• For best results, practice patience when attaching thin moldings.old furniture detail image by stassad from Fotolia.com
  
  Thin moldings are hard to work with. They are hard to cut, they break easily and slip around when you are working with them. Look at most fine furniture: the molding aliment and miters are perfect. You can achieve results like that by practicing a few tricks of the trade. Start by practicing patience.
  
  

Pin Nailer

• Nothing works better than air-powered pin nailers. These lightweight guns fire nails as small as 1/2 inch. But the real beauty of the pin nailer is the width. The head of a pin nailer is tiny, not much bigger than the diameter of the nail or "pin" itself. In addition, when the pin nailer fires the nail, it sets the head into the wood, ready for putty. You can hold the molding in place with your fingers and surgically fire a nail anywhere.
  
  

Glue Set

• Let the glue set for a few minutes before using it. When glue is exposed to air, it begins to cure immediately. Take advantage of this by first cutting your molding to fit, applying glue to the contact points and then holding the molding in your hand for one minute to let the glue cure slightly. Put the molding in place, and hold it there with your finger for another minute, which establishes the initial "tack" of the glue. You can then let go of the molding, and it will stay in place. Pick up the nailer, and fire a nail.
  
  

Predrill

• When working with very thin pieces of hardwood molding, predrilling is sometimes advantageous. Some moldings are brittle, and even the smallest pin nail can shatter molding like glass. To remedy this, clip the head off a small finish nail with diagonal pliers. Insert the nail into a cordless drill. Glue the molding, hold it in place and drill holes through it where you want the nails to be. Pick up the nailer, and place the tip of the nailer on the hole you just drilled. When you feel the nailer set into the divot where you drilled, fire the nail.