How to Make the Perfect Miter Cut

Hi, my name is Mark Donovan from HomeAdditionPlus.com. Installing interior trim such as door or window trim is a task most homeowners can tackle as long as they have the right knowledge and the right tools for doing the job. The most important aspect of installing anterior trim is making perfect cuts. And so today, I want to spend a little time with you showing you how to make the perfect miter cuts. Again as I said, tools are the most important things that you need to think about. We can make miter cuts using a standard hand miter saw and a miter saw box. However, the cuts are non-precise and your hinge or joints will not be very clean.

My partner in doing a professional job is to use a compound power miter saw. This compound power miter saw has a plate and allows us to cut angles from plus and minus 45 degrees. It also has the ability to adjust the blade and avert position as well for the compound and the cut. The most important tool to any type of job and when working on a project like this is safety glasses. So make sure you have a set of safety glasses before you start this project.

The first thing you want to do to make a perfect miter cut is to know how to make measurement. When making miter cut, make a measuring on the interior edge of the trim. You use the tape measure, measure from the base, the floor up to the edge where you want the inside form to be. You make a mark on the trim board and this will be your inside edge for the cut. Once you have made your measurements on the trim board, we are now going to make the cut. In order to make a perfect miter cut, you want to double or cut the edge on the trim board. To do that, you can either adjust the vertical angle or what I prefer is just simply use a piece of cardboard. Put it on top of the miter saw and place the board over. This causes the board to lift up a little bit which causes the back cut.

So, I line up the mark to my cardboard and meet the board and make my cut or repeat the process on the other side, however, we need to rotate this for the opposite direction, enter our board in, find your mark and make your cut. Now, all we need to do is simply just confirm the cut is nice and square. Put the two pieces together and as you can see here, we have a nice clean, perfectly seamed cut. But unless you can see maybe a little bit better and you see nice clean cut. Once you have made your perfect miter cuts, all you need is catch up the ends of the board, then go ahead, and install on to the window or the door. To learn about more installing interior trim, whether it be a door or a window, visit HomeAdditionPlus.com and click on Evaluation-Books. We got a couple of books to give you a detailed instructions and pictures for every step in the process for installing window trim or door trim.

Thank you very much for watching and good luck with your trim project.


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