Skirting Mitre
 

How do I mitre a 7" skirting board when the deepest box available is only
around 6 " and B&Q's deep cut mitre saw only does the same ? For a couple of
cuts it hardly seems worthwhile hiring a specialist saw.

Skirting Mitre
 

Mr John X wrote:

How do I mitre a 7" skirting board when the deepest box available is only
around 6 " and B&Q's deep cut mitre saw only does the same ? For a couple of
cuts it hardly seems worthwhile hiring a specialist saw.

Use a normal mitre box to cut some scrap narrower pieces at the desired angle.
Clamp these on the back to cover the full height of the board and use these to
guide the saw. Only mitre external corners, internal ones should be scribed.
Bear in mind that external room corners are rarely 90 degrees and so you might
have to 'adjust' the mitre angles anyway. Small gaps caused by corners less than
90 degrees can be closed up by careful burring of the cut edges. Use a metal
roller (round part of a large screwdriver)and roll this gently up and down the
edge till the wood fibres fill the gap.

hth

Bob

Skirting Mitre
 

Out of curiosity, why should you not mitre internal corners?

"Bob Minchin" wrote in message
...
Mr John X wrote:

How do I mitre a 7" skirting board when the deepest box available is
only
around 6 " and B&Q's deep cut mitre saw only does the same ? For a
couple of
cuts it hardly seems worthwhile hiring a specialist saw.

Use a normal mitre box to cut some scrap narrower pieces at the desired
angle.
Clamp these on the back to cover the full height of the board and use
these to
guide the saw. Only mitre external corners, internal ones should be
scribed.
Bear in mind that external room corners are rarely 90 degrees and so you
might
have to 'adjust' the mitre angles anyway. Small gaps caused by corners
less than
90 degrees can be closed up by careful burring of the cut edges. Use a
metal
roller (round part of a large screwdriver)and roll this gently up and down
the
edge till the wood fibres fill the gap.

hth

Bob

Skirting Mitre
 

"Antony" wrote in message
...
Out of curiosity, why should you not mitre internal corners?

Because:

(a) It's easier to measure accurately
(b) Partly because of (a), and partly because a scribed joint hides any
variation in the angle of the walls, you'll get a better result.

--
Alan Shilling

Skirting Mitre
 

"Mr John X" wrote in message
...
How do I mitre a 7" skirting board when the deepest box available is only
around 6 " and B&Q's deep cut mitre saw only does the same ? For a couple
of
cuts it hardly seems worthwhile hiring a specialist saw.

Hacksaw + care? Coping saw?
You only need to get the top edge decent, you can overcut the rest.
Also, if it isn't absolutely perfect, YOU will be the only one who
knows/cares :)

Skirting Mitre
 

In article ,
Alan Shilling wrote:
Out of curiosity, why should you not mitre internal corners?

Because:

(a) It's easier to measure accurately
(b) Partly because of (a), and partly because a scribed joint hides any
variation in the angle of the walls, you'll get a better result.

It also makes the inevitable shrinkage less noticeable.

--
*If a mute swears, does his mother wash his hands with soap?

Dave Plowman London SW 12
RIP Acorn

Skirting Mitre
 

On Sun, 14 Dec 2003 22:19:18 +0000 (UTC), "Mr John X"
wrote:

How do I mitre a 7" skirting board when the deepest box available is only
around 6 "

You use a board mitre. Looks different, only supports the saw on one
side, and comes in a range of sizes up to about 9"
http://www.emir.co.uk/docs/Pages/HndTool2.htm

Don't mitre internal corners either, unless you live in a De Stijl
house. Coping is nearly as quick to do, handles wonky angles better
and looks _much_ better if there's ever any movement.

Use a coping saw (hence the name) to saw one board into the matching
profile of the other. Takes longer than a mitre, but then you only
have to do it to one board, the other is just sawn straight.
--
What ? Me ? Evil Dictator of Iraq ?
Nah mate, I'm just a Hobbit, honest

Skirting Mitre
 

"Antony" wrote in message
...
Out of curiosity, why should you not mitre internal corners?


As Bob says, the wals are almost never at ninety degrees with each other, so
if the mitres at cut for a ninety degree angle and the walls are more or
less than that, then the mitre won't fit correctly.

If you use a piece of skirting as a template to scribe out the shape on the
back of the piece you want to cut, then follow the line with coping saw, you
can fit one length of skirting over the other at any angle you need without
it looking bad.


"Bob Minchin" wrote in message
...
Mr John X wrote:

How do I mitre a 7" skirting board when the deepest box available is
only
around 6 " and B&Q's deep cut mitre saw only does the same ? For a
couple of
cuts it hardly seems worthwhile hiring a specialist saw.

Use a normal mitre box to cut some scrap narrower pieces at the desired
angle.
Clamp these on the back to cover the full height of the board and use
these to
guide the saw. Only mitre external corners, internal ones should be
scribed.
Bear in mind that external room corners are rarely 90 degrees and so you
might
have to 'adjust' the mitre angles anyway. Small gaps caused by corners
less than
90 degrees can be closed up by careful burring of the cut edges. Use a
metal
roller (round part of a large screwdriver)and roll this gently up and
down
the
edge till the wood fibres fill the gap.

hth

Bob

Skirting Mitre
 

Andy Dingley wrote:

Don't mitre internal corners either, unless you live in a De Stijl
house. Coping is nearly as quick to do, handles wonky angles better
and looks _much_ better if there's ever any movement.


Dodgy Netherlands art movement or not, I like internal mitred
corners and simple white skirting with no grooves ;)
The 50s crap that was here originally was scribed and looked dreadful.
Maybe because it was poorly done though...

Lee

--
To reply use lee.blaver and ntlworld.com

Skirting Mitre
 

Dodgy Netherlands art movement or not, I like internal mitred
corners and simple white skirting with no grooves ;)
The 50s crap that was here originally was scribed and looked dreadful.
Maybe because it was poorly done though...

Tosser?

Skirting Mitre
 

On Mon, 15 Dec 2003 02:13:59 +0000, Lee Blaver
wrote:

[snip] was scribed and looked dreadful.
Maybe because it was poorly done though...


I've never had a deal of success with internal mitres - on skirtings,
the decorative part of sash windows, or once on some trim around the
top of book-case bays.

Could somebody please explain just what the technique is to "scribe"
these internal joints - it's often referred to in books but never
deomonstrated. I've done simple ones where there are "real right
angles" (? TM) with simple rectangular bits of wood but always mess up
on the "arty" mouldings ...

please take pity ...

Thanks,

Barley Twist
(Please put out the cats to reply direct)

Skirting Mitre
 

In article ,
Barley Twist wrote:
Could somebody please explain just what the technique is to "scribe"
these internal joints - it's often referred to in books but never
deomonstrated.

Take a piece of the skirting with a square end, and butt it up against the
*back* (flat) of the piece you want to scribe, keeping it at a right
angle. Draw round the moulding with a sharp pencil. Then carefully cut
round the pencil line with a coping saw keeping it absolutely square -
takes a bit of practice.

The part which *isn't* scribed should be the longer piece - this usually
means the back part of an alcove. Being longer it is likely to shrink more.

--
*The longest recorded flightof a chicken is thirteen seconds *

Dave Plowman London SW 12
RIP Acorn

Skirting Mitre
 

"Barley Twist" wrote in message
...
Could somebody please explain just what the technique is to "scribe"
these internal joints - it's often referred to in books but never
deomonstrated. I've done simple ones where there are "real right
angles" (? TM) with simple rectangular bits of wood but always mess up
on the "arty" mouldings ...


Let's see if I can describe this OK. Take a piece of skirting and mitre it
as normal (internal corner). Now take a coping saw and follow the profile
at the top of the mitre. If done carefully and correctly the cut piece
should be an exact fit over the front face of the other skirting you are
mating to. I hope that makes sense to you, it does to me but I know what I
am trying to say!

Try it on a few bits of scrap first, it's not as dificult as it sounds.

HTH

John

Skirting Mitre
 

PJO wrote:

Dodgy Netherlands art movement or not, I like internal mitred
corners and simple white skirting with no grooves ;)
The 50s crap that was here originally was scribed and looked dreadful.
Maybe because it was poorly done though...


Tosser?


You wouldn't have said that if you had seen the state of the original
skirtings here...
Maybe coping does look better on fancy mouldings, if it's done properly.

I just don't like fancy mouldings, personal choice isn't it?
Also, as I've said before, I just cannot understand the preoccupation
with hideous Victorian/Edwardian features, but hey, that's my choice as
well.

Lee

--
To reply use lee.blaver and ntlworld.com