I Have a Mitre Box (And I'm Not Afraid to Use It)

My husband and I really love the show The Next Food Network Star. It's a reality food competition show where the 2 finalists have to do a pilot of the show they plan to host on the network. The first time I watched it, I was shocked to learn about this thing called a "swap out". The uncooked food gets "swapped" with the cooked food which the kitchen peons made during the commercial break. One minute you see them put one cup of flour into a bowl, the next minute out of the oven comes a soufflee! Amazing. It's called "Reality" TV.

In the land of Realistic Renovation, there are no swap outs. There also are no power tools other than a cordless drill. So I knew that if I made my fireplace mantel from scratch I would eventually have to cut mitred corners in the crown molding. I viewed a smattering of YouTube videos and  DIY network articles and convinced myself that it was possible to cut crown moulding corners by hand without a 5 jillion dollar Mitre Saw.  I confidently sauntered off to my local Home Depot and got myself a 7.98 plastic box with complimentary saw.  Or 7.98 dollar saw with complimentary box. 

Definition for mitre:

miter joint: joint that forms a corner; usually both sides are bevelled at a 45-degree angle to form a 90-degree corner.

Every DIY-er knows that cutting corners on pieces of crown moulding is very difficult, but I was confident from my research that I'd figure it out. Unfortunately, no one online seemed able to explain it in a way that worked, or in some cases even made sense:

To find the mitre angle 
1. The wall angle divided by 2=
2. press tan.   (answer will be X )
3. X  times 5.5= Y 
4. 3.88 divided by Y =
5. press inv. tan.


No matter what I tried, I could not cut the corners right. I put the molding upside down in the box, I measured ten times, I used clamps which flew up in my face because they wouldn't stay. I bought a coping saw which despite its name, did not help.  I bought pre-made corners, then different moulding to fit the pre-made corners, returned that moulding because it didn't fit the pre-made corners, then returned the different moulding......

Most people at this point would give up or call someone. But noooo, not me, when things get frustrating I just stubbornly continue to search for a solution.


I ate some ice cream, asked God for help and then watched some more deathly boring Youtube videos. Let me tell you, people who videotape themselves hanging crown moulding? Not destined for stardom.


I rolled up my sleeves and headed back to the workshop....and then I realized what my problem was.


My cuts weren't steep enough. I did everything the YouTube people said, but when I did what they told me it had all failed. Only God knows how I figured this out , but I lined up the flat part of the moulding that would be vertical with the floor and the inside edge of the box:  

 

I used the coping saw to start the cut since it was too high up in the box to use the box saw. Then once I got to the level of the box, I switched over to the mitre box saw to finish the job.

It gave me perfectly decent cuts each time. No second cuts necessary, no wood carving degree required. Line up the flat part of the crown moulding that will be vertical to the floor on the far side of the box, place enough scrap wood in between the moulding and the side of the box facing you, and you are good to go. No clamps flying off in your face. No mathematical equations. 

I was so excited when my corners fit and it wasn't even my birthday.

Even the DIY network lady and her fancy mitre saw said she had to cut it a couple times to get the right angle on it.


So, the lesson here is that if you just stick with something, you can figure it out. Just give it time.

Ta-da!