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Here's another great tip from BobVila.com.
You can literally cut corners on jobs like installing crown molding with the ingenious coped joint.
Instead of calculating miter and bevel for all the angles in a room, save that for the outside corners, which you see most. For inside corners, you can cope the joint.
First, install two parallel walls of crown without calculating any angles; just cut them square to the adjoining walls. Ensure a great fit by cutting those first pieces just slightly too long and “springing” them into place.
After you’ve cut the adjoining pieces at a 45-degree angle, coping the joint simply means removing the meat behind the leading edge so it will fit perfectly against the profile of the first piece. First, you mark the leading edge with the side of a pencil so you don’t lose it as you’re cutting.
While a coping saw is the traditional tool to use, if you’re having trouble, check that the blade is tight or try reversing it so the teeth face the wrong way.
Or, here’s a hot tip: Use a 4 1/2-inch handheld grinding tool with a flexible sanding attachment to quickly grind away the back of the joint. To clear any remaining imperfections, attach sandpaper with spray adhesive to a short section of molding, following its contours. Run this along the coped edge to clear any remaining obstacles to the perfect joint.
Find out more at BobVila.com:
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