How to Use a Coping Saw on Cove Molding

Coping can give you cleaner joints than mitering for cove molding.

Cove molding can be difficult to miter. It can be easier to cope the molding with a small coping saw. To "cope" molding is to cut away part of the molding by hand. This allows the profile of the molding to fit over the other molding profile neatly. Coping can actually give you cleaner joints than mitering it. You need to make your initial cut with a miter saw and then finish by coping it with a coping saw.

Things You'll Need

• Miter saw
• Sandpaper (optional)
• File (optional)

Instructions

1. Swing the miter saw blade all the way to the left side and lock it into the 45 degree preset.

2. Place the cove molding on the miter saw fence on the left side of the blade with the profile facing out to cut a reverse miter. Place the end of the cove molding just past the cutting edge of the blade.

3. Pull the trigger on the miter saw and bring the blade down to trim off the end of the molding.

4. Stand the molding on its edge on a worktable. Hold it steady facing you with one hand while you place the coping saw at the top point where the saw blade began to cut the molding.

5. Saw down through the molding, following the profiled edge that the saw blade created. Cut away everything behind the profile, the rough area that the saw blade created. Fit the profile that you just cut up against a fresh piece of cove. If it doesn't fit perfectly, cut away any high spots with the coping saw and test it again until it fits.

Tips & Warnings

• Use sandpaper to smooth any rough edges to make your profiles fit together better. For stubborn fits, use a file to surgically file off small high spots.

• Always wear safety glasses when sawing or cutting wood.