Spent 10 years cutting crown molding the hard way until a guy in a diner set me straight

I always coped my inside corners with a 45 degree miter cut first, then spent forever filing and sanding to get the fit right. This old trim carpenter named Ray saw me struggling at a job site in Nashville and pointed out I was undercutting the cope too shallow. He showed me to tilt the saw blade to 45 degrees and cut the profile at a 90, which gives you way more material to work with for a tight fit. First try after his tip took me half the time and the joint was seamless. Anyone else learn a basic trick way later than they should have?

3 comments

3 Comments

susan1301mo ago

Jesse_williams62, that is a great point about feeling like an idiot after realizing the simple fix. I actually read somewhere that tilting the blade like that can also help prevent the profile from chipping out on certain woods. Kind of wild how a small angle change solves so many problems at once, isn't it?

jordan_webb22d ago

Had the exact same lightbulb moment a few months back on a walnut picture frame. Was fighting with tearout on the mitered corners and about to throw the whole thing in the fire. Tilted the blade maybe 5 degrees and suddenly it was like cutting butter. Still feel dumb for all those ruined pieces I could have saved if somebody had just told me sooner.

jesse_williams621mo agoMost Upvoted

Hate to admit it but I was doing the same exact thing for years... wrestling with corners and never feeling like they were quite right. A buddy of mine who builds cabinets finally pulled me aside and showed me that same trick with tilting the blade. Felt like a total idiot but man it changed everything. Funny how the simplest stuff can make such a huge difference when you've been fighting the wrong way for so long.