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A finisher in Grand Rapids talked me out of miter joints on face frames after 15 years
I always cut miters on face frames thinking they looked sharper, until a finisher named Ray watched me glue one up and asked why I was making extra work for myself. He showed me his cope cuts on a set of oak uppers he'd just hung, and there wasn't a single gap I could slip a business card into. Now I'm wondering how many other habits I picked up early that I've never actually questioned. Anyone else get talked out of something they'd done for ages by a guy who barely said two words about it?
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sean_torres7115d ago
I used to swear by miters on stain grade stuff because they looked clean when you nailed them. Then a old timer named Walt showed me his coped corners on some cherry cabinets and I couldn't tell where one piece ended and the other started. He told me miters open up when the wood moves and you're back there with wax sticks a year later. Cope cuts let the wood move and still stay tight, way less callbacks. I fought it at first because I'd been doing miters for years and didn't want to hear it. After one winter with a couple of split miters on a kitchen job, I switched and never went back.
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logan23615d ago
Did Walt show you the trick where you back cut the cope at a slight angle so the front edge kisses tight? That little relief cut saves you so much filing time and the joint still holds through the seasons.
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