Coping Base Boards…

Trim carpentry has become a lost art, a forgotten skill set that a lot of us don’t notice or appreciate when we see it.  You’d have to talk to Dr. Phil to get all of the reasons for this, as I’m sure they go on and on, but I’m going to do my best to show you the forgotten art of being an artisan carpenter and how to identify it when you see it.

This article and video is about one very specific aspect of trim carpentry called base coping an inside corner.  I know, pretty specific.  Base boards alone is pretty specific, but even that can’t be explained in a single video.  The truth is there’s a lot that goes into trimming a house, and in order to do so I’m going to break it down into specific techniques.  And this one is neat.

Over the years, creative and innovative techniques have developed to help master the art of carpentry, and this one is no exception.  Now that you’re completely hooked on finding out what this technique is, check out this video:

 Now that you’ve seen the technique, here’s an example of a miter cut corner (BAD!) and the gap it creates:

…And a coped corner (GOOD!), that fits like a glove: