I am ready to do my first crown moulding project in a small room that is being remodeled. I think I will use the cope method in the corners as I think it will be easier for me. My question is this; On the cope end of the mould,what angle do I turn the miter table to and then what angle do I tilt the saw head to? Am I correct that I place the crown material upside down on the saw to cut? All help will be appreciated. WW—57
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I run crown moulding every five or ten years and always have to flip open my old Taunton press book on trim carpentry to review the details of coping the corners.
Check it out at the library, it should cover the basics.
I found it helpful to make up a couple of short scraps of crown and cope them to help check my corners and measurements prior to cutting the actual piece.
Home Depot is selling "pro packs" of something like 8 - 16footers of 3 1/4" crown for 50 dollars. It is so cheap I can afford to screw up a cut or two and let it go without beating myself up and I don't get tempted to splice pieces together.
Karl
If you cut the crown laying flat you don't turn it upside down. but you will miter and bevel it ( compound miter) the settings depend on the spring angle of your crown. ( there are normally only 3 angles) but the way I do it is turn the crown up side down the way it would go on the cieling (not flat) and then all you do is miter it on a 45 and cope to fit. sometimes it may be easier to make a jig for the crowm to rest in at the proper angle upsidedown so you don't have to hold it.
The angle and bevel depend on the crown...There are two general types, and my saw has 2 tiny diamonds on the bevel gauge and the angle gauge...I'd love to tell you what they are, but I'm not that smart. Someone here will know, tho.....:)
You can figure it out, tho. Just cut a piece with the crown standing up the way it goes on the ceiling, on a 45. Then, lay it flat and adjust the bevel and angle til the saw blade is dead flat against it.
I always cut crown or finish material good side up on a miter box....don't know that I can think of any exceptions.
Good on ya for the inside copes....Cut em a hair long, spring em in...Joint will stay tight, you'll be a hero. I feel that's the way to go....But that's another story altogether........;)
Good luck.
Bing
I'm sure Gary Katz has besides a video for sale, a step by step-in good english-with photo's-explanation on his site.
The only thing harder than doing crown for the first time is to try and understand the explanation of how to do it by those that do know how.
Give Gary's site a looksee.
A Great Place for Information, Comraderie, and a Sucker Punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
http://www.quittintime.com/
The only thing harder ... is to try and understand the explanation of how to do it by those that do know how.
You're close. The only thing harder is to try to understand the explanation of those who think they know how, but really don't have a clue."Put your creed in your deed." Emerson
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
Invest in crown stops for your saw, or make your own to nest the moulding at the same angle as it will be hung (varies by moulding).
Turn crown upside down, net into the stops, cut at 45. Left / right angle as you would if you were cutting a miter joint for the same inside corner.
Cope with coping saw or a grinder with a flap sanding disc.
I have never had any luck cutting crown laying flat - probably because of the bevel adjustment scale on my saw - stops always work.
Jim
Thanks, I think I will practice on some scraps ( which is the smart thing to do on almost anything--esp. if you are unsure about it to begin with). I love this forum, good for us novices. WW--57
This DeWalt site has useful diagrams of crown molding cuts and a table of mitre and bevel angles for when the corner is not 90.
http://www.dewalt.com/us/articles/article.asp?Site=woodworking&ID=2
Here's some pics of a model i made a while ago. May help you understand the crown coping cuts.
Cut the crown updise down and backwards.
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Your cope line will be the edge along the surface of teh moulding
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do what ever it takes (cope, grind, sand, carve, blast, etc...) to remove the material beyond the cope line. When you cut, angle the cut to remove more material behind the cope line so minor irregularities don't affect the seating of the cope to the mating piece of moulding.
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It ought ot look something like this when you're done
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Next step is to be sure the shoot the trim up at close to the correct spring angle (as long as you had the trim in the miter saw close to the right spring angle). I generally don't shoot too close to the end of the first piece (the butt cut) so I can still work/adjust/twist it to fit the coped piece.
Hope I didn't resize the pics too small.
7g
Edited 7/2/2009 8:32 pm ET by john7g
Thank you soooooo much. The illustrations were very good. It really helps. WW--57
Here is a bit more on coping.
http://www.josephfusco.org/Articles/Crown_Moulding/Coping_101.html
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http://www.josephfusco.org
http://www.constructionforumsonline.com
Good info and videos. Thank you. WW--57