Old timer told me my cope joints were crap. He was right.

Been doing trim work for about 4 years now. An old carpenter I sub for watched me cope a baseboard and straight up told me I was doing it wrong. I was cutting the profile at a 45 and then just back cutting straight down with a jigsaw. He showed me to undercut the profile with a coping saw at a 10 degree angle instead. First try after he showed me, the joint sat flush with zero gap. Has anyone else had some old school trick that made you feel like you'd been doing it blind the whole time?

3 comments

3 Comments

henry_martinez2mo agoTop Commenter

Nah, jigsaw leaves a rough edge that a coping saw just doesn't.

the_max1mo ago

Yeah, I'm with you on this one @henry_martinez. I tried using a jigsaw for some cabinet door profiles last month and ended up with splintered edges that took forever to sand down. The coping saw gives me way more control, especially on tight curves where the jigsaw blade wanders. I've been doing woodwork for about 12 years now and I still grab the coping saw for anything that needs to look clean. Sometimes the old hand tools just beat a power tool for the final fit.

valh322mo ago

Not sure I totally agree though. That jigsaw method with a sharp blade and a steady hand can get you pretty close if you're just doing basic profiles. The coping saw trick is cleaner for sure, but I've had plenty of tight joints using a jigsaw on site when I didn't want to dig out the hand tools.