Skirting - what am i doing wrong?

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Dr.SteelHammer

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Sorry if something like this has been posted before I couldn't find anything when I searched.

Trying to replace some damage skirting and having a nightmare trying to get the angle right.

As per the pictures I used a digital angle finder to find the external corner. This is showing as 88 degrees. I've the subtracted 88 from 180 which gives me 92 devided by 2 = 46 degrees.

I've then taken this measurement and put it on my angle finder before transferring to the base of the skirting. I've done two 46 degree cuts following the angle I've marked and I'm getting the discrepancy in the second picture. Seems the angle is out by a few degrees if you look at the skirting compared to the wall. I have pushed the skirting into the wall on one side in the second photo as it would sit if it were fixed. My hand saw skills aren't perfect but they are fairly good and I followed the line accurately so I don't think I've messed up in this regard.

Am I doing something wrong or is my angle finder not as accurate as I hoped?


Any help would be much appreciated.
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^woody^ said:
88 ÷ 2 = 44
Click to expand...
Thanks, that's what I did initially but when I did a 44 degree bevelled cut on my mitre saw with the test piece, the resultant angle on the skirting was even bigger than the current one in picture (almost obtuse).

I thought if the angle is less than 90 you follow the formula i posted above which in turn gives you a mitre cut greater than 45.

That's what this thread says anyway: https://www.diynot.com/diy/threads/external-corners-for-skirting.547900/
 
Put the two skirtings against the wall and mark the face line. Where the two lines meet, mark the angle back to the corner and that's your cut angle
 
It probably just depends how you are making the measurement for marking up etc. What do you get if you use that angle finder on the cut pieces?
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magicmushroom666 said:
It probably just depends how you are making the measurement for marking up etc. What do you get if you use that angle finder on the cut pieces?
View attachment 275330
Click to expand...
This is the measurement I get. Not sure what I'm doing wrong, maths and angles aren't my strongest point
 

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I suspect the problem is getting to know how to use that tool properly. I can't really describe it very well, but in the first photo its opened just past 90 and reads over 90, but then in the second photo, its opened again even wider than 90 but has counted down to 46.
Something like that I'd just set to 45, then knowing which way the cut needs to go, ie removing material from the inside edge, I'd move the tool 1 degree in the way I know it should go and mark that. (giving 44 degrees on each cut as per my photo above) Similar for the other side. Maybe you'd need to turn one of the skirtings upside down to make the same measurement using the same orientation.
The trick that woody mentioned might be worth a try rather than fighting with that tool.
 
If you think about it, if the angle of the corner is 88°, which is less than 90 (acute), then each angle can't be more than 45.

Your two 46° angles is always going to be more than 90 (obtuse) so was never going to work

Your two initial 44° test pieces should not have been "even bigger", for the same reason as above, so were they really cut at 44°?
 
^woody^ said:
If you think about it, if the angle of the corner is 88°, which is less than 90 (acute), then each angle can't be more than 45.

Your two 46° angles is always going to be more than 90 (obtuse) so was never going to work

Your two initial 44° test pieces should not have been "even bigger", for the same reason as above, so were they really cut at 44°?
Click to expand...
I did the bisecting method you mentioned early and it has given me 44 degrees, I checked this with my angle finder so thanks for the tip.

No sure why in that other thread they said the mitre should be greater than 45 for acute angles....

Only thing I can think they are referring to is on a mitre saw the 0 us actually 90. So 30 on a mitre saw is actually 60 and so forth. So 46 on a mitre is actually the equivalent to 44. So this explain why the angle was more obtuse when I selected 44 as it was actually 46.


Haha my heads scrambled but I think I get where I was going wrong. My mitre saw doesn't go up to 46 so I'll just use my digital angle finder transfer 44 to the skirting and hand cut. I'll let you know what happens.
 
magicmushroom666 said:
I suspect the problem is getting to know how to use that tool properly. I can't really describe it very well, but in the first photo its opened just past 90 and reads over 90, but then in the second photo, its opened again even wider than 90 but has counted down to 46.
Something like that I'd just set to 45, then knowing which way the cut needs to go, ie removing material from the inside edge, I'd move the tool 1 degree in the way I know it should go and mark that. (giving 44 degrees on each cut as per my photo above) Similar for the other side. Maybe you'd need to turn one of the skirtings upside down to make the same measurement using the same orientation.
The trick that woody mentioned might be worth a try rather than fighting with that tool.
Click to expand...

Sorry for any confusion the photos caused.

The angle finder tool can be zero'd at any point. So this explains the visual discrepancy between the two. The first photo I zeroed the tool when it was folded in on itself. So 90 degrees from this position looks like a normal right angle.

The second photo showing 46 degrees a long the mitre cut was taken with the angle finder zero'd straight (would normally look 180 to the eye). I did it this way as it was easier to butt one side of the angle finder against the back of the skirting and then bring the angle finder down. Probably would have helped If I'd mentioned this, as it does look like the 46 degree photo the angle finder is greater than 90.
 
Get 2 scrap pieces of wood and cut them at 44⁰.
Then adjust the cuts 1⁰ at time (or less) until you get a nice finish.
That would be your angle to cut the skirting.
Some tips:
1. This can't be done by hand.
2. If you can, use a 2 pieces of skirting to find your angles instead of scrap wood.
3. Make sure your skirting is sitting plumb. Walls usually cave in at the bottom and external joint open up.
 
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