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Roto-Zip for cutting coped joints?

| Posted in Construction Techniques on November 2, 2003 06:03am

Someone suggested to me today to try a roto-zip for cutting coped joints on molding instead of coping saw. He said he has done it numerous times and the results are excellent and quick, too. Not sure I’m gonna run out and buy one today, just curious if anyone else has done this.

Jason Pharez Construction

Mobile, Alabama

General Carpentry, Home Repairs, and Remodeling

When quality is your only consideration

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  1. User avater
    Rugby | Nov 02, 2003 07:02am | #1

    Your friend is a braver man that me.  But I never say never.  With my rotary cutout with all those rpm's there is really has a tendency to want to get away from me.

    If I were to try it I'd sure want to practice up a bit before I tackled some stain grade monster size crown.

    I'd be curious too to see if anyone else has done this. 

    But it is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation. - Herman Melville
    1. User avater
      IMERC | Nov 02, 2003 07:08am | #2

      I wonder if a table mounted tool approach would work.

      Safety glasses and  shield would be in order. Heavy shirt to. 

      Who ever invented work didn't know how to fish....

      1. User avater
        Rugby | Nov 02, 2003 09:29am | #3

        Sort of along the lines as that Copemaster featured in last FHB but for a steal @ 2 grand less.But it is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation. - Herman Melville

        1. User avater
          IMERC | Nov 02, 2003 09:41am | #4

          You'd have to run a couple miles of trim to make that pay for it's self...

          Zip tool in a cheap router table.  

          Who ever invented work didn't know how to fish....

  2. User avater
    dieselpig | Nov 02, 2003 05:08pm | #5

    Steve, could you elaborate on your table saw method of coping?  Is it easier than coping with a jig saw or by hand?

  3. User avater
    NickNukeEm | Nov 02, 2003 05:13pm | #6

    Is this freehand?  Seems a mite dangerous, if so.  Maybe I don't have the big flick as to what's going on.

    I never met a tool I didn't like!
    1. JerraldHayes | Nov 02, 2003 05:35pm | #8

      Freehand? No! (although I will sometimes do it freehand with a Dremel tool if I'm using just a sanding drum to clean up the cut to the line.

      I think the key for me was this quick clamping system/method I devised that would hold the piece firmly to these portable work tables that we'll use for trim jobs. We'll also use a hold down that works with our B&D Workmates too.

      The idea I just mentioned with the router table is the same basic technique just reversed. Instead of the work being clamped in place, the tool is.

      View Image

      ParadigmProjects.com | Paradigm-360.com | Mac4Construction.com

    2. steve | Nov 02, 2003 05:45pm | #9

      yes freehand, cut the miter to show the profile, then raise the blade to max and use the side of the blade to remove material,  done it for years, leaves a nice back cut thats easy to fine tune with a filecaulking is not a piece of trim

      1. User avater
        NickNukeEm | Nov 02, 2003 09:01pm | #10

        You're a braver man than I.  Think I'll stick to the coping saw and file routine.  I have a deathly fear of rotating blades and try whenever possible to find alternatives.  I'll admit sometimes using a coping saw can be tedious (will someone invent a blower for them so I don't have to keep blowing the sawdust off the piece?) but it's quiet work, if not very quick (though I've gotten pretty fast at it, also.)

        Good luck with the method.  And be careful.

        I never met a tool I didn't like!

      2. MikeK | Nov 04, 2003 11:41am | #17

        Steve,

        Thanks for the tip on using a table saw to cut coped joints.  I just trimmed out a whole bedroom with picture moulding and it worked great. My wife could not believe I did the whole room in a few hours.

        Mike

  4. JerraldHayes | Nov 02, 2003 05:27pm | #7

    Yup Rotozip. I'll also cut a cope close to the line with a jig saw and then trim and finish it off with a Dremel tool fit with an either a router bit, spiral cut, or a carbide burr bit. I really did think when I first started coping those ways that I was the first one and that I had invented a whole new technique that someday I was going to be famous for....

    ...until I saw someone else do it too.

    I've done the table saw technique too but I didn't think that one up on my own. I saw a few other carpenters doing it first but the thinking all follows along in the same vain as the RotoZip and Dremel Tool techniques.

    I lately been thinking of a router table set up that would have a very slight pitch to it so that it would back cut the joint just a little as you ground it clean to the cut line.


    View Image

    ParadigmProjects.com | Paradigm-360.com | Mac4Construction.com

  5. FastEddie1 | Nov 02, 2003 09:54pm | #11

    I have done it with a dremel and it works well and is easy.  Start by cutting a miter on the miter saw, then take off most of the waste with a coping saw or whatever you have handy, then nibble away with the dremel to get the back cut and profile at the same time.  You should get good results by the third attempt.

    Do it right, or do it twice.

    1. HeavyDuty | Nov 03, 2003 07:12am | #12

      What bit(s) do you use? Say for maple. I have been using some steel fluted bits on maple, pretty slow.

      1. FastEddie1 | Nov 04, 2003 07:03am | #15

        The bit looks like a fluted cylinder, with a twist.

        Do it right, or do it twice.

  6. Bersch1 | Nov 03, 2003 06:18pm | #13

    A few years back, we had to install a built in display cabinet at Macy's in Manhatan.   this required installing a small crown molding on three sides of the box.  The carpenter showed up with just a small tool bag and I asked him how he was going to miter the crown.  He pulled out a Roto-zip and cut the outside miters with it.  Did it free hand and I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes.

  7. DougU | Nov 04, 2003 06:55am | #14

    Jason

    I use a right angle grinder to do all my copes, I can cope a piece of 6" crown in about 30 to 45 seconds, works great, sometimes you have to clean up with a file though and that adds another few seconds.

    Doug

  8. PHILLK | Nov 04, 2003 07:04am | #16

    I'll use my jig saw w/ a coping base I bought years ago. Then I clean it out with my Bosch 1 1/2" belt sander. To each his own. Any things better than a coping saw!

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