The Beauty of Coping with Carpentry

What is sexier than a mitre cut?

A coped cut.

Maybe not for the client. If done correctly, no one will know the difference either way. But for the carpenter, it’s a flaunting skill, that has its place. 

For all you fine people wondering what a cope is, it’s an undercut into the profile of material, that will allow the wood to form around a joining piece. Usually found on the inside corner of most trim work.

Where on most mitered corners, you will need two joining 45 degree cuts, this allows for one cut to be a crosscut, with the joining cut to sit on top of the flat piece.

When coping, you want to cut the mitre to form the accepting profile. You will then use a coping tool, to remove the material to form the profile. This undercut needs to be sharper than 45 degrees in the opposite direction, to prevent obstructions from forming around the incoming piece.

Neat, but why? 

Coping is a slower process. Not only do you need to cut the wood in a particular direction, but you then need to carve the material to remove any obstruction. It’s easier to set the mitre saw at 45 degrees, and let the blade work its magic.

But if you think every corner in your house is 90 degrees, then you need to brace yourself for this next part:

They are not.

Most people are living life on ‘good enough’. Not paying attention to the minimal caulk joints in their trim work. But for production finishers, delivering a touch more quality, to run the majority of millwork on crosscuts, to then cope the next piece, can negate the need for checking how out of 90 degrees the receiving corner is. With plumb-ness of the corner, becoming the only concern.

Metal rasp help with fine tuning cuts.

Was that confusing? 

Sure. 

But 9 out of 10 times, this is not where I find its use. Though I’ll admit I’d be happy to be the guy, if you need it. Wink. Wink. 

In the remodeling and repair space, knowing how to cope can be the saving grace in joining new millwork to existing. Allowing the existing to never be removed, to add an accepting mitre.  

Coping is also helpful with 3-inch or smaller pieces. The coped end, due to its shape, will grab the next piece. Making it less frustrating to handle.

It also works as the trick for those tight, forgettable spots. One example being the 1” gap between a door casing, and the perpendicular incoming base. 

Placing a 1-inch wide piece of base with a coped end, into a tight spot.

For this task, I rely on a coping saw. One of the few tools I reach for, that still operates by muscle, blood, and sweat. 

This is because the situations required are few. If I performed this task frequently, I would move onto a barrel gripped jig saw with a coping foot; an interesting way of using a power tool, that I’ve yet to experience. Or an angle grinder with a sanding flap disc wheel; which I have experienced, and will give a word of warning, due to the aggressiveness of the removal. 

Aside from the meat removers, the one set of tools that you should include, is a set of metal rasps. With a set of flat, curved, and pole rasp, you can fine tune the cuts to the profile line. A good substitute for these, is sandpaper, though can be harder to form the profiles, and is a slower process.

Downsides? 

As a repair carpenter, the overlapping joints do add a small level of difficulty. Where with two 45 degrees, one piece can be removed. But with coped pieces, then both pieces may need to be removed to access an area.

It is possible to cut into the profile when removing the fat of the wood, or break the profile. To create room for error, I will cut my coped edge first, before pulling length to cut the opposite end. It is much easier to save a piece this way.

It is also a skill that you can only learn by doing. Any tool used requires a feel. But I wouldn’t recommend this task for the 1st year, if material is few. Even with the coping saw, I remember it taking time before understanding the feel of cut, and manipulating the tool. Though I will say it is not the hardest skill to master, once understood.

Regardless, this is still a skill a carpenter needs to have in their arsenal, cause the moments do come up. 

It also makes you look like you know more, than you actually do. And sometimes, that’s enough of a party trick to make people stop, and appreciate what you’re doing.