Advice on stair baseboard transition

you can router the same shape the baseboard has on top, just notch the baseboard with a rounded cut instead of square and follow it around with the router to drop that last few inches..

not seeing the piece before hand, I didnt know how big the shaped top was...why dont you just cut an inch or 2 off the bottom and miter the ends and call it good?

Yah, it is somewhat elaborate. The problem with cutting off an inch is that it would look odd compared to the other side of the stairs. Also, as it comes around the corner, it is a long run around an entire 400sq foot room. I'd have to trim the entire run...

Just wondering if there's some tricky way to transition it...

I'm saving that photo. Would you post a finish photo with the end grain detail?

Sure will. Let me work on the finished one. Although Im still contemplating using a a plain block instead so if I don't use the "dropped miter" idea, it's really just three pieces. The left piece is just a 45 all the way from top to bottom. The right piece is also just a 45 from top to bottom. The middle piece is two 45's and is basically as wide as the drop I desire. It was about 3/4". I then glued, filled and painted making sure to hide the cut lines as much as possible...

I like that idea in picture above. Looks like some thought was put into it and not just nailed in place

that looks like a winner...

I think the stepped down miter example looks great. I'm not a big fan of a transition block. Most of the time, even though you decorate them, they still look like an afterthought. And you said you were going to return the left end, that would be my choice.
Mike Hawkins:smile:

...and, by the way, I have to credit Tom Ewell over at the SawmillCreek forums for the dropped miter idea. I'm not that ingenious to figure that one out...