Any general recommendations on tools for cutting skirting boards? Skirting
can be taller than most things we might want to mitre. For skirting the
three options I can think of, along with their problems, are

* Buy a mitre box. Unfortunately the mitre boxes I have seen do not seem
tall enough, being only about 90mm high so too short even for 120mm
skirting.

* Buy a manual mitre saw. An OK piece of meccano but specialised and bulky.

* Buy an electric mitre saw. Might come in handy for other work and I may
well need to buy one of these at some point but they do tend to be big and
heavy. Space is the main problem.

The alternative is to make my own mitre box and cut the skirting using it.

Thoughts?

James

"James Harris" wrote in message
...

....

... a mitre box ...

By the way, you might find the first ten seconds of this, er, off topic.
It's interesting to see a woman's priorities.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WijWXnixIEw

I hope you all find youselves stylishly dressed while cutting mitres....

James

James Harris wrote:

Any general recommendations on tools for cutting skirting boards? ....
* Buy a mitre box....
* Buy a manual mitre saw.....
* Buy an electric mitre saw. ..
The alternative is to make my own mitre box and cut the skirting using it.

Or, do it the 'old' way by cutting one walls skirting to the profile of
the other piece it butts up to.
One tool required, a coping saw.

--
Alan
To reply by mail, change '+' to 'plus'

On 20/09/2014 09:15, A.Lee wrote:
James Harris wrote:

Any general recommendations on tools for cutting skirting boards? ....
* Buy a mitre box....
* Buy a manual mitre saw.....
* Buy an electric mitre saw. ..
The alternative is to make my own mitre box and cut the skirting using it.

Or, do it the 'old' way by cutting one walls skirting to the profile of
the other piece it butts up to.
One tool required, a coping saw.


Mitres are dead easy with a hand held circular saw set to 45 degs. IME
you do need both hands though, so a workmate is handy for holding things
steady

On 20/09/14 09:23, stuart noble wrote:
On 20/09/2014 09:15, A.Lee wrote:
James Harris wrote:

Any general recommendations on tools for cutting skirting boards? ....
* Buy a mitre box....
* Buy a manual mitre saw.....
* Buy an electric mitre saw. ..
The alternative is to make my own mitre box and cut the skirting
using it.

Or, do it the 'old' way by cutting one walls skirting to the profile of
the other piece it butts up to.
One tool required, a coping saw.


Mitres are dead easy with a hand held circular saw set to 45 degs. IME
you do need both hands though, so a workmate is handy for holding things
steady

or even a rough cut followed by a bit of work with a coarse permagrit tool.

It is somewhat amazing to those brought up on power tools to realise how
quick it is to hand shape wood with cheap hand tools




--
Everything you read in newspapers is absolutely true, except for the
rare story of which you happen to have first-hand knowledge. €“ Erwin Knoll

In message , A.Lee
writes
James Harris wrote:

Any general recommendations on tools for cutting skirting boards? ....
* Buy a mitre box....
* Buy a manual mitre saw.....
* Buy an electric mitre saw. ..
The alternative is to make my own mitre box and cut the skirting using it.

Or, do it the 'old' way by cutting one walls skirting to the profile of
the other piece it butts up to.
One tool required, a coping saw.

For internal corners, yes, that's the way to do it.

But for an external corner, you need to mitre
--
Chris French

On Saturday, 20 September 2014 09:23:51 UTC+1, stuart noble wrote:
On 20/09/2014 09:15, A.Lee wrote:

James Harris wrote:



Any general recommendations on tools for cutting skirting boards? ....

* Buy a mitre box....

* Buy a manual mitre saw.....

* Buy an electric mitre saw. ..

The alternative is to make my own mitre box and cut the skirting using it.



Or, do it the 'old' way by cutting one walls skirting to the profile of

the other piece it butts up to.

One tool required, a coping saw.





Mitres are dead easy with a hand held circular saw set to 45 degs. IME
you do need both hands though, so a workmate is handy for holding things
steady

IME 45 degrees may not always be the correct angle.....

Jim K

Hmm, good intentions certainly, but as most corners are seldom at right
angles and often not even vertical, quite a luxury I'd suggest.
One place I went the new conservatory had not bothered to do this at the
corners, just shoved one board over the other and capped the skirting with a
plastic angle piece, mitred at the corners. Of course the line across and
down did not now match, but nobody seemed to care. Is this the slipping of
standards, bad plastering or what one wonders.
And before you ask why I was on my hands and knees on the floor of someone
elses house, I was trying to find an audio lead for their stereo.
That is my story anyway!
Brian

--
From the Sofa of Brian Gaff Reply address is active
"James Harris" wrote in message
...
Any general recommendations on tools for cutting skirting boards? Skirting
can be taller than most things we might want to mitre. For skirting the
three options I can think of, along with their problems, are

* Buy a mitre box. Unfortunately the mitre boxes I have seen do not seem
tall enough, being only about 90mm high so too short even for 120mm
skirting.

* Buy a manual mitre saw. An OK piece of meccano but specialised and
bulky.

* Buy an electric mitre saw. Might come in handy for other work and I may
well need to buy one of these at some point but they do tend to be big and
heavy. Space is the main problem.

The alternative is to make my own mitre box and cut the skirting using it.

Thoughts?

James

A vertical plastic angle?
Brian

--
From the Sofa of Brian Gaff Reply address is active
"Chris French" wrote in message
...
In message , A.Lee
writes
James Harris wrote:

Any general recommendations on tools for cutting skirting boards? ....
* Buy a mitre box....
* Buy a manual mitre saw.....
* Buy an electric mitre saw. ..
The alternative is to make my own mitre box and cut the skirting using
it.

Or, do it the 'old' way by cutting one walls skirting to the profile of
the other piece it butts up to.
One tool required, a coping saw.

For internal corners, yes, that's the way to do it.

But for an external corner, you need to mitre
--
Chris French

In article ,
James Harris wrote:
* Buy an electric mitre saw. Might come in handy for other work and I
may well need to buy one of these at some point but they do tend to be
big and heavy. Space is the main problem.

Know what you mean, but a decent sliding compound mitre saw is one of the
most used power tools I have. But make sure it is big enough to cope with
what you want.

And, of course, it would make light work of constructing that mitre box
you want. ;-)

--
*If you ate pasta and anti-pasta, would you still be hungry?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Chris French wrote:

In message , A.Lee
writes
James Harris wrote:

Any general recommendations on tools for cutting skirting boards? ....
* Buy a mitre box....
* Buy a manual mitre saw.....
* Buy an electric mitre saw. ..
The alternative is to make my own mitre box and cut the skirting using it.

Or, do it the 'old' way by cutting one walls skirting to the profile of
the other piece it butts up to.
One tool required, a coping saw.

For internal corners, yes, that's the way to do it.
But for an external corner, you need to mitre

No you dont, you just shape both ends. **** easy when you've practised a
few times.

--
Alan
To reply by mail, change '+' to 'plus'

On Saturday, 20 September 2014 08:23:56 UTC+1, James Harris wrote:
Any general recommendations on tools for cutting skirting boards? Skirting

can be taller than most things we might want to mitre. For skirting the

three options I can think of, along with their problems, are



* Buy a mitre box. Unfortunately the mitre boxes I have seen do not seem

tall enough, being only about 90mm high so too short even for 120mm

skirting.



* Buy a manual mitre saw. An OK piece of meccano but specialised and bulky.



* Buy an electric mitre saw. Might come in handy for other work and I may

well need to buy one of these at some point but they do tend to be big and

heavy. Space is the main problem.



The alternative is to make my own mitre box and cut the skirting using it.



Thoughts?



James

jigsaw set at 45* degrees + belt sander ?
* or whatever is actually required?


Jim K

In article , James Harris
writes
Any general recommendations on tools for cutting skirting boards? Skirting
can be taller than most things we might want to mitre. For skirting the
three options I can think of, along with their problems, are

* Buy a mitre box. Unfortunately the mitre boxes I have seen do not seem
tall enough, being only about 90mm high so too short even for 120mm
skirting.

* Buy a manual mitre saw. An OK piece of meccano but specialised and bulky.

* Buy an electric mitre saw. Might come in handy for other work and I may
well need to buy one of these at some point but they do tend to be big and
heavy. Space is the main problem.

I use the last one because I have one[1] and it is incredibly quick. Old
houses in particular can have compound angles from various vertical and
horizontal angles together that just don't fit in with a conventional
mitre box.

The ability to run a trial joint on a couple of pieces of scrap quickly
means that you can get perfect joints every time. Note that the skirting
always lies flat when using an SCMS.

eg. cut a pure vertical 45deg for the first part of an internal corner
on a test piece and offer up against the corner. Ooops the meeting wall
isn't vertical at all so adjust the cut on the scrap and you get a
perfect first piece in real material. Then cut a trial mating half on a
scrap end and find that the two walls aren't meeting exactly at 90degs.
No problem, adjust the mitre on the scrap until you get a perfect mate
and then cut on the real material.

Yes, you can meticulously measure, calculate, mark and cut to get the
same effect working manually but when you have a lot to do then it can
save a lot of time to use the above method. When re-fitting an office
with many weird angles and deliberately slant partitions I was gauging
initial angles by eye and getting a fit very quickly because I could
re-cut and adjust pieces so quickly.

Also, find an interlocking piece between multiple joints is just a mm
too long, just run the saw again and it is perfect in seconds. In fact,
cut just over deliberately and then second cut for a perfect fit.


[1] SCMS Sliding Compound Mitre Saw
--
fred
it's a ba-na-na . . . .

On 20/09/2014 11:10, JimK wrote:
On Saturday, 20 September 2014 09:23:51 UTC+1, stuart noble wrote:
On 20/09/2014 09:15, A.Lee wrote:

James Harris wrote:



Any general recommendations on tools for cutting skirting boards? ....

* Buy a mitre box....

* Buy a manual mitre saw.....

* Buy an electric mitre saw. ..

The alternative is to make my own mitre box and cut the skirting using it.



Or, do it the 'old' way by cutting one walls skirting to the profile of

the other piece it butts up to.

One tool required, a coping saw.





Mitres are dead easy with a hand held circular saw set to 45 degs. IME
you do need both hands though, so a workmate is handy for holding things
steady

IME 45 degrees may not always be the correct angle.....

Jim K


Might be 67.5 for a bay, but it's that or 45 in my book. I'd rather
tweak the plaster than the mitre

"James Harris" wrote in message
...
Any general recommendations on tools for cutting skirting boards? Skirting
can be taller than most things we might want to mitre. For skirting the
three options I can think of, along with their problems, are

* Buy a mitre box. Unfortunately the mitre boxes I have seen do not seem
tall enough, being only about 90mm high so too short even for 120mm
skirting.

* Buy a manual mitre saw. An OK piece of meccano but specialised and
bulky.

* Buy an electric mitre saw. Might come in handy for other work and I may
well need to buy one of these at some point but they do tend to be big and
heavy. Space is the main problem.

The alternative is to make my own mitre box and cut the skirting using it.

Thoughts?

James

Internal corners can't be mitred in many cases, the skirting has to be cut
to the profile of the one ajacent.

In article , says...
* Buy a mitre box. Unfortunately the mitre boxes I have seen do not seem
tall enough, being only about 90mm high so too short even for 120mm
skirting.



What about

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0001P03BA

--
Sam

"James Harris" wrote in message
...
Any general recommendations on tools for cutting skirting boards? Skirting
can be taller than most things we might want to mitre. For skirting the
three options I can think of, along with their problems, are

* Buy a mitre box. Unfortunately the mitre boxes I have seen do not seem
tall enough, being only about 90mm high so too short even for 120mm
skirting.

* Buy a manual mitre saw. An OK piece of meccano but specialised and
bulky.

* Buy an electric mitre saw. Might come in handy for other work and I may
well need to buy one of these at some point but they do tend to be big and
heavy. Space is the main problem.

The alternative is to make my own mitre box and cut the skirting using it.

Thoughts?

James


I just use my el cheapo electric compound mitre saw, raked over at 45
degrees - or any other angle that might be needed. It copes with the height
of even tall skirting without a problem, but many of the cheapos from the
sheds are now sliding types, so would handle anything in the skirting range.

A friend of mine used to have a wonderful little rhyme about getting rid of
any gaps in the join from the wall not being straight or the angle not being
exact. It went something like :

"If your mitres do not fit
Fill them up
With glue and **** ..." :-)

Arfa

"harryagain" wrote in message
...

"James Harris" wrote in message
...
Any general recommendations on tools for cutting skirting boards?
Skirting can be taller than most things we might want to mitre. For
skirting the three options I can think of, along with their problems, are

* Buy a mitre box. Unfortunately the mitre boxes I have seen do not seem
tall enough, being only about 90mm high so too short even for 120mm
skirting.

* Buy a manual mitre saw. An OK piece of meccano but specialised and
bulky.

* Buy an electric mitre saw. Might come in handy for other work and I may
well need to buy one of these at some point but they do tend to be big
and heavy. Space is the main problem.

The alternative is to make my own mitre box and cut the skirting using
it.

Thoughts?

James

Internal corners can't be mitred in many cases, the skirting has to be cut
to the profile of the one ajacent.

Why ... ?

Arfa

"Arfa Daily" wrote in message
...


"harryagain" wrote in message
...

"James Harris" wrote in message
...
Any general recommendations on tools for cutting skirting boards?
Skirting can be taller than most things we might want to mitre. For
skirting the three options I can think of, along with their problems,
are

* Buy a mitre box. Unfortunately the mitre boxes I have seen do not seem
tall enough, being only about 90mm high so too short even for 120mm
skirting.

* Buy a manual mitre saw. An OK piece of meccano but specialised and
bulky.

* Buy an electric mitre saw. Might come in handy for other work and I
may well need to buy one of these at some point but they do tend to be
big and heavy. Space is the main problem.

The alternative is to make my own mitre box and cut the skirting using
it.

Thoughts?

James

Internal corners can't be mitred in many cases, the skirting has to be
cut to the profile of the one ajacent.

Why ... ?

Arfa
Think about it. if you have a normal room with four internal corners how
will you get the last piece(s) in with mitres?
Especially when making alterations or replacing one part.
It's possible to make a better fit too as the profiled pieces force the
preceding pieces into the correct position.
When removing existing, you will find only external corners are mitred.

In message , harryagain
writes

Think about it. if you have a normal room with four internal corners how
will you get the last piece(s) in with mitres?

A normal room would have a doorway, so you would do the three non
doorway walls first, then two sections of skirting, each from corner to
door. The door ends would not be mitred. Probably.

--
Graeme

In message , News
writes
In message , harryagain
writes

Think about it. if you have a normal room with four internal corners how
will you get the last piece(s) in with mitres?

A normal room would have a doorway, so you would do the three non
doorway walls first, then two sections of skirting, each from corner to
door. The door ends would not be mitred. Probably.

Slide it down from the top? Normal size room might take more than one
length anyway.


--
Tim Lamb

On 20/09/2014 09:23, stuart noble wrote:
On 20/09/2014 09:15, A.Lee wrote:
James Harris wrote:

Any general recommendations on tools for cutting skirting boards? ....
* Buy a mitre box....
* Buy a manual mitre saw.....
* Buy an electric mitre saw. ..
The alternative is to make my own mitre box and cut the skirting
using it.

Or, do it the 'old' way by cutting one walls skirting to the profile of
the other piece it butts up to.
One tool required, a coping saw.


Mitres are dead easy with a hand held circular saw set to 45 degs. IME
you do need both hands though, so a workmate is handy for holding things
steady

I use a 12" rafter square as a guide to keep the saw straight.

http://www.amazon.com/Johnson-Level-.../dp/B00002N5OE

Quite hard to find, but incredibly accurate.



--
Dave - The Medway Handyman www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

On 21/09/2014 08:47, Tim Lamb wrote:
In message , News
writes
In message , harryagain
writes

Think about it. if you have a normal room with four internal corners how
will you get the last piece(s) in with mitres?

A normal room would have a doorway, so you would do the three non
doorway walls first, then two sections of skirting, each from corner
to door. The door ends would not be mitred. Probably.

Slide it down from the top? Normal size room might take more than one
length anyway.


A piece of typical modern skirting of, say, 2 or 3 metres in length, has
enough flexibility to bend it and allow it to straighten out into place.
Not always true of chunky Victorian type skirting!

--
Rod

On 21/09/2014 02:39, Arfa Daily wrote:


"harryagain" wrote in message
...

"James Harris" wrote in message
...
Any general recommendations on tools for cutting skirting boards?
Skirting can be taller than most things we might want to mitre. For
skirting the three options I can think of, along with their problems,
are

* Buy a mitre box. Unfortunately the mitre boxes I have seen do not
seem tall enough, being only about 90mm high so too short even for
120mm skirting.

* Buy a manual mitre saw. An OK piece of meccano but specialised and
bulky.

* Buy an electric mitre saw. Might come in handy for other work and I
may well need to buy one of these at some point but they do tend to
be big and heavy. Space is the main problem.

The alternative is to make my own mitre box and cut the skirting
using it.

Thoughts?

James

Internal corners can't be mitred in many cases, the skirting has to be
cut to the profile of the one ajacent.

Why ... ?

Arfa

Because scribing is more tolerant of movement and angles.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

On Saturday, September 20, 2014 9:15:27 AM UTC+1, A.Lee wrote:
James Harris wrote:



Any general recommendations on tools for cutting skirting boards? ....

* Buy a mitre box....

* Buy a manual mitre saw.....

* Buy an electric mitre saw. ..

The alternative is to make my own mitre box and cut the skirting using it.



Or, do it the 'old' way by cutting one walls skirting to the profile of

the other piece it butts up to.

One tool required, a coping saw.



--

Alan

To reply by mail, change '+' to 'plus'

Thats for the internal mitres.

On Sunday, September 21, 2014 7:03:57 AM UTC+1, harry wrote:
"Arfa Daily" wrote in message

...





"harryagain" wrote in message

...



"James Harris" wrote in message

...

Any general recommendations on tools for cutting skirting boards?

Skirting can be taller than most things we might want to mitre. For

skirting the three options I can think of, along with their problems,

are



* Buy a mitre box. Unfortunately the mitre boxes I have seen do not seem

tall enough, being only about 90mm high so too short even for 120mm

skirting.



* Buy a manual mitre saw. An OK piece of meccano but specialised and

bulky.



* Buy an electric mitre saw. Might come in handy for other work and I

may well need to buy one of these at some point but they do tend to be

big and heavy. Space is the main problem.



The alternative is to make my own mitre box and cut the skirting using

it.



Thoughts?



James



Internal corners can't be mitred in many cases, the skirting has to be

cut to the profile of the one ajacent.



Why ... ?



Arfa

Think about it. if you have a normal room with four internal corners how

will you get the last piece(s) in with mitres?

Especially when making alterations or replacing one part.

It's possible to make a better fit too as the profiled pieces force the

preceding pieces into the correct position.

When removing existing, you will find only external corners are mitred.

Its a scribed joint to allow for wood movement which would cause a mitre to open up.

If you do have a powered mitre saw then use an angle gauge to establish the angle of the corner and then this to set up the mitre saw. If the skirting is too high to fit under the blade then simply place the wood on its flat surface and adjust the angle of attack of the blade to suit.

You're probably going to need some decorators caulk in the finish anyway.

In article ,
Arfa Daily wrote:
Internal corners can't be mitred in many cases, the skirting has to be
cut to the profile of the one ajacent.

Why ... ?

Any shrinkage causes it to open up. Internal corners are usually on very
long runs - like between two walls - external ones short, round say a
chimney breast.

--
*If you can't see my mirrors, I'm doing my hair*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"harryagain" wrote in message
...

"Arfa Daily" wrote in message
...


"harryagain" wrote in message
...

"James Harris" wrote in message
...
Any general recommendations on tools for cutting skirting boards?
Skirting can be taller than most things we might want to mitre. For
skirting the three options I can think of, along with their problems,
are

* Buy a mitre box. Unfortunately the mitre boxes I have seen do not
seem tall enough, being only about 90mm high so too short even for
120mm skirting.

* Buy a manual mitre saw. An OK piece of meccano but specialised and
bulky.

* Buy an electric mitre saw. Might come in handy for other work and I
may well need to buy one of these at some point but they do tend to be
big and heavy. Space is the main problem.

The alternative is to make my own mitre box and cut the skirting using
it.

Thoughts?

James

Internal corners can't be mitred in many cases, the skirting has to be
cut to the profile of the one ajacent.

Why ... ?

Arfa
Think about it. if you have a normal room with four internal corners how
will you get the last piece(s) in with mitres?
Especially when making alterations or replacing one part.
It's possible to make a better fit too as the profiled pieces force the
preceding pieces into the correct position.
When removing existing, you will find only external corners are mitred.

Not in my house. Built about 25 years ago by a small and extremely
conventional family firm, who employed all their own trades, including
carpentry. Four inch torus profile throughout the house, and whilst there
are one or two internal corners that have been 'cut in', the vast majority
have been mitred - and very well, too.

When I fitted the skirting in my conservatory, all of my corners - internal
and external - were mitred, and I don't recall having any problem getting
the 'last' piece in anywhere. There was plenty enough bend over the length
to get it in.

But in any case, every room has a door, where the skirting butts up to the
frame at 90 deg, so just make that side the last one to be done if it's a
problem. Then, all you have to do is put the mitred end in place, and
'swing' the flat end into the door frame.

Arfa

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message
...
On 21/09/2014 02:39, Arfa Daily wrote:


"harryagain" wrote in message
...

"James Harris" wrote in message
...
Any general recommendations on tools for cutting skirting boards?
Skirting can be taller than most things we might want to mitre. For
skirting the three options I can think of, along with their problems,
are

* Buy a mitre box. Unfortunately the mitre boxes I have seen do not
seem tall enough, being only about 90mm high so too short even for
120mm skirting.

* Buy a manual mitre saw. An OK piece of meccano but specialised and
bulky.

* Buy an electric mitre saw. Might come in handy for other work and I
may well need to buy one of these at some point but they do tend to
be big and heavy. Space is the main problem.

The alternative is to make my own mitre box and cut the skirting
using it.

Thoughts?

James

Internal corners can't be mitred in many cases, the skirting has to be
cut to the profile of the one ajacent.

Why ... ?

Arfa

Because scribing is more tolerant of movement and angles.

That's as maybe, but doesn't qualify as "cant" ...

Arfa



--
Dave - The Medway Handyman www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Arfa Daily wrote:
Internal corners can't be mitred in many cases, the skirting has to be
cut to the profile of the one ajacent.

Why ... ?

Any shrinkage causes it to open up. Internal corners are usually on very
long runs - like between two walls - external ones short, round say a
chimney breast.

Accepted, but surely shrinkage has got nothing to do with "can't" ? And in
any case, why should shrinkage of a length that terminates in a profiled
joint, be any less visible than the same amount of shrinkage on the same
piece of wood, but terminating in a mitred joint ? As I've said elsewhere,
my house has almost exclusively mitred internal joints in all rooms, and any
shrinkage that there may or may not have been over 25 years, has never shown
as any sort of 'gap in the joint' problem.

Arfa

--
*If you can't see my mirrors, I'm doing my hair*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 20/09/2014 08:23, James Harris wrote:
Any general recommendations on tools for cutting skirting boards? Skirting
can be taller than most things we might want to mitre. For skirting the
three options I can think of, along with their problems, are

* Buy a mitre box. Unfortunately the mitre boxes I have seen do not seem
tall enough, being only about 90mm high so too short even for 120mm
skirting.

* Buy a manual mitre saw. An OK piece of meccano but specialised and bulky.

* Buy an electric mitre saw. Might come in handy for other work and I may
well need to buy one of these at some point but they do tend to be big and
heavy. Space is the main problem.

The alternative is to make my own mitre box and cut the skirting using it.

Thoughts?

James


I have one of these (or something very similar).

http://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-Preci...e-Saw/p/168639

Not sure if it quite copes with 120 mm so no good for period houses, but
it gives more depth than a traditional mitre block.

In article ,
Arfa Daily wrote:
Any shrinkage causes it to open up. Internal corners are usually on very
long runs - like between two walls - external ones short, round say a
chimney breast.

Accepted, but surely shrinkage has got nothing to do with "can't" ? And
in any case, why should shrinkage of a length that terminates in a
profiled joint, be any less visible than the same amount of shrinkage
on the same piece of wood, but terminating in a mitred joint

Because the longer part which isn't the one with the profile can shrink
and move slightly, as it should extend beyond the joint, without opening
up the gap. A mitre has a 'profile' on both parts. So any shrinkage will
always show by it opening up.

Of course if you use material which doesn't shrink - like perhaps some
well seasoned hardwoods or MDF - it may not matter. But with the common
materials, it usually does.

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*Why is the word abbreviation so long? *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

I have to agree with several earlier posters that skirting should only be mitred on external corners and scribed on internal corners. An easy way to scribe internal corners on the likes of torus and ovolo skirting is to cut a mitre the "wrong" way as if making an internal mitre, the edge produced where the mitre and front surface meet is your cutting line. Start the cut along the straight bit with a panel saw finishing the curved portions with a coping saw.

At the last house I had to replace every inch of skirting with 7" deep torus and managed every external mitre ( of which there were plenty with chimney breasts and support piers) with a homemade mitre box specific for the skirting. It consisted of two pieces of ply fastened to a spacer a whisker wider than the thickness of the skirting. The left and right mitres were marked on the top edges an carefully marked down the depth of the box and simply cut with the saw I was going to use to cut the skirting. Anyone who does not feel confident in cutting a straight line over a depth in excess of 7" can use a couple of guides affixed to either side of the box to keep the saw from wandering. A couple of pieces of thin ply affixed to the top edges keeps the sides of the box parallel.

Richard