Anyone know how to cut crown molding?

I am cutting crown molding for an interior 135 degree angle and I can't seem to get it right. Anyone know how to do this?

 

I can't attest to the particular angle, but you need a miter saw.
The one suggestion I can make is once you get your angle, don't try to cut it to a specific length. Cut it close, then take it down a blade width or so at a time to get it perfect. Making a half dozen cuts to get it right is far better than trying to hit an exact mark with one cut and killing your piece.

 

Yup.. miter saw... I spent a day six years ago cutting for our living room in another house. Was a royal pain in the ass because no corner was 90 degrees. 88 here, 92 there...

 

I can't begin to count how much I've done in my life. I don't know that I've ever had to deal with that many messed up angles, even in realyl old houses. I think if there were that many, I'd cut them to 90 like their supposed to be, pack the gaps with wood filler, sand and paint.

 

The most important thing to understand is that you put the crown molding in the saw upside down and backwards. The surface that lays on the ceiling goes on the bed of the saw, and the piece you want to keep goes on your right, not on the left. Do that and the angles will work out the same as if you were cutting regular molding to fit around a door or window.

 

Need to get one of those.

We've been cutting it with a hand saw and a miter box. Not fun.

Hell, I didn't even know what a miter box was until wife says one day, "We need a 'tousla'."

What the hell is a tousla? After she described it to me . . . and then to the person at Lowe's . . . he figures out that we need a miter box.

Bob Vila, I am not. Thank goodness she is.

 

Ok I finished the molding. What I was able to piece together from internet sites was that I had to use a coping saw to make the corner work. The last corner looks like crap but it's done. Now I just need to throw up a ton of caulk and pretend like I did it properly.

 

Congratulations on finishing. I did my baseboards and that about did me in.

Caulk and wood filler are my friends.

 

My father-in-law is the king of crown molding.

I will do base and case, but I will never mess with crown. Way too hard.

 

You mean that's not the proper way to finish it? ;D


For corners we use those decorative little things that fit into corners and give you a flat surface in which to attach the other boards. Can't even remember their names. But corners and cathedral ceilings suck. Forget how we (er, she) figured out howo to do it.

 

one trick I always use is to cut a couple of pieces about 4-5 inches long with opposite angles. It helps you to line up your molding along the wall and when you are cutting your actual strip, lay the short piece by the saw so you don't get confused on which way you need to cut.