I have some decorative wood pieces on the front of my house that are old and falling apart. I took them down to recreate them anew. Someone suggested I could trace them and cut out new ones in the same style. This seemed like a straightforward suggestion until I started trying to trace them and realized their edges are ragged from age and peeling paint and so forth. How should I go about recreating them? I bought wood already and am ready to go once I determine a good method.
Should I trace onto paper and clean up before transferring to the new wood? Should I use a French curve to make sure the arcs are steady? Etc. Any experience you can offer will be helpful. Thanks!
ETA picture of house. Here I've overexposed it so you can see the wood trim I have been talking about. Does anybody know what the architectural term for this trim is?
Best Answer
Tracing is the first thing I would try.
If the trim detail is not super fine, sand lightly to remove burrs and bumps, and then tape (painter's tape probably, or whatever you have on hand that is close) along the the path the pencil will take to bridge valleys and pits.