How to Cut Crown Molding With a Mitre Saw

When you're installing crown molding in your house, making accurate angle cuts is very important. An absolute necessity to assist you with this task is a mitre saw and its adjunct, the mitre box. Mitre saws and mitre boxes allow you to cut accurate and true angles so that pieces of crown molding will fit together properly. Let's look at some of the fundamentals of using a mitre saw and mitre box.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Mitre saw Mitre box Crown molding

1. 
    

   Decide what type of crown molding joint you want to cut. Mitre saws and mitre boxes are used for three main types of crown molding joints: inside corner, outside corner and straight junctions. If your two pieces of crown molding are meeting at an inside corner, that's an inside corner joint; or if at an outside corner, it's an outside corner joint. See the diagram for a graphic representation.

2. 
    

   Cut an inside corner junction. You must cut two pieces of crown molding at a 45-degree angle so that they match when the two pieces of crown molding meet at the corner. Hold the crown molding securely against the edge of the mitre box, as you see in the overhead view of the diagram. Then place the saw in the guides of the mitre box and cut as indicated in the diagram. You'll be creating two mirror images in effect, that will join together to create the inside corner junction.

3. 
    

   Cut an outside corner junction. This is very similar to cutting an inside corner. You must cut two pieces of crown molding at a 45-degree angle so that they match when the two pieces of crown molding meet at the corner. Hold the crown molding securely against the edge of the mitre box, as you see in the overhead view of the diagram. Then place the saw in the guides of the mitre box and cut as indicated in the diagram. You'll be creating two mirror images in effect, that will join together to create the inside corner junction.

Resources

• Mitre saw