Client told me my crown molding miters were off by a 16th

Guy pulled out a digital angle finder and showed me my saw was off by 0.5 degrees after I swore it was square. Who else had to recalibrate their whole setup because one picky customer was right?

3 comments

3 Comments

jamieb8010d ago

That "test cuts until no light shows" part hit home hard. I spent a whole weekend doing the exact same thing after a client pulled out a feeler gauge on me. I had to redial my saw three times before I got it right, then @price.ben's idea of scribbling the angle settings on the base with a silver sharpie saved my sanity. Now I keep a dedicated test board with pre-cut angles hanging on my wall so I can check fast before every big job. It's humbling when you realize your "perfect" saw has been off for months and nobody called you on it.

kimfisher10d ago

Bought a cheap digital angle finder after a similar humbling moment with a baseboard job. Ended up finding my saw was off by the same half a degree you mentioned. What worked was making a zero clearance insert for my miter saw, then taking the time to square the blade to the fence with a good square, not just the saw's built in marks. After that, I cut a few test pieces of scrap and kept adjusting until the joint was tight with no light showing. Marked those final settings on the saw with a paint pen so I can reset fast if it gets bumped. Saved me from remeasuring every time and gave me confidence on the next picky client.

price.ben10d ago

Man, that paint pen trick is genius. I did something similar after spending a whole afternoon fighting with crown molding. Ended up scribbling the angle settings right on the saw's base with a silver sharpie. Now every time I bump the thing moving it around the shop I can just dial it back to the mark and make a test cut to confirm. Saved me from pulling my hair out on repeat jobs.