Crown molding adds charm and elegance to a kitchen. With staggered cabinets it will add even more charm to the kitchen. The crown molding covers the top of the upper cabinets. You can use stain-grade crown molding made from one piece of wood in the species of your choice. Paint-grade is made of several pieces of glued wood. The do-it-yourself handyman can cut inside and outside corners in crown molding.
Instructions
1. Measure the first piece of crown molding to the first corner that you come to. The majority of corners are outside miter joint corners. Use a digital angle finder to measure the corner. Place one arm on each surface of the corner. The angle finder will display the entire angle of the corner. Write this angle down on a piece of paper.
2. Determine the angle needed from the "Miter Saw" chart from the Resources below, which will give you the two angles to set the miter saw at to create an accurate fitting miter joint.
3. Cut a pair of 12-inch long pieces of crown molding. Use a tape measure and the miter saw set to 90 degrees to produce two pieces of test molding.
4. Place one piece of the test molding on the miter saw. When you cut crown molding on a miter saw the molding is placed upside down. Place the back of the bottom side against the saw fence. Place the back of the top of the crown molding flat against the table of the saw. Adjust the miter saw stops to hold the crown molding in place. Turn the knob to adjust the miter saw stops so that the crown molding cannot move.
5. Cut the crown molding slowly to reduce the likelihood of the wood splintering, which will create a test piece of crown molding. Rotate the miter saw to the opposite angle, and cut the second piece of test molding.
6. Test the fit of the crown molding. Dry fit the two pieces of test molding in the corner. Place the test molding against the wall and ceiling, and check the fit of the miter joint. If the joint is not perfect, adjust the miter saw one degree, re-cut the miter joints and test fit them again. Repeat this step until you have a perfect fitting miter joint.
7. Start working at the left side of the cabinets. Measure the length of straight cabinet up to the first corner, which is the inside dimension of the bottom of the crown molding. Add 1/8 inch to all dimensions. After you rough cut the piece to length, it will allow you to hold the piece of crown molding in position and mark the exact length on it with a pencil for a perfect fit.
8. Cut the crown molding at the angles you found in the last step to produce the outside miter joint for the .
Tags: crown molding, crown molding, miter joint, test molding, crown molding