Accurately cut miters on long pieces of molding.
I recently installed new attic stairs. The new stairs were bigger then the one’s they were replacing so I had to also install new molding. My prefer way of installing molding is to hold it in place and mark were I need to cut the miters. This method worked fine for the shorter pieces for the width of the opening, but the pieces running the length were another story. They were just too long to hold overhead, while standing on a ladder, and mark. Even if someone was available to help, which they weren’t, we would have had to have a 2nd ladder available, which I didn’t. After some brainstorming, I came up with a method to accurately mark the molding for the 2nd miter cut. I first used my tape measure to measure the length of the opening and made my first miter cut. For the 2nd miter cut, I laid the molding along the length of my workbench and clamped it down aligning the inside corner of the first miter cut exactly with the edge of the workbench. I was then able to place the hook of my tape measure on the same edge and mark were I needed to cut my 2nd miter. My miters turned out near perfect using this method. If you do not have a workbench, you can do the same using saw horses.
