Features and tips for using skirting boards

The skirting miter box is a popular joinery tool that effectively solves the problem of cutting skirting boards. The high demand for the tool is due to its ease of use, low cost and wide consumer availability.

The miter box is a specialized device designed for sawing floor and ceiling skirting boards at different angles. The device is made in the form of a box with missing end walls and without a cover. In the side surfaces, several pairs of slots are formed, which have a through design and are located at certain angles relative to the central axis of the base. The width of the slots allows you to freely place a hacksaw or a saw in them, provided there is a slight spread of the teeth.

Some models of tools are equipped with a universal hacksaw equipped with a raised handle. This contributes to a special cutting accuracy and makes it easy to keep the hacksaw blade in a horizontal position.

During operation, the miter box is fixed on a workbench or table and securely fixed with a clamp. This does not allow the tool to move under the influence of the saw and makes working with it comfortable and completely safe. The process of trimming skirting boards with a miter box is quite simple and looks like this:

• a plinth is laid on the bottom of the tray and fixed in the desired position;
• then a hacksaw blade is inserted into the guide grooves that determine the desired angle and are located on the opposite walls of the tray and the plinth is cut.

Joinery mills are classified according to three criteria: size, material of manufacture and type of construction. According to the first criterion, there are standard products designed for processing narrow and medium moldings, and large models that allow sawing high floor and wide ceiling plinths. The width of the slots in the overall products is no different from that of medium and small samples, however, the side walls of the tray and the width of its base are much larger.

According to the material of manufacture, carpentry mills are divided into wood, plastic and metal.

Wood models are the most common type of tool due to their good performance and the possibility of self-production. Wooden products have a classic structure and are represented by a structure of three boards, one of which acts as a foundation. The two side boards are fitted with paired grooves to cut different corners.Despite the low cost and ease of manufacture, wooden models have a big drawback: when working with a hacksaw for metal or with a saw, the grooves are gradually sawed, due to which, with regular use of the device, its service life is significantly reduced. However, for performing one-time work, for example, when carrying out repairs in an apartment, wooden models are quite suitable.

For self-production of a wooden miter box, take a piece of board 10 cm wide and 50 cm long and with the help of a protractor, angles of 45, 90, and, if necessary, 60 degrees are measured on it. Then the sidewalls are screwed on and the markings of the corners are transferred to them from the base. Next, the transferred marks are checked with a protractor - if everything is in order, then they begin to form the grooves. The cut is made until the hacksaw starts to touch the upper surface of the base of the tray. The grooves should be formed in such a way that a hacksaw or saw can easily enter them, however, they should also not be made too wide. After the tool is ready, a trial sawing of the plinth is carried out at different angles, after which the blanks are removed and the angles are measured using a protractor.

Plastic miter boxes made on the basis of polyvinyl chloride are a good alternative to wooden models. The advantages of such products include their low cost and low weight. The tool is presented in a huge assortment of standard sizes, which allows you to purchase a model for almost any skirting board. There is only one drawback with plastic devices - it is the rapid expansion of the working slots, which subsequently leads to large deviations from the required angle value and makes the tool unsuitable for further use. However, as in the case of wooden models, plastic miter boxes are perfect for one-time use.

Metal miter boxes belong to the category of professional tools and are distinguished by a very long service life and high cutting accuracy. Alloy steel or aluminum is used as the material of manufacture for such models. Aluminum products weigh a little less than steel ones, so they are used by craftsmen much more often. No significant drawbacks were found in the metal tool. The only thing that can be attributed to the minuses is their price, which, however, is quickly justified by the durability, cutting accuracy and ease of use of the tool.

The third criterion for classifying tools is the type of construction. On this basis, simple, rotary and electrical models are distinguished. The first are the classic version of the instrument and were discussed above. The design feature of the rotary model is the absence of one of the side walls, instead of which there is a rotary flap with a cutting blade installed on it. The base of the tool is equipped with a special holding device that reliably fixes the plinth when cutting. The use of such a tool makes it possible to form angles from 15 to 135 degrees and allows cutting skirting boards for non-standard rooms, which cannot be done with a classic device.

The electric model, more commonly known as a miter saw, consists of an electric saw and a miter saw. The required angle is marked with a laser beam, which allows you to cut the skirting board very accurately. The device has high productivity and is able to cut a large number of workpieces in a short time.The power tool is classified as a professional one, which, of course, affects its price and classifies it as an expensive device.

In order to properly cut the skirting board using a miter box, you will need the following accessories:

• a hacksaw for metal, the pitch of the teeth of which must correspond to the material for making the baseboard;
• mounting or stationery knife (for cutting foam ceiling products);
• a protractor and a simple pencil (preferably very soft);
• fine sandpaper.

Before trimming the plinth, measure the required angle on its front side with a protractor and make markings with a soft pencil. Next, the workpiece is placed in the miter box so that the outlined line is located strictly on the axis connecting the two paired slots. Then the plinth is pressed against one of the side walls, firmly held by hand and the hacksaw is inserted into the grooves. Sawing off the corner should take place clearly according to the marking, otherwise the geometry of the connection will be broken and the work will have to be redone.

Arbitrary corners are cut using a rotary or electric model. To do this, the plinth is placed on the work surface, fixed and laser marking is applied using the built-in protractor. Next, sawing is performed, after which the parts are combined as a control. Cutting corners with such tools is distinguished by the ideal shape of the sawing points and high measurement accuracy.

When forming internal and external corners, there are some rules, having familiarized yourself with which, there will be no difficulties in cutting the plinth. The inner corner is formed as follows:

• The miter box is placed on a table or workbench with the side facing you;
• the plinth is placed, according to its left or right accessory, and close to the opposite wall of the tool;
• the left element should be placed in the miter box on the left side, and the corner should be sawed off on the right and vice versa: start the right parts on the right, and cut off the corner on the left;
• washed down without allowances, strictly along the outlined line;
• after the left and right corners are sawn off, both blanks are combined and checked for tightness of the parts between themselves.

The outer corner is formed in a slightly different way, namely: the plinth is pressed not to the opposite, but to its own side, after which the left part is installed not on the left, as was the case in the previous case, but on the right, and the corner is sawn off. They do the same with the right fragment: set it to the left and cut off the corner. When working with a miter box, remember that in both cases the skirting boards are cut from the front side.

There are a few technical points to consider when purchasing a joinery miter box. First of all, you need to pay attention to the magnitude of the angles that this device is capable of forming. Classic devices operate in a rather narrow range and are equipped with grooves corresponding to angles of 45, 90 and, less often, 60 degrees. Such a device is well suited for cutting skirting boards, strips, platbands or bars, the installation of which will be carried out on surfaces with traditional geometric shapes. If the miter box is purchased for professional activities or for finishing non-standard premises, then it is better to opt for a rotary or electric model, the range of forming angles in which reaches 135 degrees.

The second selection criterion is the material of manufacture of the tool. So, the purchase of metal models is technically justified only for professional activities, in other cases it is better not to overpay and purchase a simple plastic or wooden miter box. When buying rotary models, it is recommended to pay attention to the density of the hacksaw blade. It should not be too elastic and free to bend. The requirement for the rigidity of the metal is due to the fact that when soft blades act on the material, the edges of the cuts are uneven and begin to crumble during the cutting process.

For information on how to join the skirting boards, see the next video.