# What is the maximum crown molding height that a 10" miter saw can handle?



## JoeT (May 17, 2008)

I'd like to purchase a miter saw for various projects including crown molding. It seems like the consensus is to use 3.5" to 4" high molding for an 8' high ceiling. Having a smaller and lighter weight saw is very important for me so that is why I am hoping that a 10" saw will do the job. Is there much difference in the height of molding that different 10" miter saws will handle or are they all pretty much the same? Will a 10" saw handle molding 4" high? 

Thank you.


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## Ron6519 (Mar 28, 2007)

There are different types of miter saws. A 10" sliding saw will cut a larger piece of wood then a simple 10" chop saw.
Ron


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## JoeT (May 17, 2008)

> If you can afford the purchase price and shop space required for a sliding compound miter saw, reviewers say the 10-inch size is the "sweet spot," giving you the most capability for the price. Most sliding compound miter saws include better blades, too, offering 60 to 80 teeth per inch for smoother cuts. If you cut tall moldings, however, you might think twice, as the sliding capability* actually decreases the vertical capacity* of the miter saw, while letting it cut wider boards flat


http://www.consumersearch.com/miter-saws/sliding-compound-miter-saws

Any truth to the above claim about vertical capacity being less for a slider ?

This spec makes no sense to me:
Makita LS1016L Sliding compound miter 
Baseboard vertical 4.75"
Crown molding vertical *6.625"* 
http://www.consumersearch.com/miter-saws/makita-ls1016l/specs

*How can the vertical capacity magically increase if you put a crown molding in the saw?*!

If they literally mean that that the vertical height can be 6.625" then that means the length of the molding has to be the square of 6.625² + 6.625² = 8.83" inches. This is obviously can't be the case!









Or do they mean if you the molding is 6.625" wide/long then the vertical height will be 4.68" ? square root of 6.25²=4.38









Going a little off topic here but I read it is possible to work with moldings laid flat but you have to understand how to set both the bevel and miter angles. For a novice beginner (like me!) it seems like this would be a bad idea. I think I also read that these complex compound angles can be less safe than one angle miter cut. Is that true ?
http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_base/Finding_Compound_Angles_for_Crown_Moulding.html


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## Willie T (Jan 29, 2009)

Joe T,
They mean "vertical (angled) height" as the crown molding rests in its "nested angle" (as you illustrate in your second drawing)

By the way, most crown molding is not 45/45, but rather 52/38.

Long story short, a 10" saw will handle the average 'nested' crown up to about 4 1/4" (measured on the face of the molding)... and up to around 5" crown (kind of big) if laid flat and cut on both angle and bevel settings.

Also, cutting crown flat by setting angle and bevel is not hard at all.

A 90 degree 52/38 crown corner will have a miter setting of 31.62 and a bevel setting of 33.86.

A 90 degree 45/45 crown corner will have a miter setting of 35.26 and a bevel setting of 30.00.

(Most saws are already conveniently marked with the 90 degree settings for 52/38 molding on thier scale strips.)

If you search for it you can find full charts for this online (or I could email you one I made in Excel... I guess it's too large to load here since the upload won't take)


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## Willie T (Jan 29, 2009)

JoeT said:


> Going a little off topic here but I read it is possible to work with moldings laid flat but you have to understand how to set both the bevel and miter angles. For a novice beginner (like me!) it seems like this would be a bad idea.* I think I also read that these complex compound angles can be less safe than one angle miter cut. Is that true *?


Not true at all.

You set the miter angle on the bottom, and the bevel angle at the back.... and you still make one simple pull of the saw handle through the molding just as you would if cutting any piece of wood. It is 2 settings, previously dialed in before you start the saw. Then you just cut the end of the molding off... one time with one handle pull... leaving a 'compound' cut on your molding.

Almost too simple. :yes:

I will, however, admit that I prefer to cut crown in the 'nested' position (see my postings elsewhere in this forum concerning "upsidedown & backward") simply because you never have to mess with setting the bevel angle... you just leave it set on zero no matter what the miter angle. Cutting flat, if the miter angle is changed, the bevel angle has to be also changed to relate to it.


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## masterofall (May 27, 2010)

If you google dewalt compound angles for crown molding a chart is available for various angle cuts. It comes in handy for out of square rooms.
My preference is to cut laying flat using the compound miter/bevel. Have a test piece you can try in each corner


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## williamwiens (Nov 13, 2010)

I have a 10" silder and love it.

I use this site for most of my crown angles.
http://www.installcrown.com/Crown_angle_generator.html

I prefer to cut the crown flat, but that's just my preference.


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## Willie T (Jan 29, 2009)

_*Below, is a very handy thing found on the site WilliamWiens directed you to.*_

_*Outside corner:*_
*Left-hand piece = Bottom edge against fence *
*Right-hand piece = **Top edge against fence *

_*Inside corner:*_
*Left-hand piece = **Top edge against fence *
*Right-hand piece = **Bottom edge against fence*

You can also keep in mind that *all* inside corner cuts will have the long point of the ‘miter’ cut to the bottom of the molding…
… and *all* outside corner cuts have the long point of the ‘miter’ cut to the top of the molding.

Also always true is the fact that the faces of *all* outside corner ‘bevel’ cuts will be longer than the backsides of the molding…
… and the backsides of *all* inside corner ‘bevel’ cuts will be longer than the of the faces of the molding…


This may well sound confusing to you right now. But after cutting a few rooms of molding, you will begin to see the pattern.
Learn these few statements now, and it will save you both headaches and wasted pieces of expensive crown molding.


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