# Crown molding hell-jig



## tvrgeek (Nov 19, 2013)

OK, Thought I would be smart and "upgraded" to a compound miter saw. Big mistake. Flexible, inaccurate, confusing and curved cuts no mater how much good advice I got from this forum.

What I really needed was a jig. I looked at all the "reviews" out there and they look to be cut-and-paste from someone who read the package. Nothing from anyone who actually used one on typical crooked walls.

Any advice? Kreg, Milescraft and Bench Dog seem to be the ones always in the no-review-review advertisements.

Or is the right way just to clamp a lip across my saw to hold it at the install angle?


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## AMZ (Jan 27, 2020)

You answered your question with your last sentence.


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## tvrgeek (Nov 19, 2013)

Kind of thought so. Thanks.

I spent darn near a day filing and shimming my Ridgid to be closer to accurate, at least crosscut. It's miter adjustments are crude, so I may try to design a threaded micro adjuster. I regret selling my old non-compound old Delta. I wish reviews of saws were more than feature summaries focused on job-site carpentry. Yea, I know, that is their design market.


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## controlfreak (Jun 29, 2019)

The bed of the miter saw is always the ceiling (if you didn't already know this but other may not). The clamp a lip should work well and would mimic the work holder the is usually missing on the old hand saw miter boxes. Kreg makes a saw jig here It seems like I have also seen a jig to make sure you have the molding bedded at the proper angle when nailing in place.


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## tvrgeek (Nov 19, 2013)

Watched several videos. Of course, all are perfect and easy, magically solving everything.

Making a jig to hold in place for nailing would be a big help. Next time for sure. For some reason, me and trim never seem to get along. My last project, trim from the same HD, not all the profiles were exactly the same board to board.

My last house was easier, as it was a Levitt so had virtually no trim. I prefer the Craftsman style, so much of the trim I put in was square. My current house is "nuvo eclectic" so it has a mix of Colonial, Victorian, and modern trim. I am sort of tempted to rip it all out and do it my way. Stupid popcorn ceilings. But gad, the cost would add up.


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## 1thumb (Jun 30, 2012)

Cut crown flat using compound cut. Old Hitachi's have a diamond for standrd crown bevel nd miter, a circle for same on cove crown


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## AMZ (Jan 27, 2020)

I have. Dewalt supplied "lips", but I find it easier/more accurate, to hot glue a piece of stock across the bed of the miter saw (do not glue to the swiveling part of the table). As posted, remember the bed is the ceiling!


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## hotbyte (Apr 3, 2010)

Agree on using the lip, called a crown stop, set for spring angle and setting miter saw to 45*.


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## LeeRoyMan (Feb 23, 2019)

Walls, ceilings, and corners are never true. 
It doesn't matter what kind of jig or saw you use. 
The only answer is test fitting each corner as you go, 
unless you're using paintgrade and just plan on caulking open gaps.


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## SMP (Aug 29, 2018)

I have the Kreg jig. It came with the spring angle gauge. If you follow all directions it works really well. But as mentioned most houses the walls and ceilings are never square so sometimes you get conditions where your cut is perfect, but it just won't fit into the space right, the wall and or ceiling twist and bend the wood etc.


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## 1thumb (Jun 30, 2012)

Cope for best results in jacked up corners and ceilings


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## AlaskaGuy (Jan 29, 2012)

What saw did you upgrade to that is *Flexible, inaccurate, confusing and curved cuts *


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## 1thumb (Jun 30, 2012)

> What saw did you upgrade to that is *Flexible, inaccurate, confusing and curved cuts *
> 
> - AlaskaGuy


He said Rigid downthread. I've gotten funky curved cuts from expensive ultra-thin kerf finish blades before. I buy the mid range priced ones now


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## Jared_S (Jul 6, 2018)

Slider or fixed pivot? Sliders just add to the inaccuracies.

A decent full kerf blade makes a difference, though it will likely cost almost half what you paid for the saw.


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## BurlyBob (Mar 13, 2012)

ControlFreak. Thanks for that tip about the bed being the ceiling. I've always had trouble with crown moldings. I've struggled and got them right somehow.


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## bigblockyeti (Sep 9, 2013)

I always flat cut crown and use a little math to figure out the angles. I briefly had a SCMS but my non-sliding 10" Ridgid was pretty accurate out of the box, FWIW I use a CMT blade. I always cut a little long too as the tape measure blade is always straighter than the curvy wall. I always cope too as it just fits much better.


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## Loren (May 30, 2008)

I looked up the Kreg jig on Amazon and it has over 1000 reviews. It's hard to believe none of them would be informative as to its real world functionality.

Aside from reducing the size of molding one can cut I imagine it works well to hold the molding at the proper spring angle (which is often not 45 degrees).


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## tvrgeek (Nov 19, 2013)

> What saw did you upgrade to that is *Flexible, inaccurate, confusing and curved cuts *
> 
> - AlaskaGuy


Ridgid 10 inch compound miter. Fixed pivot
Bed was not flat. Neither fence was 90 degrees to the table and of course I had to adjust them to 90 against the blade, but that was an adjustment. However, the 45 and crown indents are not perfect and if you want to cut 45.2, it is more than a bit clumsy. No matter what I tried, cutting crown with the trim flat and compound angle, the cut was slightly curved. Freud 80 tooth blade, though it is a thin kerf. So I tried my a full kerf, came with one of my saws blade just to see, and it was sill just slightly curved. Cut real slow. I was holding off getting a low hook full kerf ( I think Amana is the best overall) to see if I was going to get a slider as they really should run a negative hook.

I would like a deeper crosscut and was thinking about a slider, but more to flex. Makes me wonder, should we buy a miter saw for woodworking by weight?

So, my conclusion is not to do compound. I guess just glue a stop on a bit of MDF that I can tape down is about as accurate a jig as I can get. Then I only need to make the 45 micro adjustable.

I have coped a lot of baseboard, but not crown. OK for inside, but outside has to be mitered.

So as not to confuse me on which cut, I keep a set of inside and outside corners hanging on the wall so I can verify I set it correctly.

I do like the LED light that gives a shadow on both sides of the blade. Quite accurate actually.


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## SMP (Aug 29, 2018)

> I looked up the Kreg jig on Amazon and it has over 1000 reviews. It s hard to believe none of them would be informative as to its real world functionality.
> 
> Aside from reducing the size of molding one can cut I imagine it works well to hold the molding at the proper spring angle (which is often not 45 degrees).
> 
> - Loren


It doesn't really change how big you can cut. It can hang over a bit. I can't really afford crown molding any bigger than it can cut.

But yes,the key for me is that it holds it at the right spring angle. There is a setting underneath, so you set it for example for 52/38. I have the molding holders for my DeWalt saw but there is too much room for error there trying to set it to the correct spring angle and getting it to stay.


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