Thread: Pine Skirt Molding Interconnect Help

I use a 36 grit sanding pad in a 100mm angle grinder and sand out the back of the moulding so it's sits flush. Obviously you have to start with a longer piece and it is a practice thing. You have to take your time as one slip and you have to start again. Practice on an offcut to get the right shape and then just copy it. Looks like Tassie Oak to me - not pine ?

You could just mitre (45degree) the ends and they should fit up nicely

If the moulding was sitting in the frame properly (rather than tilting back slightly as revealed in the bottom of the original post) a mitre would match nicely at the corner. However, with the moulding tilting, it would not give a tight corner unless both parts forming a corner were mitred with the tilt taken into account.

I suspect that the original poster is rather light on for tools as he suggests that he has been cutting the moulding with a jigsaw, which is probably not a good way to get nice tight mitres.

I would therefore tend to fall back to older traditional practice and cope out the cut on one half of the joint to match the profile of the other.

Basic method.

1. Cut one element (upright in your photo as it is already done) to length and install.
2. Cut one end of the matching element at a 45 deg mitre and sand the end with a block if need be to get it spot on the 45 deg and with a smooth face where it meets the moulding profile.
3. Then use a coping saw with a fine blade to cut along the intersection of the 45deg mitre and the profile. Normally this would leave a cutout near perfectly matching the vertical component on the end of the moulding, but because the vertical moulding is slightly tilted back, some minor adjustment will be needed.
4. Offer the moulding to the vertical and mark the area where it is in contact, then either file with a medium half round file or sand with paper wrapped around a round former to remove the area marked while maintaining a gentle curve. Offer up to the vertical again, mark the new contact area, and reshape that. After two or three cycles of marking and shaping, you should get a near perfect fit.
5. Repeat for the other end, and fix.

You will need a coping saw, a square with an accurate 45 deg, and a half round file and sandpaper but theses are relatively cheap compared to buying power tools for the job. You can use an offcut of the profile as a former for the sandpaper.

Originally Posted by malb

If the moulding was sitting in the frame properly (rather than tilting back slightly as revealed in the bottom of the original post) a mitre would match nicely at the corner. However, with the moulding tilting, it would not give a tight corner unless both parts forming a corner were mitred with the tilt taken into account.

I suspect that the original poster is rather light on for tools as he suggests that he has been cutting the moulding with a jigsaw, which is probably not a good way to get nice tight mitres.

I would therefore tend to fall back to older traditional practice and cope out the cut on one half of the joint to match the profile of the other.

Basic method.

1. Cut one element (upright in your photo as it is already done) to length and install.
2. Cut one end of the matching element at a 45 deg mitre and sand the end with a block if need be to get it spot on the 45 deg and with a smooth face where it meets the moulding profile.
3. Then use a coping saw with a fine blade to cut along the intersection of the 45deg mitre and the profile. Normally this would leave a cutout near perfectly matching the vertical component on the end of the moulding, but because the vertical moulding is slightly tilted back, some minor adjustment will be needed.
4. Offer the moulding to the vertical and mark the area where it is in contact, then either file with a medium half round file or sand with paper wrapped around a round former to remove the area marked while maintaining a gentle curve. Offer up to the vertical again, mark the new contact area, and reshape that. After two or three cycles of marking and shaping, you should get a near perfect fit.
5. Repeat for the other end, and fix.

You will need a coping saw, a square with an accurate 45 deg, and a half round file and sandpaper but theses are relatively cheap compared to buying power tools for the job. You can use an offcut of the profile as a former for the sandpaper.

Thanks for info. The horizontal molding in the pictures will sit flush with the border, identical to the vertical piece (not against the MDF backboard). It just happen to move out of position as i took the picture. The 45 degree cut is what i was attempting to duplicate with the jigsaw, but i didn't get very far due to the orientation of the two intersecting pieces, which are non-symmetric.

Hopefully these images describe the problem more accurately: Sitting Flat | 45 degree rough cut (flat) --- Sitting Angled (what i need) | 45 degree rough cut (angled) | another angle

I don't mind buying what ever power tools i need to get the job done. I'm just not sure what to do in this situation, because it doesn't seem as straight forward as a 45 degree cut (from my understanding) and changing the angle completely ruins the effect of the gradual inset bordering that i'm trying to achieve.

Thanks

By a mitre box from the green or blue big shed or Mitre 10 and a fine tooth saw, (tenon saw or panel saw)

Practice a few times cutting 45 deg and remove the profile with a coping saw.

The correct term is a scribed joint and it takes a little practice to master it. Under cut so you get a neat fit.

Originally Posted by buggyboy

Thanks for info. The horizontal molding in the pictures will sit flush with the border, identical to the vertical piece (not against the MDF backboard). It just happen to move out of position as i took the picture. The 45 degree cut is what i was attempting to duplicate with the jigsaw, but i didn't get very far due to the orientation of the two intersecting pieces, which are non-symmetric.

Hopefully these images describe the problem more accurately: Sitting Flat | 45 degree rough cut (flat) --- Sitting Angled (what i need) | 45 degree rough cut (angled) | another angle

I don't mind buying what ever power tools i need to get the job done. I'm just not sure what to do in this situation, because it doesn't seem as straight forward as a 45 degree cut (from my understanding) and changing the angle completely ruins the effect of the gradual inset bordering that i'm trying to achieve.

Thanks

The moulding link in the first post is for a quad molding which is a 1/4 circle. In the images linked in the first post it appears to be a quad moulding. In the pics in the subsequent post quoted, it appears to be an elliptical moulding of some sort rather than a quad, ie the mounting surfaces are of different lengths rather than equal length. It might for instance be described as 25x35 rather than 30x30.

If that is the case, you should be able to get a neat joint following the instructions I left earlier, provided that you are mating identical width surfaces, ie 25 to 25 and 35 to 35 for the guessed sizes above. In the later pics it appears that you are trying to join a 25 to 35 and a 35 to 25, which won't work. You need to mount the molding so the same surface of the length of molding is against the frame. Perhaps the simplest way to get it right would be to take a marker or wide pencil and draw a line along the entire length of a flat molding surface, then ensure when cutting that in all cases the marked surface is against the frame or facing the MDF, depending on the orientation you want for the project.

If you intend to use a quad molding, check that molding is correctly formed, if it has been malformed part way through a length at the factory to become elliptical, it will never match in a corner.

Originally Posted by malb

The moulding link in the first post is for a quad molding which is a 1/4 circle. In the images linked in the first post it appears to be a quad moulding. In the pics in the subsequent post quoted, it appears to be an elliptical moulding of some sort rather than a quad, ie the mounting surfaces are of different lengths rather than equal length. It might for instance be described as 25x35 rather than 30x30.

If that is the case, you should be able to get a neat joint following the instructions I left earlier, provided that you are mating identical width surfaces, ie 25 to 25 and 35 to 35 for the guessed sizes above. In the later pics it appears that you are trying to join a 25 to 35 and a 35 to 25, which won't work. You need to mount the molding so the same surface of the length of molding is against the frame. Perhaps the simplest way to get it right would be to take a marker or wide pencil and draw a line along the entire length of a flat molding surface, then ensure when cutting that in all cases the marked surface is against the frame or facing the MDF, depending on the orientation you want for the project.

If you intend to use a quad molding, check that molding is correctly formed, if it has been malformed part way through a length at the factory to become elliptical, it will never match in a corner.

The mouldings i posted in the OP are the same ones that followed in my subsequent post. I think this image may be the source of confusion as the depth of the 45 degree cut (very rough) isn't being accurately portrayed in the imagery. The shape and mouldings are identical to the bunning's link, except in a shorter configuration (W: 25mm). I guess the two pieces aren't necessarily angled per se, because they both do share the same mutual flat edge when in their required positions. I can't really visualize the two pieces intertwining together at 45 degrees based on their respective orientations right now. I'll have to look into it further on the weekend. Maybe i can provide better feedback then if i don't succeed.

Cheers.

You could always cut a little square block to stick in the corner and butt the quad up to that. Mitre free, too easy!