Just realized I've been screwing up my crown molding joints for 12 years

I was trimming out a buddy's basement in Denver last week and he watched me cut a few pieces on the saw. He goes "why are you cutting those upside down and backwards?" I told him that's how I always did it. Then he showed me how to hold the piece flat against the fence like you're supposed to. Felt like a total idiot. All those wasted cuts and caulk over the years. Anyone else learn a basic trick way later than they should have?

3 comments

3 Comments

quinn1616d ago

Coping a piece against the fence is the way to go for sure. I used to do the same thing for years until a old timer stopped me mid-cut and showed me the light. A few things that really helped me were getting a good digital angle finder and marking the wall before cutting. Also, don't forget to check your saw's bevel stops every few months because they drift over time. Another game changer was using a 45 degree test block to verify my cuts before running the good material through.

abby_morgan186d ago

You know what, I was the exact opposite for the longest time. I always just cut everything square and figured it was good enough. Then I messed up a big job in a old house with crooked walls and had to redo half of it. That forced me to actually try coping like @quinn161 is talking about. The test block idea is something I never thought of but now it seems so obvious. I also used to skip checking the bevel stops and would wonder why my cuts were off by a hair. It is wild how much smoother things go when you take those extra few minutes to set everything up right.

fiona_hunt716d ago

@quinn161 that test block trick would've saved me years of cussing at my miter saw.