How to Make Miter Cuts for Chair Rails

Chair rails--which are pieces of molding installed on the wall approximately 32 to 36 inches from the floor, often in a dining room--add to the decor of a home. When installing chair rails, it is essential that you pay special attention to the corners of the room. Because not all walls are a perfect 90-degree angle, a simple 45-degree miter cut will not suffice to turn the corner with the molding. Instead, you must make the miter cut, and then use a coping saw to remove the rear of the molding, ensuring a seamless junction at each corner of the room.

Tape measure
Miter saw
Vice
Coping saw

Instructions

- 1
  Measure the length of the molding needed using a tape measure.
- 2
  Set the miter saw to make in open-faced 45-degree angle cut. On an open-faced cut, the wood grain is visible while looking at the front of the molding. To make an open-faced cut, rotate the miter saw so that the handle of the saw is on the same side as the molding. Use the guides on the bottom of the miter saw to ensure that the saw is set to the 45-degree mark.
- 3
  Hold the desired length of wood against the saw fence with your fingers far away from the blade. Squeeze the trigger on the saw and move the saw down and through the molding to make the cut.
- 4
  Secure the molding using a vice so that it does not move while making the back cut.
- 5
  Create a back cut on the rear of the molding, behind the 45-degree cut that was made. To back cut, use a coping saw, and cut at an approximate 45-degree angle, following the shape of the front of the molding. The purpose of the back cut is to allow the front of the end of the molding to remain intact, but to remove the rear portion, allowing the molding to sit on top of the adjacent molding in the corner where two walls meet.

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