I just purchased a ridgid 12" miter saw..need help cutting 45's...?
Question:I was wondering if someone could walk me through the process of cutting baseboard and molding(around doors).
where do i measure? reveal..how much and so on??
THanks alot in advance to any help.---tom--
Answers:
Like my buddy says "Aint nothin to it but to do it" As stated previously, the saw has stops to make most of the mitres you require. If your totally fresh to the biz you may want to take some scrape pieces and do a couple of test cuts. For the most part, if you have the numbers and can make a pencil mark on a piece of wood, you can do it. As far as reveals go, you can purchase a sweet little gizmo from Lowes or HD that you place on the edge of the jamb that has a 1/4 inch rabbit cut in it so you can mark your reveal.
Measure the inside edge, then set the saw for 45 degrees, and cut. Measure each one independently, because most aren't perfectly square...
The saw has fixed stops at 45° for either left- or right cut miters.
For door mouldings, I measuer from the floor to the top of the insode (lower) corner of the miter, and cut accordingly. If you're not shure how to translate the cut angle to which way to orient the saw (left or right), draw a line on the face in the direction the miter should go, then match it up on the saw.
For the top piece, I measure to the bottom corners, and intentionally cut long, fit it, and trim up one end for a perfect job.
On baseboard, I don't miter inside corners. Run on side cut square right into the corner, and cut a 45° on the other side, and cope out the profile. When you fit the coped piece to the square cut side, it will look like a perfectly cut miter!
I measure outside corners to the short (inside face) of the miter, mark the edge with the miter angle, and use the mark to orient the blade properly (left/right) for the cut.
When pieceing out a run where your stock is not long enough, a 30° miter seems to look best when finished!
As for revals, it's kinda up to the end user! Make 'em how you like 'em! 1/4- to 3/8- inch is common.
measure from corner to corner, and do not assume that the angle is 45 degrees.
Hank answers the question well but maybe I can improve on the technique. First make two L shaped fences for your saw, I make mine out 3/4" MDF. Make the base of the L wider than your moulding and clamp them to your saw. Cut one right and one left at 45 degrees. Now take two pieces of wood, put one on top of the other and set it back 1/4" and nail them together, you now have a gauge for the reveal. Put the gauge against the top corner of the door jamb and mark the edge, now put it on the inside edge of the head and mark again. Join the two lines and where they cross is the inside corner of your mitre. Put the moulding up against the jamb and mark where the lines cross. Now put the moulding on the saw with the pencil mark on the edge of your 45 degree and cut it off. Do the same on the head and the other jamb and if the door frame is square you should have a perfect fit.
If the frame is out of square another advantage of the fences is that they can be packed out with shims, ( I use playing cards) to fine tune the angles.
Hank said to cope one of the inside corners on baseboard which is correct especially if you are staining the base. If you are painting it you may get away with cutting a mitre in the corner and filling any gaps with a paintable caulk. If you do cope the joint I suggest you put blue masking tape on the base before cutting the 45, this will highlight the line to which you have to cut.
Tom I hope this helps, if not fire off another question.
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