Wasted $80 on a fancy coping saw, now I just use my jigsaw with a fine blade

Bought that high-end coping saw last spring for coping baseboard and realized after two jobs my old jigsaw does the same work faster. Has anyone else found a tool they spent too much on when a simpler one was right there?

2 comments

2 Comments

jesse_williams624d agoMost Upvoted

I've had my 12 inch coping saw for about three years now and I still pull it out for tight miters on crown molding where the jigsaw blade is just too thick, lol. The jigsaw definitely wins for speed on straight cuts but I've found the coping saw gives me way more control when I'm scribing to an uneven wall. I dunno, maybe it depends on the kind of trim you're doing but that saw has saved my ass on a couple tricky inside corners.

the_faith3d ago

That inside corner scribe is exactly where the coping saw shines... I learned that the hard way after ruining a $40 piece of poplar with a jigsaw on a job a few years back. My trick is to hold the blade at a 45 degree angle to the back of the cut, lets you sneak up on that scribe line without taking too much off at once. For crown molding especially, I'll rough cut the miter with a miter saw first, then use the coping saw to back cut the profile about 1/16th of an inch deeper than the front edge. That little overhang presses right into the uneven wall and makes the gap disappear... I've saved maybe 30 minutes on a single room doing it that way. Just make sure your blade is tight in the frame, a loose blade will wander on you and ruin the cut every time.