Can anyone offer some pointers about how to best measure & cut door and base moldings? I always seen to get my measurements wrong, so I wind up wasting a lot of material.
I'm not doing anything fancy, just your basic molding around doors and on the floor.
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Depending on the type of casing your using.
The homeowner may find it best to mark the face of the jamb with a http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reveal reveal by pencil first at about 3/8" and measure between for your short end of the cut. Cuts are made at a 45 degree cut for 90 degree angles. And depending on the width of the mould I would measure the cross cut, ex. a 21/2" case may have a lenght of 21/2" so I would add that on a head cut x 2 for a total length. Just in case you didn't get that. If you take a 2 foot length and cut a 45 at both ends you have two points of measure, the short end and the long, you will find that the short end may be 5 inches shorter than the long on a piece that is cut both sides and 2-1/2" shorter on a peice that is cut on one side. So on the vertical peices you will measure up from floor to you mark on the jamb (depending on molding width)and add 2-1/2", on head cuts you measure the distance between your marks and add 5" for total length. Easy to show, hard to explain. Glad you didn't ask how to cut crown.
On base mold cutting between a door and a corner: Straight cut at door and straight cut into corner. Off of that corner you will cut a 45 degree angle and back cut (cope) the cross cut area and it should create a profile that will fit onto the flat base in your corners. This is called coping.
These links should help you ALOT.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coping_%28joinery%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coping_saw
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miter_joint
Plenty more on that site...
The homeowner may find it best to mark the face of the jamb with a http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reveal reveal by pencil first at about 3/8" and measure between for your short end of the cut. Cuts are made at a 45 degree cut for 90 degree angles. And depending on the width of the mould I would measure the cross cut, ex. a 21/2" case may have a lenght of 21/2" so I would add that on a head cut x 2 for a total length. Just in case you didn't get that. If you take a 2 foot length and cut a 45 at both ends you have two points of measure, the short end and the long, you will find that the short end may be 5 inches shorter than the long on a piece that is cut both sides and 2-1/2" shorter on a peice that is cut on one side. So on the vertical peices you will measure up from floor to you mark on the jamb (depending on molding width)and add 2-1/2", on head cuts you measure the distance between your marks and add 5" for total length. Easy to show, hard to explain. Glad you didn't ask how to cut crown.
On base mold cutting between a door and a corner: Straight cut at door and straight cut into corner. Off of that corner you will cut a 45 degree angle and back cut (cope) the cross cut area and it should create a profile that will fit onto the flat base in your corners. This is called coping.
These links should help you ALOT.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coping_%28joinery%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coping_saw
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miter_joint
Plenty more on that site...
