# Scarfing trim joint



## RobS888 (May 7, 2013)

Hi,

I have several pieces of trim to put up in a 14' x 14' foot dining room and all I have is rough 8' red oak. I did a smaller room and tried butt joints (pretty bad) and a scarf joint (meh). I was adding the second piece to an existing piece. I think I'm going to try scarfing the pieces together before installing, the pieces are part of a craftsman trim approach and will only have medium walnut Danish oil on them, so caulk and paint are out to hide the joint.

I know some people use biscuits to join pieces of trim together before attaching, but I was thinking of a scarf joint with maybe a 30 degree angle.

Anyone tried anything like this?


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## rwe2156 (May 7, 2014)

Glueing together and installing as one piece is definitely the way to go with trim. For scarf joints I usually use 22.5° simply because that is more reproducable setting on a miter saw.

Lots of trim guys use cyanoacrylate glue. I don't know who well that would work on red oak, with its extremely porous endgrain. You may have to size it first. Worth testing out.


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## builtinbkyn (Oct 29, 2015)

> ..... I was thinking of a scarf joint with maybe a 30 degree angle.
> 
> Anyone tried anything like this?
> 
> - RobS888


Use splines, loose tenons or half lap. Butt join them. Or you can even use pocket holes, but I think one of the first three would be better.


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## bilyo (May 20, 2015)

With a well done glued scarf and matching grain to the extent possible, the joint will nearly disappear.


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## wormil (Nov 19, 2011)

> With a well done glued scarf and matching grain to the extent possible, the joint will nearly disappear.
> 
> - bilyo


+1

I've done scarf joints, in trim and on stringed instruments. They are very strong and as said above, if the grain is well matched are not very noticable.


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## RobS888 (May 7, 2013)

Thanks guys, I definitely want to sand and finish this as one piece.


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