Sawing baseboards: how do you do that?
What do you need?
- A pencil
- Tri square or goniometer
- Radial arm saw or saw and a miter box/fixed guide
Calculate the angle
Use a steel square, bevel square, or goniometer to measure. With a steel square, you can only measure right-angled corners of 45 and 90 degrees. With a bevel square or goniometer, you measure the exact number of degrees. Place one side of the bevel square or goniometer against the wall and place the moving part along the other side of the wall. Secure the goniometer or bevel square in the correct angle and accurately transfer the angle to your workpiece with a pencil.
Saw in miter
To connect the baseboards together, you saw them in miter. Miter sawing means slanted sawing of planks, slats, or baseboards so that they connect to each other at a certain angle. For cutting in miter, use an electric radial arm saw, miter box, or fixed guide with a handsaw. With an electric radial arm saw you have the least chance of unevenness and you'll be done the fastest.
Sawing in miter with a radial arm saw
For a very clean cut, use a blade with 72 teeth or more. The more teeth a saw blade has, the finer the cutting result. Follow the next steps to neatly saw in miter:
- Calculate the miter angle and mark it on the baseboard with the pencil.
- Set the radial arm saw to the correct angle.
- Place the baseboard stably on the saw table.
- Hold the baseboard firmly and lower the saw blade to just above the beam.
- Start the saw and gently lower the saw through the baseboard.
Sawing in miter with a miter box
You can saw miters hand with a miter box. There are miter boxes with fixed miter angles with slots, where you simply let your saw pass through. There are also adjustable miter boxes, which allow you to determine the angle yourself. This is how you saw miters:
- Measure the miter angle you want for the baseboard with a steel square, bevel square, or goniometer. Transfer this angle to the baseboard with a pencil.
- Place the baseboard in the miter box and securely fasten it. With the miter box with fixed miter angles, place the marked workpiece so it matches the right miter angle. If you use a miter box with adjustable miter angles, you first have to accurately set the angle.
- Use a handsaw (with fine serration) to cut the baseboard at the right angle. If you allow the saw to slide through the slot of the miter box, you won't swerve by accident.
