The base molding (two inches high) at an inside corner has about a 1/8"
gap at the inner edge (as though both miter angles are a few degrees
less than 45 degrees). The mitered ends (along with the rest of the
molding) were primed and painted before being nailed in place. What
should I use to fill the gap? The choices are wood filler, caulk, and
spackling compound. The filler will be painted.

Thanks,

Ray

Ray K wrote:

The base molding (two inches high) at an inside corner has about a 1/8"
gap at the inner edge (as though both miter angles are a few degrees
less than 45 degrees). The mitered ends (along with the rest of the
molding) were primed and painted before being nailed in place. What
should I use to fill the gap? The choices are wood filler, caulk, and
spackling compound. The filler will be painted.

Thanks,

Ray
That's the reason for using the cope method for inside corners. Use
paintable caulk water soluble.
--
"You can lead them to LINUX
but you can't make them THINK"
Running Mandriva release 2008.0 free-i586 using KDE on i586
Website Address http://rentmyhusband.biz/

On May 15, 7:43*am, evodawg wrote:
Ray K wrote:
The base molding (two inches high) at an inside corner has about a 1/8"
gap at the inner edge (as though both miter angles are a few degrees
less than 45 degrees). *The mitered ends (along with the rest of the
molding) were primed and painted before being nailed in place. What
should I use to fill the gap? The choices are wood filler, caulk, and
spackling compound. The filler will be painted.

Thanks,

Ray

That's the reason for using the cope method for inside corners. Use
paintable caulk water soluble.
--
"You can lead them to LINUX
but you can't make them THINK"
Running Mandriva release 2008.0 free-i586 using KDE on i586
Website Addresshttp://rentmyhusband.biz/

I can make 20 perfect inside corner joints on a decent power miter saw
in the time it takes you to make one coped inside corner joint (if
you're lucky and don't screw up the coping).

If I want to make adjustments of a fraction of a degree, I use folded
paper on the backside of the molding in the appropriate spot.

But I agree on the caulk if this is painted molding.

I can make 20 perfect inside corner joints on a decent power miter saw
in the time it takes you to make one coped inside corner joint (if
you're lucky and don't screw up the coping).


Yeah, but they won't stay being a perfect joint after the wood shrinks
in the winter or swells in the summer.

Ken

On May 15, 9:43*am, wrote:
I can make 20 perfect inside corner joints on a decent power miter saw
in the time it takes you to make one coped inside corner joint (if
you're lucky and don't screw up the coping).

Yeah, but they won't stay being a perfect joint after the wood shrinks
in the winter or swells in the summer.

Ken

I've never had that problem.

wrote in message
...
I can make 20 perfect inside corner joints on a decent power miter saw
in the time it takes you to make one coped inside corner joint (if
you're lucky and don't screw up the coping).


Yeah, but they won't stay being a perfect joint after the wood shrinks
in the winter or swells in the summer.
shrinks

Coped joints don't shrink in the winter or swell in the summer?

Ray K wrote:
The base molding (two inches high) at an inside corner has about a 1/8"
gap at the inner edge (as though both miter angles are a few degrees
less than 45 degrees). The mitered ends (along with the rest of the
molding) were primed and painted before being nailed in place. What
should I use to fill the gap? The choices are wood filler, caulk, and
spackling compound. The filler will be painted.

Thanks,

Ray

Paintable caulk. It needs to be flexible so expansion and settling
don't cause the joint to open again. Same applies and is standard for
cracks at wall joints.

Ray K wrote:
The base molding (two inches high) at an inside corner has about a 1/8"
gap at the inner edge (as though both miter angles are a few degrees
less than 45 degrees). The mitered ends (along with the rest of the
molding) were primed and painted before being nailed in place. What
should I use to fill the gap? The choices are wood filler, caulk, and
spackling compound. The filler will be painted.

Thanks,

Ray

Thanks everyone. No disagreement that paintable caulk is the way to go.

Ray

On May 15, 1:24*pm, "1D10T" wrote:
wrote in message

... I can make 20 perfect inside corner joints on a decent power miter saw
in the time it takes you to make one coped inside corner joint (if
you're lucky and don't screw up the coping).

Yeah, but they won't stay being a perfect joint after the wood shrinks
in the winter or swells in the summer.

shrinks

Coped joints don't shrink in the winter or swell in the summer?

You're not thinking in three dimensions. Hint: wood doesn't change
in length.

R

On May 15, 12:46*pm, mike wrote:
On May 15, 9:43*am, wrote:

I can make 20 perfect inside corner joints on a decent power miter saw
in the time it takes you to make one coped inside corner joint (if
you're lucky and don't screw up the coping).

Ummm, no, you couldn't. Please don't try to equate a coped joint with
a mitered joint in all situations. Mitered joints, and caulk, have
their place, but both bring additional problems.

Yeah, but they won't stay being a perfect joint after the wood shrinks
in the winter or swells in the summer.

I've never had that problem.

You mean you've either never noticed the problem, never used large
enough trim to make you notice the problem, or you don't see the point
in spending more time in working on your craftsmanship when a little
caulk will make it look good for a while.

Post this question in rec.woodworking and you won't get too many "Ah,
a little caulk'll do ya fine" answers. There's a lot more woodworking
experience over there than on this newsgroup.

R

On May 15, 11:27*am, mike wrote:

If I want to make adjustments of a fraction of a degree, I use folded
paper on the backside of the molding in the appropriate spot.

Let's investigate this a bit. So instead of adjusting your cutting
angles to make the mitered trim fit the corner, you shim the molding
away from the wall to make it fit your miter? What you're saying is
that you are going to caulk no matter what you do.

Caulk is a band-aid, not craftsmanship.

R

On May 15, 12:19*pm, RicodJour wrote:
On May 15, 11:27*am, mike wrote:



If I want to make adjustments of a fraction of a degree, I use folded
paper on the backside of the molding in the appropriate spot.

Let's investigate this a bit. *So instead of adjusting your cutting
angles to make the mitered trim fit the corner, you shim the molding
away from the wall to make it fit your miter? *What you're saying is
that you are going to caulk no matter what you do.

Caulk is a band-aid, not craftsmanship.

R

Uh, you misunderstood what I'm talking about. I can make adjustments
to my cut WHEN USING THE SAW in fractions of a degree by placing
folded paper between the molding and the saw guide where appropriate.

On May 15, 4:49*pm, mike wrote:


Uh, you misunderstood what I'm talking about. *I can make adjustments
to my cut WHEN USING THE SAW in fractions of a degree by placing
folded paper between the molding and the saw guide where appropriate.

Ah, right, that wasn't clear.

One major advantage of a coped joint is that you only have to use
precision on one piece, the other is just a straight cut.

Another major advantage of a coped joint is that it is not very
sensitive to the corner's angle. The coped piece is backcut and gives
a fair degree of flexibility - probably on the order of a couple or
three degrees. It actually makes it easier to achieve a tight meeting
between the two pieces.

One of the fallacies of using a miter saw is that the smooth face of
the cut provides a better fit. It doesn't matter in a coped joint.
The back of a coped piece looks like a beaver went at it, but the face
only shows a tight line between the two pieces that is not affected
nearly as much by swings in temperature and humidity as a mitered
corner. Old time woodworkers wouldn't waste time on getting precise
fits on things that were hidden that didn't affect longevity or
function.

R

"mike" wrote in message
...

I can make 20 perfect inside corner joints on a decent power miter saw
in the time it takes you to make one coped inside corner joint (if
you're lucky and don't screw up the coping).

If I want to make adjustments of a fraction of a degree, I use folded
paper on the backside of the molding in the appropriate spot.

But I agree on the caulk if this is painted molding.

LOL!!!!!!!!!! Oh WOW! What an impressive hack!