I was cutting crown molding for a year before a guy in Boise asked why my saw was set to 45 degrees.

He pointed out that the spring angle on the molding itself was 38 degrees, so my cuts were always a little off, and I just kept forcing the joints together with extra caulk.

3 comments

3 Comments

hollyg591mo ago

My buddy did something similar with baseboards. He was trimming out his whole basement and couldn't figure out why the corners looked so bad. He was using the standard 45 on his miter saw for weeks. Turns out his walls were so out of square that he needed like a 47 and a 43 or something weird. He had to go back and re-cut like a dozen pieces. I mean, it's one of those things you just don't know until someone points it out.

sam171mo ago

My old house had corners that were a solid 5 degrees off.

jennyp191mo ago

Ugh, that's why I always test cut a scrap piece first.