Sawdust on the Floor

I had every intention in the world of getting back into my shop this weekend and work on the mirror for the bathroom renovation.  However, I think I may have found a new version of total frustration.  I have been out of town for the past couple of weeks on business, so I had really wanted to spend this weekend in the shop. That was not to be, we woke this morning to an old fashion Nor’easter.  For those of you who do not live along the Northeast corridor of the United States, that’s a major storm that dumps impressive amounts of snow on the area.  There are several drifts between our house and the shop, that are at least 4 feet tall.  So one more week end that I will have to find other things to keep me out of trouble.

While I can’t give you the update I wanted to, I would like to pass along an idea I saw on one of the DIY shows on television.  In an earlier post I remember talking about coping trim when it goes into a corner. Well here is a updated method that makes so much sense that all I could say is ” Now why didn’t I think of that?”

Whenever you are installing molding into an inside corner, the best method is to cope the joint where the pieces meet rather than try to miter it.  Mitering simply doesn’t work very well because the corners are very seldom at a true 90 ° angle.  Coping involves running one piece of trim all the way into the corner, the end of this piece is cut straight.  The profile of this first piece is then cut into the end of the piece that connects to it.

The method of cutting this profile is really simple.  If for instance we wanted to cut a profile on the right hand end of a piece of trim we would do the following. We would cut the 45 ° miter on the right end of the stock. The miter saw would be adjusted so that the we cut a right hand miter ( adjustment arm of the miter saw to the left, as you face the saw), and the stock would be held vertically against the back of the miter saw. 

Taking the stock from the miter saw, we would remove all of the stock to the right of the leading edge of the miter with a coping saw.  To help determine the leading edge of the miter, the edge of the miter was always darkened with a pencil.  Even with the pencil line, it has always been difficult to determine where to cut and where not to. 

The trick I saw helped clear this up.  Simply place a piece of either the blue or green painters tape over the end of the stock. Make sure that the tape runs completely through the area where you intend to cut the miter.  Then simply cut the miter as we previously did.  When you cut the miter you will also be cutting through the tape. Now instead of wondering which material to remove, simply remove all of the material to the right of the end of the tape.  No more guessing, or fussing with a pencil.  Just a great idea that makes sense.  Why didn’t I think of that!!!

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