Understanding why crown molding is a PITA and how to make it NOT is the first step in becoming a Crown Molding Master! OK, maybe not a master but at least have the confidence to try it and do a pretty bang up job of it. There are three common angles for crown molding and about 100 different ways to cut it.
Cutting approach if often determined for you by the type of saw you have: single bevel, double bevel, height of fence and length of cut.
- You can cut it laying flat on your saw with the top always against the fence changing the miter and bevel with each cut.
- You can cut it nested at an angle on your miter saw matching the angle at which it will be installed on your wall and only using the miter while cutting.
- You can cut it laying flat on your saw with a left bevel seeing and alternating between having the bottom or the top of the molding against the fence and changing between a left and right miter.
- You can even cut it angled upside down and backwards — but you loose some precision there!
HELLO!!! No wonder most of us hear the phrase “install crown molding” and shudder and cringe!
To make it even more challenging, some crown molding manufacturers thought it would be a SUPER GREAT idea to manufacture crown with different “spring angles” requiring us to figure out triple the amount the compound miter settings.
*Spring Angle = the angle between the crown and the wall — as indicated by the yellow arrow in the picture below.
That being said, the 38 degree spring angle is the most common and the settings you’ll need to cut it are pre-set on most miter saws. Hallelujah!
So I just ignore everything but that which applies to the most common version, the 38!
Got it? Good. Now you’re ready to cut some crown molding templates.
Cindy says
Hi Sawdust girl,
My husband and I used your templates for crown molding recently and they were awesome. It mase out lives so much easier. However we ran into the problem of the bullnosed angle. We arent sure how to cut thr crown molding for this. Do you have any tips that you can share? We have a miter saw that cuts the crown molding flat.
Thanks,
Cindy Wheeler
Sandra says
Cindy I’m not sure what you mean by bullnosed angle. Are you talking about going around a rounded corner? If so, you can try splitting the corner up into 3 cuts and then caulk.
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Lon says
I’m only responsible for killing half of the Earth’s pine forests.
I’ll get on a roll and get like 2 cuts correct. Then all hell breaks loose, and the confusion sets in.
I made templates, but in my confused state I argue with myself that I need to use the ‘other’ one. More confusion then I cut… #@×÷$=/% wrong cut again.
I would like to thank you for your willingness to help the novice wood worker. Me, especially me.
Lon
Jacqui says
Lon, same!
Arturo Gordillo Ponce says
I have a really hard time to do inside corners I was thinking to just a tot Can I cut that inside corner square ? And the other side 45 and scribed? To that square piece?
Sandra says
Coping is one way to do inside corners. I never do it. I find it’s faster for me to do miters but a lot of people prefer coping. Try it and see if it works for you.
Ralph Herge says
I thank you for posting the angles. I am a building trades instructor and our Pearson NCCER text said in a question crown molding “is” set to a 45′ angle, You were a source of confirmation about the differing angles. Thank you.
gary saltsman says
iam doing crown molding on a vaulted wall. ive tried everything and cant get it right . there are things on line to show you but by the time you read half thru it you get bored and dont know what you read frist. just to dern long and drarwn out. i do cabinets and other thing like fancy fire place surrounds and furniture .i can do a square room crown but when it comes to a vaulted ceiling i can kiss my —. is there a way to get it thru my head how with out going to a person to do for you?
Sandra says
Hi Gary, The only vaulted ceiling I did was vaulted and angled up to a peak so I had like 4 different angles to work out in one cut. I think I wasted a couple 16′ pieces of crown testing out all my attempts before I got it good enough that caulk would make it ok. 🙂
Haven’t done a vaulted ceiling since. Sorry I have zero tips.