That old chestnut, mitre angles

[ennaress]

Hello
I know what a mitre angle is and I know the tools I can use to do it, so with nearly every project where I'm fitting new skirting or scotia to out of square walls, I just end up filling the gaps where it most notices and it never looks professional.
So (a) what do you use to measure the angle - either inside or outside - say for skirting against walls, B&Q only sell an angled bevel and that has no graduation on and (b) what do you use to cut given that every mitre saw I've seen/used has pre-set degree gauges - 45, 22.5 etc - not 40.6 or 46.2 degrees, for example!
Cheers

[welsh brickie]

invest in a compound mitre saw, its worth it and prices are quite cheap.

[ennaress]

Cheers Welsh Brickie, does such a saw allow ANY angled cut? If so, are the graduations on the table to show what angles you are cutting?

[welsh brickie]

yes,90 deg-45degree cuts and the saw will tilt so you can cut vertically aswell check out screwfix for prices.

[plumbbob]

If you notice professionally fitted skirting internal corners are not mitred at all only external corners use 45 degree angles. It is possible therefore to fit skirting in a square room without using a single angled cut.

[ennaress]

Yes I had noticed that, and always wondered how it was done...

[plumbbob]

Cut off a 2" length of skirting. This becomes your template.

Lay a long length of skirting on its back with the face pointing upwards. Place the template on the end you want to cut and mark the shape with a sharp pencil.

Cut next to the line with a coping saw or jigsaw with a scrolling cut blade. The shape left should fit snugly into the template.

When you fix the skirting in place, put a bead of grab adhesive on the end. Then when fitting the cut piece excess glue will ooze out which can be wiped off leaving a neat gap free finish.

Chamfered and Bull-nosed skirting is easy. Ogee and Taurus iare a little more tricky, but with practice can be done cleanly.

[ennaress]

Well I'm really very grateful to you indeed for sharing hard-learnt trade secrets with a DIY-er! I'll try this out. Thanks again.