Keep in mind that you are making a right-hand cut for an outside corner. The user follows the pre-cut angles, cutting through the baseboard by hand with the backsaw. Step One: Safety Gear; Step Two: Measuring Your Angle; Step Three: Positioning Your Wood; Step Four: Configuring the Compound Saw; Step Five: Making the First Cut; Step Six: Reconfiguring the Compound Saw; Step Seven: Making the Second Cut Take the worry out of making tough cuts like plunge cuts and miter cuts on wide boards, short boards and even tiny boards. Prepare the miter box -- if you're making one yourself -- by measuring a 45-degree angle on the top edges of the two boards that form the sides of the box, using a combination square. For an inside corner, set the saw blade to 45 degrees. Only the most precise craftspeople can do it freehand when using a handsaw; everyone else needs the help of a miter box. A back-saw and Japanese-style pull saw are the most suitable tools. In order to cut the quarter round molding you must position one of the ends of the molding inside your miter box just in the same way how it would be installed through the base of the walls. Cutting the ends so that pieces fit together cleanly can be difficult, especially if the walls aren't exactly square. Using an electric miter saw makes your cuts easier but leaves you with a huge amount of chipping after the cutting process. Don safety glasses. Using a spare piece of trim, trace the contour of the molding on the mitered edge, and cut along the lines with a coping saw. Using a power miter saw is the best way to cut crown moulding angles. Place your molding on a saw table so that it’s secured in place. With the crown molding set in the vice, make the cut on the corner of the crown molding. Rotate the saw clockwise and set the miter angle at 31.6 degrees. Chris Deziel has a bachelor's degree in physics and a master's degree in humanities. The cuts you required for a quarter round molding aren’t that many, using a miter box with a miter hand saw would give you the same precise results but with a smaller mess to clean. If you don't have a miter box, it's easy to build one by screwing together three straight 1-by-6-inch boards to make a box with an open top and sides. Watch this video for Joe Truini's Simple Solution. Insert a piece of crown molding into the box with its bottom edge facing up. Danny Lipford: Probably the best way to cut trim is using a motorized miter saw, but most homeowners won’t have a saw like that. This piece should be cut square (0°) and fit snug against the opposite wall. To close the corner, it’s best to use 1.25-inch or 1.5-inch brads. Ensure that the socket from the back cut is fitting the face of the other side of your baseboard. © 2021 Today’s Homeowner Media. Joe is a handy guy, who’s always on the lookout for ways to make the job of home improvement easier and more efficient. Use long, straight, smooth strokes; cutting all the way through the molding and partially into the two by six scrap. Step 2: Bevel Cut the Second Piece Take your next piece of baseboard and make a 45° bevel cut with a miter saw. By using corner blocks to form your corners, you avoid mitering altogether. I like to use a hacksaw when cutting thinner mouldings because the teeth are finer and I have more control. Now carefully place the molding with the miter box’s wall. Cut through the molding and into the 2”x 6” with a handsaw. Use a coping saw to fit crown molding in inside corners that aren't square. Use sandpaper to finish or file the baseboard. Then cut from the bottom left to the top right using the 45-degree angle slot. The best handsaws for cutting molding have fine, sharp teeth. All rights reserved. A miter box is designed to let you hand-saw a piece of wood using a pre-set angle. How to Build a Box for a Cathedral Ceiling Fan, This Old House: How to Install Easy Crown Molding, Popular Mechanics: Pro Tips For Installing Crown Molding, How to Cut 45 Degree Angle Baseboards With a Hand Saw, How to Measure & Cut Trim for the Floor & Doors. Set the first piece of molding on the work surface, back side up and extending to the left. One set cuts at 45 degrees for a right-hand … I’m just a homeowner who has learned a few things on my own. © Copyright 2020 Hearst Communications, Inc. Make a curved, 45- degrees angle cut with the jigsaw, to the baseboard’s backside, alongside its surface. As a landscape builder, he helped establish two gardening companies. But on tall baseboards, cutting the long straight section of the cope with a coping saw is difficult, and the cut is usually wavy. Step 4: Install the Molding. Cut cleaner and safer with your miter saw and circular saw. Instead, start the cope as usual (Photo 1). If you want to install trim without a miter box, however, there is a way to do it using only square cuts, which you can make with a standard circular saw. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. There are three corresponding slots on both sides for the saw blade. Miter outside corners in the same way. Besides having an abiding interest in popular science, Deziel has been active in the building and home design trades since 1975. Then cut from the bottom right to the top left using the 45-degree angle slot. Make sure the other corner fits as well. Use a miter box or power miter saw to cut the baseboard at a 45-degree angle. Joe Truini: The problem is when you’re using a handsaw to trim only a half-inch or so from the end of the piece of molding, the blade will flex and pop off the waste pieces, leaving a ragged, jagged cut. Feed the matching piece of trim into the box with its bottom edge facing up. Coping rather than mitering inside corners is the best method to fit baseboards. Cut through the molding and into the 2”x 6” with a handsaw. Slide the molding to the right side of the blade to cut the left-hand piece for an outside corner. Complete each of the coping saw cuts that need to be made on the crown molding. Turn on the saw and make the cut. Joe Truini is a seasoned contractor, accomplished author and hosts Simple Solutions on Today’s Homeowner TV. A miter saw is the only way to get that angle exactly right. The idea is that the two by six will provide support for the molding. I have my fathers Stanley miter box circa 1950, with a sharp back saw. To do this, you have to raise the angle adjustment lever since this part of the miter saw allows you to alter the angle the saw cuts at. Have an old folding table? Cut the molding for an inside corner. You pull the saw across the work piece instead of pulling it down. Clamp the molding to the 2”x 6”. Mark lines on both boards with a pencil, and cut through them with a handsaw. The saw can be set to 45 degrees to the left or 45 degrees to the right. Make sure to mark the second piece the same way and test for fitting before you nail it in place. If you plan to paint the molding, fill the gaps in imperfect corners with acrylic latex caulk. An inexpensive alternative would be a Japanese pull saw both the pull saw and back saw have zero set teeth which is critical for accurate cuts and an easily built wooden miter box would be a better alternative to the 2×6 scrap. Remove the saw from that pair of notches and insert it into the other pair so that it's splayed in the opposite direction. Move the handle on your blade until your indicator matches the desired angle. I find it interesting that in the background of this video you have a back saw for a hand miter box. VIDEO TRANSCRIPT Steady the miter box with your non-dominant hand, and hold the saw in your dominant hand. Take appropriate safety precautions when sawing wood. Setting up your miter saw to cut templates for 38• spring angles. Then, place the molding piece on the saw table and make sure that the molding piece is fixed with the fence. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. Support long cutoffs by stacking boards and separating them with … align your hand saw with the marks that were made during the previous steps. Crown Molding, Internal corner, left-hand side. He used this miter box as a finish carpenter for more than 20 years. For cutting the crown molding, you should first measure your cutting area and mark the cutting points with a pen.