How do I cut crown moulding for coping?
Question:I have some crown moulding that I tried to cut and cope for 90 degree angles, one the left inside corner, the other the right inside corner. When I tried to match up the corners, they don't fit together. I have a pretty sizeable gap at the bottom of my joint. I used a compound miter to cut it, but obviously my spring angle is different from the original crown I used to practice with. If I want to make a cut by holding the crown up against the fence and compensating for the spring angle, what does my miter table angle need to be? It is just for a 90 degree angle.
Answers:
I never use the compound miter for crown. Well, one cut one time for an atypical sitution, doesn't apply here. Every professional carpenter I've known use this method. Upside down and backwards. Determine how far the bottom edge of the crown is on the wall, say 2-1/2" (could be different depends on crown). Make a small mark the same distance 2-1/2" from the base of the saw on the fence. Put a piece of crown upside down in the saw and mark the edge of the crown on the base. If you have a wood stand for the saw, you can just nail a scrap piece of trim along the line for a stop. But they do make a stop for this purpose. There, no figuring angles, no looking up tables. Works every time. Inside corners, cut one end at 90. Cut the other at 45 and cope. But you have to cut the crown upside down and backwards. The bottom edge of the crown that is on the wall, is on the fence. Imagine the two planes of the fence and the base are the walls and ceiling respectively. Outside corners 45 miter. Actually, you may want to bump th saw over to 46 or so and you may have to experiment. Most outside corners are a bit over for corner bead. When you nail the crown up transfer the distance on the fence 2-1/2" in this example, from the ceiling down the wall. Pop a light chalk line. The bottom edge of the crown goes against the line.
Try it once. When you get used to looking at it upside down and backward, it becomes so much easier. Just remember what is the bottom edge of the crown on the wall is the top edge in the saw and the right end on the wall is the left edge in the saw. And vice versa. And just leave bevel striaght up 90 to the base.
This may help:
http://www.dewalt.com/us/articles/articl...
set the mitre at 35 and the compound at 36. the left side gets cut upside down and the right gets cut face up. its hard to explain so if you have any questions e-mail me at doogie006@yahoo and i'll try to explain further
There are 2 ways to do this on a compound miter saw. The first is to set both angles at 33 1/3 and lay the crown flat and cut. You should make a couple templates and mark them as you will need to spin the crown for opposing cuts. The next method is to use what is called a crown stop. On your saws front "feet" you will see a hole in the top of each about 1/2' in dia. These are for store bought stops. You can also make your own. What they do is hold the crown against the fence in the same position as if against a ceiling. Then you just make a 45 cut. Again, make templates. Good luck
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/custome...
http://www.installcrown.com/index.html...
This link will tell you all you need to know about angles for cutting crown molding. http://www.dewalt.com/us/articles/articl...
As for the coping, I'm not sure if you realize that you don't match up two coped corners. The whole point is that one piece is butted to the wall, and the coped corner fits against its profile to match it and form the appearance of a corner.
Angles vary depending on the crown molding itself. I just put some last week that required a lot of testing to determine the angle. MDF moldings are the truest and easiest to cut and install. My DeWalt saw works great with the MDF laying flat on the saw. On the mitre gauge there is a slot for the 31.62 degree angle. On the backside angle, tilt the blade to the pre-marked 38 degree angle. This will make your inside and outside cuts. You can then install the 45 degree cuts or cope the joints. Good luck!
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