# Can't figure out cut for crown Molding Outer right side, but against the wall with a 142' angle.. Compound Miter Saw cut



## Briana_ (Jul 31, 2021)

I can't seem to find a calculator anywhere to figure out my miter and bevel cut for this. The wall angle is 142 degrees. My crown has a 40' spring angle. Trying to make the Right Outer cut, but have it butt right up to the wall. So the miter 12.48 and bevel 14.44 gets me a piece that would work if I was joining a left outer pience...but doesn't get me to the wall. Thank you anyone for a resource link...or simply the correct cut answer! Briana


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

If you have what I think you have the width of the molding ends up wider on the angle end than the return going down the wall. Usually the easiest fix is to put a decorative block in the corner to make the transition.


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## Briana_ (Jul 31, 2021)

I'm not doing any on the return wall. I should have clarified that this is for above cabinets.
I am doing a simple Cove molding.. You'll notice that the cabinet against the wall is a 45 degree angle cabinet. Although between the wall/cabinet, I'm a total of 142' 
I have already figured out the Right side outer cut for the trim piece...just trying to get the left side to but up to the wall. I'm guessing that it is a simple miter cut with a 0' bevel....but a 45' miter cut doesn't work either.


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## Rebelwork (Jan 15, 2012)

Tge two cabinets aren't 22.5?


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## Briana_ (Jul 31, 2021)

The corner cabinet is a small 45 degree angle cabinet. I'm trying to butt the trim piece up to the wall. So the angle is a total of 142 degrees. My crown is also NOT standard and the spring angle is 40 degrees


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

If the cabinet is 45 degrees then the angle of each piece of molding would be 22.5 degrees. I'm rusty with a compound miter saw. A 45 degree angle you tilt the saw at 34 degrees and would set the saw at 31.62 degrees. You might try setting the saw at 15.81 degrees to cut 22.5 degrees. Try it with some small pieces first and see how it fits. .


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## Briana_ (Jul 31, 2021)

Steve, thank you. I'm not trying to cut 2 pieces though. I'm only running the trim on the left side up to the wall. So I don't think it would get divided in half? Unfortunately, I've made enough errors (mostly due to this crown not even having a standard spring!), that I have enough pieces left for 1-2 practice cuts, and then the piece for my final cut. I've rented the compound miter saw, and the trim takes a week to come in. So an error will cost me another $30 for a trim board plus another $35 for another rental day.


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## Briana_ (Jul 31, 2021)

I tried a crown molding calculator app that says for a flat corner, with my 40 degree spring and the 132 degree wall, to set the bevel at 14.4 and the miter at 61.8. The miter saw doesn't go up to 61.8 of course!


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Briana_ said:


> Steve, thank you. I'm not trying to cut 2 pieces though. I'm only running the trim on the left side up to the wall. So I don't think it would get divided in half? Unfortunately, I've made enough errors (mostly due to this crown not even having a standard spring!), that I have enough pieces left for 1-2 practice cuts, and then the piece for my final cut. I've rented the compound miter saw, and the trim takes a week to come in. So an error will cost me another $30 for a trim board plus another $35 for another rental day.


I thought the problem you were having is mitering the crown molding around the 45 degree angle at the front of the cabinet. I'm not sure why you are getting 142 degrees against the wall but if that is the case the molding would have a 38 degree cut.Where it meets the wall if the end of the cabinet is 45 degrees you should be getting 135 degrees to the wall. Mathematically you work off of 180 degrees which would be the wall line and subtract the 142 degrees from that to get the cut. If it were me I would take a 2x4 or something and just cut it on a 45 degree angle and put it up there and see if it fits.


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## Briana_ (Jul 31, 2021)

I have the right side corner figured out for my miter/bezel cut. It is only the left side where that cabinet is up against the wall. The house is older, so nothing is exactly 90 degrees! I used a tool to hold up to calculate that exact angle. 
I’m not home right now, but can try a few things when I get back this evening. Of course, I was hoping to get this last board cut before returning the saw in the morning. I did try cutting the crown molding at a 45 degree angle (when you hold the crown up like you do against the wall) and the angle was waaaayy off. Wouldn’t the 45 degree cut only work if it was butting into a 90 degree wall?


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

I don't do crown molding, but I found this You Tube that should help you:





You should also use a jig or tray to hold your molding:


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## B Coll (Nov 2, 2019)

Here is a site with all the Trig functions you will need to calculate the miter and bevel angles.





Rake Crown Moulding Miter Angles


SBE Builders is a commercial and residential framing contractor in Discovery Bay California framing buildings that will last a life time.




sbebuilders.com


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Briana_ said:


> I have the right side corner figured out for my miter/bezel cut. It is only the left side where that cabinet is up against the wall. The house is older, so nothing is exactly 90 degrees! I used a tool to hold up to calculate that exact angle.
> I’m not home right now, but can try a few things when I get back this evening. Of course, I was hoping to get this last board cut before returning the saw in the morning. I did try cutting the crown molding at a 45 degree angle (when you hold the crown up like you do against the wall) and the angle was waaaayy off. Wouldn’t the 45 degree cut only work if it was butting into a 90 degree wall?


The angle where the molding meets the wall should be the same angle as the cabinet. If what you tried was way off then perhaps it is 38 degrees


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## Briana_ (Jul 31, 2021)

Steve-That mag very well be the answer! I had already cut the fitting strip (the brown one you see at the top). I thought I cut that at 45 degrees. I thought I did a 45 degree cut on this crown already and it didn’t work. I’ll keep trying. I have all the crown up except this one piece. Pretty good for a girl!


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## Rick Christopherson (Jun 27, 2016)

Take a look at my Festool Kapex manual. I created it with a built-in calculator for determining compound angles for things like moulding or birdhouse roofs. Make sure to open the pdf in Acrobat, and not just your web browser, as I have heard that the browser versions don't always let the script run properly.
http://www.waterfront-woods.com/festool/Kapex_KS120.pdf


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## Briana_ (Jul 31, 2021)

I just ended up cutting the crown molding (at an angle on the saw) at a 45 degree. I tried 38 degree and it didn’t work. 45 was close enough, and I just needed done. In retrospect, I wish I had tried a 52 degree angle (180-142), as the 45 degree cut wasn’t quite right.


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## FirebirdHank (Jan 25, 2021)

What I usually do in a situation like this is use a piece of scrap and fiddle with it until it is right. The scrap doesn't even have to be of the actual crown as long as the angles of the piece are the same.


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## Briana_ (Jul 31, 2021)

Firebirdhank-I would have loved to have more scrap of my crown...but I barely made it with enough for this last piece as it was. The crown had an unusual 40 degree spring angle. 
I was hoping to figure out the correct “flat cut” for it. As holding it at a 45 degree angle was not 100% accurate.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Unless the molding is really wide you don't necessarily have to lay it flat on the saw to cut it. You can hold the molding on a angle on the saw like it would be installed (only upside down so one part of it is on the base of the saw and the other on the fence. Then to find the correct angle you could use any scrap of wood to check your angle.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

Briana_ said:


> Firebirdhank-I would have loved to have more scrap of my crown...but I barely made it with enough for this last piece as it was. The crown had an unusual 40 degree spring angle.
> I was hoping to figure out the correct “flat cut” for it. As holding it at a 45 degree angle was not 100% accurate.


If you made a jig as shown here:




The correct angle for your molding laying against the wall would be established, no guessing.
Then all you would need to do is bisect the angle on the cabinets after using a proper angle gauge to measure it. Set your saw to 90' minus the bisected angle and that should be your correct miter angle. There will be no bevels on this simple mitered molding.


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## Briana_ (Jul 31, 2021)

Steve-It was rather wide molding. And laying it on the saw at the angle (part on base and part on fence) didn’t give me a completely precise cut. It was MDF molding, so the flat bottom and flat “wall” part would move considerably on the saw. I did all my other cuts flat with using both the miter and the bevel. My miter saw was actually not large enough for this molding....which is what I’ve used for everything else. Overall, this was just a frustrating molding to work with...especially since I’m doing this project to sell the house, not my own enjoyment. Now, onto tiling 2 bathroom showers and laying LVP in 2 other rooms! And a bunch more painting doors and trims. Then get this place sold so I can build my dream house.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

Briana_ said:


> Steve-It was rather wide molding. And laying it on the saw at the angle (part on base and part on fence) didn’t give me a completely precise cut. It was MDF molding, so *the flat bottom and flat “wall” part would move considerably on the saw.* I did all my other cuts flat with using both the miter and the bevel. My miter saw was actually not large enough for this molding....which is what I’ve used for everything else. Overall, this was just a frustrating molding to work with...especially since I’m doing this project to sell the house, not my own enjoyment. Now, onto tiling 2 bathroom showers and laying LVP in 2 other rooms! And a bunch more painting doors and trims. Then get this place sold so I can build my dream house.


If you hand held the wide molding while cutting it on the miter saw, you're lucky nothing went WRONG! 
That's the entire reason for the jig. It keeps the molding at the correct angle AND it can't shift under cutting forces.
If you are going to do this type of work, you had better learn "safe practices" now before something goes WRONG!
If you want to ignore the advice from the "experts" then that's fine, but don't say we didn't try to help. 
As I said, I don't do crown moldings, but I do make all kinds of miters and bevels using all kinds of saws from 12" and 10" sliding compound miter saws, 12" radial arm saws and 12" table saws and I still have all of my 10 fingers after 55 years of using them.


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## Briana_ (Jul 31, 2021)

Woodnthings-good advice. I actually bought the kreg jig for crown molding. The molding did NOT sit as stable as I would like it on that. All my cuts except this one were made using the “flat cut” method, which I much prefer. 
a few years ago, when I did crown molding on walls, I used a much smaller crown, and held it all at the 45 degree angle on my small miter saw with no movement or problems. In the future, I will be ordering crown based on the spring angle, as the compound miter saws have a stop for at least one of the spring angles. This makes much more precise cuts obviously versus guessing 32.7 degrees with stop. The stops make for less caulk/wood filler for sure!


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