Baseboard/Crown/Casing Coping

[garboui]

Its arguably the better/more professional method for inside corners. I have seen many jigs online to make it easier not nothing of a power tool.

Is there any power tool out there that cuts coping contours? I was thinking about this last night (sleep deprivation and pain killers generate all sorts of ideas) that it wouldnt be that hard to make a portable device (miter saw sized) that would CNC cope baseboard or crown molding. Inputting any profile on the worksite is even possible. thinking about the parts required cost could probably be kept within reason for a small production scale? I would think that the accuracy and time savings from such a device would make this attractive to professionals.

anyone know if such a beast exists?

 

[APEowner]

That's an interesting idea. I'm not really sure that there's a market though. I've worked with some really good finish carpenters and with a good coping saw they can make a cut pretty darn quick.

 

[Just_George]

There is (or was) something on the market that did this - worked much the same way as the old key-cutting machines. You used a scrap piece of the moulding as a template. Not sure how well it worked, have only seen one once...and for the life of me, I can't remember what it was called.

 

[rslaback]

I think in order to work as a business you would have to sell a crapload of them. Couple that with the fact that there really aren't a ton of copes to cut on a job compared to all the trim work and your market would basically need to be guys that only install base and shoe. Everyone else is going to just use an $11 coping saw. Cutting a cope gets pretty quick when you've done a bunch of them.

 

[PBCampbell]

I haven't done any molding for a few years and they were always small jobs where a standard coping saw was the perfect fit. The only powered option I can think of was the Collins Foot (?). This was just a foot that replaced the standard foot on your jigsaw, You still needed to scribe the profile. I still have one of these, but I can't say I ever quite got the hang of it to do reliable cuts. Like a lot of finish/fit work it's experience and attention to detail. I can't imagine the cost of a machine that would do intricate moulding type cuts, a human is far more adaptable. There are a couple guys who do this type work on this forum, hopefully they chime in.

 

[fozzy]

Tommy Silva had one on This Old House. IIRC, it followed the profile of a scrap piece as described above (manual feed not CNC) but it used a circular saw blade to shave away the cope and not a jig saw. Worked really well from the clip (as Norm said, "you have a tool for everything") but I have only seen him use it once or twice. 95% of the time he seems to be faster with a coping saw and accurate enough, especially when the trim will be caulked and painted. If I was doing hardwood that wasn't going to be painted, I would rent one if it was available.

 

[dewalt378g]

+1 on Tom Silva. Even with such a machine you would have to have a very large whole house job for it to be worth your time to haul. Or a job with some crazy moulding profiles. If I remember correctly, Silva's was about the size of a small portable table saw. Not something that I would like to tote around or carry upstairs let alone take up space in the truck. If you could make something smaller than your proposed miter saw size, then I'll be your first customer. For now it's my miter saw and a Festool RAS.....haven't seen my coping saw since.

 

[southalabama]

I think this old house used one as a promotional plug.

I'd be willing to bet tommy silva uses the coping saw in reality.

I've got a buddy who used to be a trim carpenter. He said their answer was that's for the painter to fix. Speed was money. Mouldings vary from stick to stick.

 

[BFBOB]

I had one project where I did 32 coped joints for a coffered ceiling, all with a hand coping saw. ROYAL pita. Even with that much practice and soft pine molding, it was far from quick, easy or accurate. It ended up looking very nice, but it was painted.
I'd leap at a machine to do it if I came across one, but now maybe I don't need to. Just based on what I've read here, I believe I can build one! Thanks, guys!

 

[wrenchguy]

I've done 1000's of coped crown joints with cope saw, a light 4" angle grinder w/ 80 grit sand paper installed and a piece of stock to dryfit joint at the table. The backcut on crown is alot where the saw doesn't work well, hence the sander is used to remove the interference of the fit. This is the reason most miter crown or use corner blocks. Most of my work was cherry or oak, not painted. good luck.

 

[rlitman]

There is (or was) something on the market that did this - worked much the same way as the old key-cutting machines. You used a scrap piece of the moulding as a template. Not sure how well it worked, have only seen one once...and for the life of me, I can't remember what it was called.

Tommy Silva had one on This Old House. IIRC, it followed the profile of a scrap piece as described above (manual feed not CNC) but it used a circular saw blade to shave away the cope and not a jig saw. Worked really well from the clip (as Norm said, "you have a tool for everything") but I have only seen him use it once or twice. 95% of the time he seems to be faster with a coping saw and accurate enough, especially when the trim will be caulked and painted.

It is called a Copemaster.

 

[rick carpenter]

I know coping is best but I don't do it for my less-than-pro work. When I have to install crown, I just use a chopsaw with mitered templates to set blade tilt and angle. It takes trial and error to get it right. Then shim your trim up or down to compensate for + or - 90*. Watch your hands.

But next time, I plan to build two old-fashioned miterboxes with dimensions to repeatedly and accurately drop in the trim at the installed angle (re the wall & ceiling) and then just chop down at + or - 45* with no blade tilt. I think that would be a lot safer.

 

[EdT]

If you want to do mitered crown the problem is that the corners are seldom 90* . If you want to go to the trouble, there is a chart on the Dewalt site that lists the angles to set on a compound miter saw to cut the miters for various corner angles with the trim flat on the saw table. Coping is easier, but miters for weird angles can be done. If you're like me, the first few will be for a mirror image of the room you're actually working on. If using sprung molding (about the only kind you'll find) some corner blocks behind the molding will help to get it a 45* to the wall. The best miter or cope won't work well if the molding is in the wrong place WRT the wall/ceiling.

 

[BFHtime]

This type of work is where these skills start to become more art than just throw on trim. I find some times a hand nail works better and sometimes a gun works better. Also rolling the corners to match properly with the adjacent piece. Blind bracing when necessary to keep the trim straight. Patience and sometimes a helper for long ceiling pieces. Taking your time if you are looking for perfection. There is nothing worse than getting a nice joint setup, then getting in position to nail and have a chip on something that is going to be stained or cleared. It happens. If possible try to have on angled miter per piece, otherwise you have two pairs of ends to work instead of one. It seems to me that sloppy framing makes trimming harder than it has to be.

 

[APEowner]

It seems to me that sloppy framing makes trimming harder than it has to be.

Oh yea. The frameing crew says "the dry wall guys will cover it up", the dry wall guys say "the trim guys will cover it up" and the trim guys say "the painter will cover it up"