Click to visit our Moulding Pattern Book

Whether its custom siding for a Victorian hotel, or picture rail specially designed to hold commemorative plates, Blue Ox has built it all.  Now a partial collection of our molding patterns is up online for your viewing pleasure.

Keep in mind that these are only an infinitesimally small percentage of the patterns that we have run over the years, and is intended only to give you ideas of different possibilities.  Please don't hesitate to contact us to discuss the details of your own project.

Victorian Mouldings that Break the Mold

Most Victorian homes are filled with character.  Unfortunately, most older homes are also filled with cracked and deteriorated moulding.  Moulding comes in an almost infinite number of shapes and sizes, and each piece has a very definite history and purpose.  No matter what your moulding needs, Blue Ox Millworks is ready to put the world's largest collection of moulder knives to work for you.

It's All Greek to Us

Like many popular architectural elements, modern mouldings (moldings) find their roots in ancient Greece and Rome.  Though mouldings come in a nearly infinite number of shapes, most still utilize the basic profiles introduced by the Romans, including the ovulo (convex), the cavetto (concave) and the s-shaped cyma and ogee.

(At left): Eric holds a sample of 6" door casing from a recent job.

Most mouldings are not structural, but they do serve a variety of purposes.  They hide joints between contrasting architectural elements, they serve as hand and bar rails and act as trim for windows and doors, and they just plain make a place look nicer.  A nice piece of moulding is rarely recognized and appreciated on its own, but together with other architectural elements, it can make a regular den into a polished stateroom.

(At right): Carefully placed mouldings will accent the work on any home.  How many types of moulding can you see in this picture?

The majority of our custom mouldings at Blue Ox are constructed on four sided moulding machines from 1912 and earlier.  Our massive collection of moulder knives (the world’s largest) allows us to custom match any moulding no matter the size or the construction.  For true historic accuracy (for mouldings from early 1800's and earlier) we also have a large collection of hand planes. Whether you are looking for chair and picture rail, bolection, crown moulding, corner guard, base board, wainscoting, or cap, Blue Ox can easily meet your needs.

(At left): Cherry handrail and hand-carved goosenecks

Blockheads are Better

A modern rotary moulder uses a round head and only small delicate knives, making it difficult for modern mouldings to have cuts more than a half an inch deep.  The moulders at Blue Ox use square heads with large steel plate knives, making them capable of making deep cuts up to four or five inches.  Sometimes one head may have as many as seven different knives at one time. 

(At right:) Some Blue Ox mouldings in the Bauriedel home.

With the over three thousand knives available at Blue Ox, there are an infinite number of possible profiles—and any time that we run up against a profile that we don’t have, Eric grinds more knives.  It is this selection that makes Blue Ox a paradise for restoration experts or new home contractors who just can’t find what they need at another shop.

(At left):  Among other things, Blue Ox made custom handrail for the Ship's Inn.

In fact, the Ox is the last place to go for some specialized kinds of moulding. Undercut moulding for instance (where part of the pattern seems to droop or overhang the rest of the moulding) can only be cut on these older machines because two of their heads can be tilted.  This allows the knives to attack the wood at an angle, cutting up underneath an existing pattern.

(At right): An explanation of undercut moulding from Dan Brett's book Tales of the Blue Ox .

Siding with the Cause of Quality

Also available from our moulding shop are an infinite number of custom siding selections.  Siding is the largest visual part of any structure.  Most Victorians used a horizontal fancy siding design for the first and second floors with a shingle pattern often highlighting the remaining wall space.  At Blue Ox we can make custom siding in any shape, with a width of up to twelve inches per piece.

(At left:) Blue Ox manufactured siding (as well as custom balustrades) for the Yurok Tribal ofiice in Klamath

Though siding is often overlooked by the casual observer, it makes a huge difference in the feel of a building.  Different arrangements of siding and shingles can help provide the layered look that is so popular in Victorian homes.  It can even make a regular home look like a rustic log cabin.

(At right) Blue Ox siding comes in all shapes and sizes.  Eric has accumulated patterns from multiple mills, stretching back over one hundred years.  We can custom match whatever you need!

Whatever kind of custom moulding you need to finish your project, Blue Ox Millworks is the place to go.  Let Eric put his nearly 40 years of experience to work for you. Blue Ox custom mouldings have been seen from Boston Massachusetts to the Leland Stanford mansion in Sacramento. Send us an email today to find out how the Ox can help your home.

(At left):  Eric Hollenbeck has been doing fine woodworking for nearly forty years.  Here he poses with a newly cut piece of moulding in this circa 1970s photo.