My neighbor the finish carpenter finally set me straight on coping

I've been doing baseboards for three years and always struggled with inside corners. Last week my neighbor, who does high end trim work, watched me for about 30 seconds and said "you're backcutting wrong, you need to angle the saw blade 2 degrees more." He showed me his setup on a DeWalt miter saw, and it was a tiny adjustment I never considered. Now my coped joints sit flush without gaps. Anyone else have a simple tweak like that change their whole game?

2 comments

2 Comments

lee_bailey6513h ago

Wait, you're telling me a wobbling saw stand can throw off cope cuts THAT much? That's wild - I've been fighting gaps for months and never once thought my stand might be the issue.

mia_singh2419h agoMost Upvoted

Did you notice if he had his saw set up on a level surface too? I found that even a tiny wobble in my stand threw off my cope cuts for months until I shimmed it flat. In my experience, the saw angle is just part of it - the base needs to be rock solid or you'll chase those gaps all day long.