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I’ve had good luck by using the miter saw to cut the trimboard just like you were going to do a miter joint. Then cope to the line formed by the cut part and the face of the trim, but instead of cutting perpendicular to the face of the trim, angle the coping blade to back cut the trim, so that the wood near the face is very thin. I use a jig to back cut at 45 degrees. Then a few taps with the hammer will close up any gap because the wood is so thin at the face.
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I've had good luck by using the miter saw to cut the trimboard just like you were going to do a miter joint. Then cope to the line formed by the cut part and the face of the trim, but instead of cutting perpendicular to the face of the trim, angle the coping blade to back cut the trim, so that the wood near the face is very thin. I use a jig to back cut at 45 degrees. Then a few taps with the hammer will close up any gap because the wood is so thin at the face.
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KAS:
Having just completed ~660 LF of 6" wide "speed base" let me give this one a try:
1) When making the cope cut, if you have trouble following the line formed by the 45 degree miter cut that Rich describes, try this: use the side of the lead of your carpenter's pencil to blacken the "cope to" edge. This makes it a bit easier to follow the cope line. Some people find it easier to install the blade in the coping saw so that it cuts on the up-stroke rather than the down-stroke.
2) Once again, as Rich says, back cutting is the key. Once you have made your cope cut, View it from the same angle at which the mating butt cut piece will enter the inside corner joint. Can you see any material behind your coped edge? If so, use a rat tail rasp, half round file, small angle grinder, etc, to remove the excess material. With some practice the excess material removal step is not necessary. Hope this explanation makes sense!!
Once you get the hang of it, your coped inside corners will look better and be easier/faster than your outside mitered corners. Plus, the coped corners are less likely to look nasty if the molding shrinks a bit and are not effected by the fact that corners are rarely truly 90 degrees.
Another tip: when coping pieces of base or other material that has a wide flat surface, make the 45 degree cut with your miter saw as Rich describes. Then set the saw to a 15 degree miter or so and a 0 degree bevel, flip the material around upside down, and make the straight cut of the cope/back-cut with the miter saw.
Here is a URL. Look at the pictures near the bottom of the article:
http://popularmechanics.com/popmech/homei/9708HIHIM.html
*Why even bother coping if you have a quality miter saw and are able to accurately determine the inside and outside angle cuts needed. I very seldom bother with coping since having had a powered miter saw. Now the only time I cope is if I have very small lengths of base to install where the casing of the doors in a hall only leave me a small gape in which to get the pieces if I didn’t install the base while setting the casing. Other than that what is the purpose if you can miter using the power saw and make joints that fit every bit as good and tight as a coped fit. Plus do it faster.Coping has it’s place and is a great method for being able to make a nice fit in a 90 degree angled inside corner on special occasions. But honestly, what do you do with a 30, 45, or 60 to 80 degree corner (Granted odd corners of the 80 degree type is seldom if ever seen except on custom jobs where the architect has too much time on his hands and wants some %#@^*(&) statement) cope em? I don’t think so. It is only possible to back cut just so much. What you do is find the perfect angle cut even if it’s necessary to do so using scrape pieces of wood to figure the angle to make that accurate cut. Using a tool such as a speed square or a specialty angle finder can speed the process of finding that perfect angle. Dale Williams
*I cope all inside corners of every degree. Practice is your only way to get it right.It is really a simple task that is hard to visualize.Practice Practice Practice!
*Hi Dale,Coping is fun once your good at it. Most of what the users of this board do is fun once they're good at it. I haven't heard anyone here asking how you become a computer programer; it's good enough to be the best carpenter you can be. Enough philosphic I prefer a copings saw with the blade in backward and the cope exposed by a mitercut on a chop saw. Bottom line, a cope joint is better than a miter especially for anything near eye level.Joe
*Joe, perhaps you read more into what I was writing than I wrote. There is nothing in my statement regarding joinery that in any way would or even should imply something regarding computers and programming. I’m far removed from being a programmer. Note that I didn’t say not to cope I just implied why bother if you have a quality cutting tool such as a powered miter saw. Shoot, years ago when I first started doing trim carpentry we use to make a miter box out of scrap wood and set the molding in those to make the corner cuts. With those it was an absolute necessity to cope the inside corners and really interesting and exciting to get a really good outside corner. Even when I started using a Stanley backsaw system with the roller guides it was necessary to cope the joints.You can count on the fact that I carried at least two coping saws and various blades for those saws. One was set to cut on the push and the other on the pull. Now there is an area to which we could get truly philosophic. (To push or to pull? That is the question.) However since acquiring a powered miter saw in the early 80’s I found myself graduating away from coping inside corners except on rare occasions as mentioned earlier. I don’t even know where those saws are located today because nowdays when I do cope I use a scrolling blade in my Bosch jigsaw.One of the things I don’t like about a coped crown mold inside corner and especially with a stain grade wood is the butt corner look of the bottom nub being cut to make the joint perfect. It is possible with some moldings to leave a very thinned and easily broken nub but again why bother? I reasoned to myself that I already have to miter the other angles such as the 30, 45, and 60 degree inside corners then why not do the 90 too. After all if I’m making accurate corner cuts because I know the exact angle cut needed and the joints are tight, which they are, why bother with the extra step of coping a corner?I can appreciate the satisfaction that coping an inside corner can bring to any one who does one. However I find another satisfaction in knowing how to acquire an accurate angle at which to make inside and outside corner cuts and just doing that with a powered miter saw. To each his own?Dale Williams
*Hi Dale,I'm a mitering ignoramus. No offense was intended by my previous post. The comment about computer programming was general not specific to you. In short my post sucked and I'd like to nuke it. If I have to try explain what I was trying to say then, I did a miserable job saying it.Even if you handed me 1x6 for base I would cope it. I wouldn't think it a bother, it is just my way. I do agree that there are many good ways to accomplish most contruction tasks. I'm sorry I wrote such an obtuse post that may have caused offense.Sincerely,Joe
*OKDale
*Have any of you fellows ever used an attachment called the Collins Coping Foot that replaces the standard base on hand held jigsaws? I think it is the best thing that has ever happened to make cope cuts. You can even cope crown moulding easily. I have to say that when I first recieved mine and installed it on my jigsaw it took me a few trys to get the feel of it as you hold the jigsaw upside down to operate it but once you get the hang of it you can cope any moulding accurately and fast with hardly any effort
*If your only problem with coping is with quarter round try cutting your piece over long and snapping it into place
*I think that whatever you are better at do. But mitering an inside corner is way faster. I miter cheap trim but i cope the good stuff.Usually if the customer buys cheap base they dont want to pay me extra time coping it.
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I THINK COPING QUATER ROUND IS PRETTY SILLY BUT ON MORE COMPLICATED MOULDING SUCH AS CROWN ETC. IT'S A MUST UNLESS YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT YOU JOINT HOLDING AND YOU HAAVE GALLONS OF DAP ON HAND. I CUT MY 45DEG THAN BACK CUT AT 20 DEG OR SO CUT ALL THE STRAITS FIRST THAN COPE OUT MOST EVERY THING ELSE WITH A HAND COPING SAW I
THINK YOU GET BETTER CUTS AND IT'S VERRY FAST IF NEED BE I TAKE A 3 1/2" GRINDER FOR THE REST. ONE POINT I'LL MAKE. SAVE ALL YOUR PIECES THAT DONT FIT. WRITE THE ANGLE ON THEM AND USE THEM AS TEST PIECES ON THE NEXT CORNER (COMPOUND MITERS ARE HARD. TRIAL AND ERROR
Q DOSE ANYONE KNOW HOW TO COPE 22 1/2 DEG ANGLES I TRIED FOR HOURS PRETTY MUCH IMPOSSIBLE JEFF I DISAGREE THAT IT'S FASTER TO MITER THAN COPE CONSIDERING MOST CORNERS ARE NOT TRUE 90 DEG ANGLES.
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Why can I not cope and inside corner? I'm not usually this inept at such tasks of dexterity! This one should be easy--just replacing quarter-round.
Can someone please talk me through it? My joints just don't fit. What am I missing?
I have a compound miter saw, a pencil, a coping saw, and a small brain. I thought that would be all that I need for this task.
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David, man, it is really distracting trying to read posts in all capital letters. Is there any way for you to use lower case as well? Thanks - jb