After hanging about 1500 linear ft of crown in my home and trying both
methods, I can tell you for certain that coping inside miters is definitely
the best way. It does take several attempts to get the hang of it but, once
you get it, it is so much easier and looks tremendously better. One of the
tricks I found most useful is to carry a patternmakers rasp and a coarse
half-round file in your toolbelt. These make life a lot easier when trying
to clean up the cope for that perfect fit. Also, I do not try and cope long
boards. I'll butt joint about a foot and a half from the corner and that
gives me a managable length which I can tweak the fit while still on the
ladder. A bevel ripped backer-board goes a long way towards supporting
large crown and makes a perfect spot to nail.

my ¢2


"ATP*" wrote in message
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"Fred" wrote in message
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Thank God for caulk and paint.

Non of the inside or outside corners of my walls are true 90 degrees so
final results at the corners are a little off when mitering at 45
degrees. Even off by 2 or 3 degrees will show up as out of alignment at
the corners where the baseboards don't meet exactly. I've tried coping
for the first time but it was a long process with trial errors before it
looked ok - forgot to take the coping saw with me, had to freehand on the
TS. I had some odd shaped walls also and had to divide the angle exactly
by half using trial and error or simple high school geometry as
eyeballing it results in disaster. After about four hundred feet of
baseboards I'm getting the hang of it so accurately is a must since a
degree off here and a 1/16" off their will show. So far this is only
simple angles and I needed to resort to caulk and paint.

Next crown moldings with compound angles - now I'll be really challenged
with those funky walls. I need to dust off my descriptive geometry book
and see if it helps. Is this where coping comes in play more than
baseboards?
Never miter inside corners. Always cope. The joint, properly done, will
always turn out better.