How to Use a Coping Saw for Crown Molding

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By Sheen Fischer
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Use a Coping Saw for Crown Molding

There are two ways to complete corner joints when installing finish carpentry such as baseboard or crown moulding. Let's talk about them...

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Step 1

Picture of a compound sliding miter saw

With the use of power tools, many traditional techniques for finish carpentry have become obsolete or are considered too time consuming to use. One of these techniques is that of "coping" corners.
Step 2

Coping saw

Generally today, most carpenters miter their corner joints. So, in a 90 degree corner for instance, the moulding would be mitered 45 degrees on each wall so that a tight joint can be achieved. This is a perfectly acceptable joint with a couple of drawbacks. Over time, as the moulding dries out and loses moisture, the mitered joints can open up or separate. Also, since you will ver rarely find a true 90 degree or plumb corner, often the mitered corners do not match up well and will need to be filled with loads of caulk and putty.
Step 3

A traditional and more exacting way of doing corner joints is to cope them. For these joints, you would cut the moulding along one wall square ended so that the ends of the moulding butt against the walls. The adjoining pieces of moulding would then be mitered just as if a mitered joint were being created.
Step 4

Take the mitered piece of moulding and lay it so that the cut edge is up. Use the coping saw and follow where the cut portion meets the face of the moulding. Remove all of the cut edge with the coping saw, leaving only good finished face. This joint should now fit perfectly with the piece of moulding along the adjoining wall.