Coping crown

[Drew Sanderson]

Attached are images of crown I made and installed in my home. Coping was SO MISERABLE! I have another room with all inside corners. Before I decide to scrap coping all together, I thought I would seek advise here. The problem I have are the sections of the crown parallel to the ceiling. It seems like coping just cannot be done in this case.

Thanks,
Drew

[Dave Schreib]

I am doing this project now with painted pine in my mudroom. I think yours looks quite good. Besides being a PITA, what's the problem.

[Ron Cole]

Can't tell from the pictures, but did you cut a 45 on the coped piece first? Here's a video of how it supposed to be done.

http://www.watchdoit.com/how-to-videos/Coping-Saw-how-to-cut-perfect-angles-2905.aspx

[Ray Schwalb]

I'd say that looks good as well. Perfectly acceptable for stain grade work in the trim carpentry trade. We usually use a Makita jig saw with a Collins coping foot, which makes working in hardwood a lot easier.

[Gerry Grzadzinski]

It just looks to me like your pieces are cut a little short. If they were longer, and tighter, the coping would look pretty good.

Either that are they're hitting in the back which is keeping the joint slightly open.

[Drew Sanderson]

Dave,

Maybe we should make the hour drive to watch each other be tortured. :D

Ron,
I did it the way shown in the video. The coped piece into butt cutt piece.

Ray,
I am considering getting the coping foot. I have been watching the Gary Katz videos and the case made for the coping foot seemed pretty convincing.

Gerry,

They are hitting in the back a little. Basically, as far as I can figure I need to fully cut away the sections that are parallel to the ceiling.

All,

I added additional pictures to make my problem more clear.

Comment area 1 : Here I just cut away the upper area

Comment area 2 : Like Gerry pointed out, here you can see the piece is short

Comment area 3 : Here I did not cut away the upper area

On the diagram I added a wall, ceiling, and labeling to show where my problem area is.

What I am looking for is what tactic(s) would be best for this area or if i should just scrap coping and just do miters.

Thanks for all the help everyone.

Drew

[Mike Henderson]

A lot of people might disagree with me, but I miter crown.

Mike

[Gerry Grzadzinski]

Cope a small piece of scrap so you can figure out where you need to remove material to get a tight fit. And cut your pieces 1/16" to 1/8" longer, and install the ends first, with the center bowed out. Then, when you push into the center, it'll close up the joints tightly.

It also looks like your first piece with he square cut was short as well. Measure 3 times, cut once. :) I even like to cut a little big, and check the fit, and sneak up on the correct size.

[Stephen Edwards]

A lot of people might disagree with me, but I miter crown.

Mike

So do I, now. After years of coping I finally learned a way to miter crown with perfectly acceptable results. There's a formula for laying each piece flat on the bed of the miter saw with the saw set at a certain angle. I have a cheat sheet that I break out every time I need to do this. Once you get the hang of it, it's simple to do.

[Harold Burrell]

So do I, now. After years of coping I finally learned a way to miter crown with perfectly acceptable results. There's a formula for laying each piece flat on the bed of the miter saw with the saw set at a certain angle. I have a cheat sheet that I break out every time I need to do this. Once you get the hang of it, it's simple to do.

Confession time...

This is one of those things that I fear. People have tried to describe it to me, but I just don't get it. I guess I need to learn it "hands on". :o

[Mike Gregory]

I've seen people mount a block of wood into the corner and butt the crown into it. Doesn't look terrible.

Mike

[Karl Brogger]

I've put up a ton of that same profile, and it is absolutely miserable to cope. I gave up and started mitering and nailing as many corners as I could together before putting it up. I don't even know why the stuff is so tough, a complicated profile somehow manages to be easier.

[Dave Schreib]

Drew

If I couldnt use liberal amounts of caulk, construction adhesive and paint to hide my screw ups ... I wouldnt have even tried this project. I'm not a very good woodworker but I am a real pro with the caulk! Good luck.

[Drew Sanderson]

Karl,

Thanks for piping is as someone who has dealt with this profile. It seems like with swoops and curves it is easier and all the 45 and 90 stuff is TOUGH! i thought it was just me since no one in this thread confirmed that it is the profile and not just entirely my lack of skill.

Dave,

If only I could use caulk with stain grade :rolleyes:

All,

So I went ahead and bought the collins foot. I will give it one more try. I think I will try to avoid doing things shown with comment area 3 and do them more like comment area 1 by just cutting off the the "upper square" and not leave the part that is parallel to the ceiling.

Any other insights out there???

[Thomas love]

I am with you Mike, If they want it coped, I do not argue ...but they pay for copes. No copes in these shots.

Tom

[Doug Carpenter]

Trouble with mitering is that it could spread open.

Unfortunately there are only two ways to do it if you don't want to blocks in the corners. You could try a different blade in your coping saw. sometimes the blade type can give you alot of greif. Also allow plenty of time for the cope cut. It is okay if it takes 20 minutes per cut. It's not easy to do. Crown is on the grandaddy list of tough carpentry tasks!

[Chris Kennedy]

I'm in the "put in corner blocks" camp. It is so much less fussy and looks perfectly acceptable. Besides, my walls and ceiling are so out of square the idea of trying to match the angles is frightening.

Chris

[Phil Phelps]

I have been looking at your pics and something seems wrong to me. I can't put my finger on it, but it doesn't look as if you mitered and coped. Anyway, I've had very good success with mitered corners. However, I bisect the angle, I don't just 45. Since most corners aren't 90, I use a T-bevel and protractor.

[Drew Sanderson]

*** Deal Alert ***

I found the Collins coping foot for 20.98 at Hartville Tool. I spoke to Dave Collins last night to see if he would match that price for me. He said that is what he sells to dealers for and that they must be clearing them out. Sounds like a good opportunity to buy one if you are thinking about it. Dave did not refund / price match but is sending me something equal in value so congrats to him for making a customer happy. I thought you all should know not just about the deal, but that Collins tool provided good customer service to me.

[Wayne Morley]

I haven't done a lot of trim work, but in my experience it is not possible to properly cope this profile. Take a look at this site (videos 2 and 10 are the most on point) The way to go with one is to miter.

http://www.miterclamp.com/Woodworking_video_index.htm

[Tony Cox]

I agree with crown being the pain of the trim world. The only thing that makes it more pleasing for me is the fact that all my ceilings are vaulted, cathedral or whatever you want to call it. I just call it a pain in the rump. :(