• Project-specific tools easily create the angles of miter cuts.moulding image by Jim Mills from Fotolia.com
  
  The installation of wood molding often signals the completion of a building project---molding covers edges, corners and openings and lends a finished, decorative touch to a room's appearance. Performing this rewarding phase of finish carpentry requires both general purpose and specialized tools. Wood molding tools include tools that measure and mark molding, tools that cut and fasten molding and tools which finish the product's appearance. From repairs to new construction, a familiarity with wood molding tools allows you to choose the right tools for your job.
  
  

Compound Miter Saw

• The compound miter saw is the finish carpenter's on-site cutting tool of choice. The compound miter saw spins a large diameter, sharp-toothed, circular blade. The tool's blade attaches to a retractable arm and hangs above a stationary base. A carpenter places wood molding on the base, pulls the tool's trigger to activate the electrically powered motor, and lowers the arm and spinning blade through the material. The compound miter saw's arm not only lowers across a board's width to create crosscuts, but also tilts and rotates on separate axes to create angled cuts, such as miter cuts and bevel cuts. For wood molding, this tool employs a blade with small, closely spaced teeth called a "finish" blade.
  
  

Finish Hammer

• The carpenter's finish hammer provides a manually operated means of driving fasteners through wood molding. The finish hammer's striking face is round, smooth and bulges slightly outward. The face's outward bulge allows a carpenter to drive a nail beneath the molding's surface without creating marks upon the surrounding wood. The finish hammer's claw is acutely curved, like a rocking chair's rockers. The claw's shape allows a carpenter to remove nails with a gentle, rocking motion, reducing the occurrence of surface blemishes during nail removal.
  
  

Nail Punches

• Nail punches sink, or "punch," nails farther below the molding's surface than a finish hammer. The nail punch appears as a small metal rod, tapering to a fine point at one end. The punch's point precisely corresponds with the size of a finish nail's head. A carpenter places the point upon a nail's head and whacks the opposite side of the punch with a hammer. The nail sinks beneath its surrounding surface, leaving a divot only as large as its head's diameter.
  
  

Putty Knife

• The putty knife is the spatula of the finish carpentry world. Putty knives feature triangular, plastic or metal blades attached to straight handles. The tool's blade scoops, scrapes and applies wood putty and strips and removes paint from wood surfaces. Putty knives are used to remove paint during the refinishing of existing molding and to apply wood putty to nail holes during installation.
  
  

Caulking Gun

• The caulking gun fills cracks and gaps around and on the wood molding's surface. The tool is trigger operated and has a pistol-like appearance. A tube of caulking, sealant or adhesive is loaded into the tool's body, the tube is opened and the tool's user pulls a trigger to spread a bead of caulking around wood molding.