Cope Baseboard Inside Corners?

ITS

To me using a corner block for base eliminates most of the problems.
Simply staighten the block in the unevan corner with hammer and
nais (plumb it up )Then you can cut most of you base sq. to sq.
In corners where there is no door involved you can add a little to length and snap it in without worries of shinkage and or movement.
You can make a simple diamond top or they can be purchased,the painter may gripe about cutting in around them,but atleast he does
not have to recaulk after the carpet layer has kicked all the corners
apart.
If I do cope,using a jigsaw with a small blade is the only way for me.
also when copeing we try to spap in as much as possible.
(cope to cope)

Bill S

Johnni,
Like you said "if the builder had listened". It is more important to have the heat or A/C on with MDF then wood since MDF shrink in width and length. Jobsite conditions are critical to our finished product.
As far as miters go:
Miters have to be cut to the exact length. To long and they slide by each other , to short... where as copes can be cut long and snap fit and if a cope is cut to short on the square cut end , it is mostly covered by the next cope.
As you nail off a miter, it gets pulled into the rock and the joint opens up. A coped joint will slide along its mate as it gets nailed off.
Copes are all cut the same so there is just one setting for your miter saw. For miters you need to measure the corner, bisect the angle etc... for each corner, very time consuming. This is why a good carpenter can cope faster then he can miter.
Copes can be pressure fit, no glue to apply or clean up. The pressure fitting joint is very strong and will not open up easily due to movement of the house etc... You are not relying on the glue joint. A lot of coped profiles interlock (like a bead on baseboard or crown) so the profile is held in place by the joint not glue. The cope registers the two pieces in the up and down direction. There is no interlocking of a miter; it can slide up, down or anywhere.
If the last piece has to be double inside mitered, it is not easy to put in. In contrast, a double coped piece slides or snaps in to place.
Imagine how fast you could put up baseboard that was all precoped. Just measure, cut and nail it up. You can't do that with mitered joints.
With some of the difficulties carpenters have with coping crown moulding it is not surprising that mitering is done so often, but when you understand how a coped crown works, every cope will fit and you will never think about mitering again. My 2 cents. Bill

EyeLevelTrimmer

If you install a lot of hardwood base and crown try use a Collins Coping Foot on your jig saw (Collins Tool Co.). Make sure you use the blades Collins recommends.

I agree with the "screw adjuster" method - I install lots of wide base and it's a fast, easy way to compensate for wacky corners.

LNG24

I was thinking about getting a coping jig when I came across this post. Have any of you used a Coping Jig as opposed to the coping foot? If so which do you like better and why?

http://www.mcfeelys.com/product.asp?...FRBvUAodyXxHeA

deadon

I know one easy way to elimanate the head ache of coping the long straight edge of base with out the coping saw. just cut that end with with your mitre saw then cut the rest with the coping saw. Its really fast and effective. Its stays right on the profile line and makes for less cutting manually.