying it in to a base block like the one in Figment's picture sets it off as a thing of beauty and you can pretend you really wanted it that way. I often glue them on with dots of hot glue. It is strong enough to last, means no mechanical fasteners or bungs are visable, yet easy enough to remove later without damage to the bulkhead.

[Rachel]

That is really nifty. I know this is going to sound silly to those of you who are carpenters, but how would you go about making something like that?

Rachel

[Hirilondë]

They are actually a rather simple project Rachel. Cut the would out to the shape desired, route out a channel in the back for the wire, round over the corners, sand and varnish. If necessary, make them out of a couple of pieces and glue together. Some times the best route for the wire is from the side coming out of a cabinet or such and the chase is horizontal. It may even be curved or change direction at an angle. They are a combination of necessity and artistry.

[LazyGuy]

Well my cabin sole is rotting plywood covered in nonskid-painted fiberglass with several different colors of paint and epoxy dribblings.

Fig, You made my day.

[falcon]

Probably a stupid question, but how do you attach the wooden escutcheon? If you used small screws wouldnt you risk damaging the wires they cover?

[Figment]

Dammit, now that I've gone and said that, it's nagging me.
"Cabin Sole" just made The List for 2011.

For attachment, I like the hot glue idea. Anything flexible and nonpermanent.

[Rachel]

But, but... I thought your existing sole sounded pretty cool, in a rough, tough "Oh yeah?" sort of a way.

[Hirilondë]

Probably a stupid question, but how do you attach the wooden escutcheon? If you used small screws wouldnt you risk damaging the wires they cover?

Not if you were careful. But like I said in my previous post, I like hot glue. If done in small dots the escutcheon would still be removable and not damage the surface.

[Rachel]

They are actually a rather simple project Rachel. Cut the would out to the shape desired, route out a channel in the back for the wire, round over the corners, sand and varnish.

Well that makes it sound simple. The one Figment posted just looked so elegant-yet-simple that I figured it was full of tricky joints and only-carpenters-know-them tricks.

[mitiempo]

Here's another example. I'm not sure what boat as the pic came from the web and is in my file of interior details.

[Rachel]

... the pic came from the web and is in my file of interior details.

Doesn't that file just make you want to have about a dozen boats so you can implement all the cool ideas? (and an inheritance, of course)

[mitiempo]

You're not kidding Rachel!

[Ceasar Choppy]

I have had to make decorative wire chase often. You aren't fooling anyone with it, they all know you are hiding wire, but it still looks good anyway. Tying it in to a base block like the one in Figment's picture sets it off as a thing of beauty and you can pretend you really wanted it that way. I often glue them on with dots of hot glue. It is strong enough to last, means no mechanical fasteners or bungs are visable, yet easy enough to remove later without damage to the bulkhead.

I often find that the best way to hide something is to make it obvious, in a pleasing way. This is an excellent example of that!

[Tim]

If you can't hide it, highlight it.