cutting crown molding for cope cuts
Forget trying to manage the tilted 'compound' bevel on a miter saw. Besides the fact that you don't need to bother with it at all, very few walls are square enough in all the planes involved at a corner to make any of those numbers work much of the time. You will end up with much beter work if you cope your inside corners and cut your molding "UPSIDE DOWN, AND BACKWARD" with nothing but a 45 (more or less, depending on how bad the corner was built) angle on the saw for all cuts.
Just remember that phrase,"UPSIDE DOWN, AND BACKWARD" and you will soon begin to see how it works.........
You always put your molding on the saw table....... "UPSIDE DOWN".
And you simply remember to turn your saw the direction shown in the pictures I show below for each of the desired cuts, and place your molding on the saw table "BACKWARD". In other words, if you want to cut a piece for the right side, you place the wood on the left of the saw blade. If you want to cut a piece for the left side, you place the wood on the right side of the saw blade.
Why all this "UPSIDE DOWN, AND BACKWARD" craziness? Well, think about it.
You are installing molding against the intersection of your wall and your ceiling. Those two planes (or surfaces) create a 90 degree angle when they meet. That's pretty simple. You can look right up there and see that.
Well, the table and the backing fence of your miter saw also create a 90 degree angle where they meet. Think of the fence (the upright part) as your wall surface... and the table of the saw as your ceiling. That's cool. You can look at the saw and see that, too. That's all well and good. You need a 90 degree setup like that to help align the molding. But here comes the aggravating part.
Because of the fact that a miter saw happens to have its blade mounted ABOVE the table you're cutting upon, it cuts the molding the opposite of what you need for it to install properly up there on your ceiling.
Envision this: If it were possible for you to lie on your back like Michelangelo did to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel... and if you could bolt your saw, upside down, directly onto the ceiling... then you could make all your cuts just like they look like they need to be cut. Because the saw would then be oriented along the same plane as the ceiling. But that's a huge hassle. And totally ridiculous to even attempt.
So... you just need to keep remembering that you are, in effect, doing everything in reverse. Because of the saw being on the floor, and not the ceiling, the molding is actually being prepared in reverse, (until you turn the cut piece of molding over and lift it up into place on the ceiling), so all your cuts are going to also have to be done in reverse.
I know it doesn't seem to make any sense right now, but as you read through this a few more times ... slowly... it will begin to come into focus.
Inside Left ........................................... Inside Right .................................Outside Left .............................Outside Right
__________________
"True eloquence consists in saying all that is necessary, and only that which is."
François Duc de La Rochefoucauld
Willie T
Last edited by Willie T; 05-05-2009 at 12:38 PM.
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