Finish off Quarter Round

JCHandy · 07-01-2007, 09:55 AM

I was wondering if anyone could tell me how to finish off the end of a piece of quarter round?

In my kitchen and the down stairs hardwood floor, the quarter round comes to an end and instead of just doing a simple 33 degreee or 45 degree cut, the installer has ended it rather neatly. I am trying to accomplish this same finish on a new upstairs laminated floor that I just installed.

I have a picture attached.

What it appears that they have done, is cut a 45 degree end and then flipped the cut that came off and glued upside down to the end. This makes a very neat finish to a straight run of molding.

Thx

07-01-2007, 11:09 AM

No they couldn't have flipped it. You'd have the square side up instead of the curve then. What you have to do is cut one 45 on the end going one way and then on the left over piece you cut it off straight and then cut it again to a 45 going the opposite way so it buts up to your main piece as if you were continuing the quarter round around a corner.
Long piece: -----/ \-| : short piece to go on the end.
It keeps your curve on top that way.

RippySkippy · 07-01-2007, 11:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JCHandy

...it appears that they have done, is cut a 45 degree end and then flipped the cut that came off and glued upside down to the end...

You're very close, rather than flipping it upside down, it's a normal outside miter. The piece that's on the end of the run is the same as a long run, but cut short, the thickness of the quarter round.

Rather than trying to nail that piece in place, get some tacky woodworkers trim glue, it works really well, and doesn't split the small parts.

Darylh · 07-01-2007, 11:10 AM

That little piece is called a " return" The first piece has a 45 cut on the left side of your saw, the next piece has a 45 cut on the right side of your saw and then a straight cut to finish the piece and is then glued into place. Hope I have explained this alright

JCHandy · 07-01-2007, 01:46 PM

Thanks to everyone. I appreciate the quick response.

Dan101 · 07-01-2007, 03:14 PM

This is called coping or sometimes called making a return. You can make this easily on a Miter Saw. It just takes some practice. Buy an extra 3 or 4 ft. of the trim you want to work with. Practice it several times and you will see how easy it becomes.

Make a 45% cut on the end of a piece of trim and then position the trim on the miter saw so that the blade edge will exactly meet the edge of the miter cut at the bottom. This is complicated to explain but easy to do after a few practice cuts. You will end up with a V shaped viece of wood that fits nicely. Hope this helps.