Coped joints using oak molding?

[Steve Mathews]

I'm installing a lot of oak base molding in my house and find it hard to cope a joint because of the hardwood. I've done it easily in the past but with MDF and pine. The method I use is the 45 degree cut and cope almost to the cut line. The coping isn't too bad but finish filing to the cut line seem to take forever. Is there an easier way to do this or should I just miter all of the inside corners?

[Art Mann]

I cope to the 45 degree cut line and don't do any filing or rasping. If I make a tight fit, the angle created by the cope allows the wood to compress just a little. That is enough to close a small crack.

[Steve Mathews]

I cope to the 45 degree cut line and don't do any filing or rasping. If I make a tight fit, the angle created by the cope allows the wood to compress just a little. That is enough to close a small crack.

Are you doing this with a hardwood? I don't think oak would compress at all.

[phil harold]

+1
I do this too

I cope to the 45 degree cut line and don't do any filing or rasping. If I make a tight fit, the angle created by the cope allows the wood to compress just a little. That is enough to close a small crack.

[George Bokros]

I had some oak crown installed because I do not do high ladders (foyer is 17' ceiling) the carpenter cut to a 45 then used a Easy Coper to back cut with a saber saw then used a Dremel for the final shaping to the edge and additional back relief.

Easy Coper on Rockler http://www.rockler.com/easycoper-for-crown-molding?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term= &utm_content=pla&utm_campaign=PL&s


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Giv9inaShoE

[Martin Wasner]

Cut to line with a jig saw, use a belt sander to got what you can, file the rest.

[Mark Wooden]

Since it's base, flip it over and cut the straight part of the cut with a chop/SCM saw; you can give it a slight back cut by setting the saw to 1/2 a degree. Cope the moulding on the base with a coping saw- with the teeth pointing to the handle, cutting down on the pull stroke.

[Art Mann]

Are you doing this with a hardwood? I don't think oak would compress at all.

Yes, I have used red oak. If you cope so as to leave a more acute angle, the wood will be thinner and more compliant. You are cutting a bevel on the coped edge aren't you? To tell you the truth I have never seen a professional finish carpenter go back and work on his cope with a file or rasp. It is easy enough with lots of practice to cope to the 45 cut line accurately. The part beneath the coped edge never even shows. I have used a sharp pocket knife on rare occasions to try and fix a bad cut.

Edit: I just found a video in which the person cuts the cope in exactly the same way I do in the first minute or so. Notice that he is not making the cut perpendicular to the molding but he is cutting at a slight angle. If your joint doesn't compress to a gapless fit, just cut the angle a little more. Of course, you do have to be able to cut fairly accurately in the first place.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LukOyO7M_w

[Peter Quinn]

Take a look at this video. I've seen some of the carpenters we use to supply do a whole house full of crown with this machine. Its expensive but effective. If you take a look at how it works, its basically a table saw head that floats like a key copier. I'm not suggesting you buy one of these, but I know a guy that gets the same basic functionality using a table saw freehand. He uses infeed support to hold the crown level with the table and support long lengths, keeps the blade low so the angle of attack is high. Miter the molding first like a standard hand cope, then at the table saw slowly and gradually move the molding side to side while advancing maybe 1/16" at a time and nibbling away at the waste. You want to come just up to the edge of the miter, you can even highlight it with a bit of pencil. No danger of kick back using the front of the blade, but there is a spinning blade in play so you have to keep careful control over your hands. First time I saw this done I though it was mental, but having tried it, makes coping hardwood moldings much easier. Problem with a hard wood like oak is its strong grain wants to drag the skinny coping blade off course, which results in lots of sanding and filing. Not a joy. You can practice with short scraps to develop a technique and determine if this method works for you.

[George Bokros]

That machine is around $2500 to $3000. I saw it demonstrated about five years ago.

[Tom M King]

Use a sharp no.4 pencil, and cope to the line. Rub the offcut just a little bit. Sharp and no.4 might sound like it doesn't matter, but aim small, miss small. If it's a tight curve, a jeweler's saw works easier than a coping saw.

[Jim Falsetti]

Steve - don't know what profile you are using, but I installed 5-1/4" tall, one-piece, baseboard in my house. The base itself is 4" and the top profile (cap) is 1-1/4". My first attempts (closets, small bathroom and bedroom) were poplar, and I painted it. Very unhappy not so much with corner joints, but the gaps on the walls and the floor were unsightly - nothing is straight - the floors sag and the walls bend. Since the baseboard is 3/4" thick, it doesn't bend to follow the walls. Since the floors are not even, the trim starts off flush, shows a gap in the middle of the run, and is flush at the other end. The other rooms are oak, cherry and walnut trim, so putty and paint were not going to work.

The mill shop foreman where I bought the trim suggested ripping the cap off, installing the straight base with a butt joint (small back bevel when necessary), coping the cap, and adding a shoe molding. It's easy to bend the cap tight to the wall, and the shoe hides the floor gaps. Yes, it is more work, and a little more money, but the results were, to me, well worth the extra effort. Coping the cap and the shoe is very fast. I made a small jig for the band saw to make accurate copes and put the back bevel on at the same time. Test fitting with a couple of small pieces was also helpful.

Anyway, my 2 cents worth.

Best - Jim

[Art Mann]

Jim, that is what they make painter's caulk for. Too many finish carpenters use too much of it to cover their lack of skill but in your case, I would just use it and move on.

[Jim Dwight]

I plan to try a Collins coping foot my next trim job. I think I will have to practice with it but it seems to speed things up a lot and potentially lead to better accuracy versus my normal coping saw. In oak, I would think it would make an even bigger difference.

[Tom M King]

I'll never forget the time I showed a new, young carpenter how to cope baseboard. He had tried mitering inside corners, and of course they always opened up when nailing. I went to the truck and came back with a coping saw. He was down on his hands and knees closely examining the inside corner I just installed to show him how, and he loudly exclaimed, " It looks like it's done growed together!!!!" I said, "Yeah, that's what you want."

Came back to add: That was 25 or 30 years ago. He didn't end up making it as a carpenter, but went into firefighting, and is now Fire Chief in one of the local towns.