Anyone use/have used a Collins Coping Foot on their jigsaw?

[Deansocial]

With jiggy

 

[Doug S]

Ed, I remember seeing a video somewhere on FOG of ifit scribing some skirting by mitering it on Kapex then cutting scribe with a makita cordless jigsaw, took seconds and made me feel very slow. Someone might be able to find it for you?

Doug

 

[curt boyer]

I have the coping foot permanently mounted on an old Bosch jig saw. Once you get the hang of it is very quick and accurate. Use the Bosch 244 blade that Collins recommends. Once you cut your crown or base moulding on the miter saw to reveal the profile run the jig at a back bevel and slowly rock the saw to take small bites. You can also use the blade like a rasp to grind away unwanted wood. The jig is handy for scribing cabinet fillers. Go to collinstool.com and watch the demo.
Cheers
Curt

 

[bkharman]

I use the Collins foot on my Carvex as well and do this upside down. I was a novice a year ago on coping in now I do it without thinking.

It is well worth the price. And it makes the Carvex that much more useful.

Cheers. Bryan.

 

[tjbnwi]

Same as Curt, on an old Bosch. I will get the foot for the Carvex.

Tom

 

[deepcreek]

I use a Collins foot on an older Bosch barrel grip.

The key is to use the jigsaw blades Collins recommends as well as build his jig to clamp the crown in the correct position.

I use a variable speed foot control but Gary Katz runs it wide open.

Gary has an excellent video with David Collins on using the coping foot in one of his finish carpentry DVD's.

Here's an article as well.

http://www.garymkatz.com/ToolReviews/collins_coping_foot.html

 

[Ed Bray]

Many thanks all for the advice and tips.

I am not planning to do the crown on the first two rooms but may well need to do it on the others so hopefully by then I will be more proficient at cutting scribes and be more attuned to the use of the Collin's Coping foot. I have ordered 25 of the Bosch 244 blades and I think I actually have a couple that I got in some Bosch Blade sets I got a few years ago.

 

[Nippychippy]

Hi [member=43478]Ed Bray[/member]  you have got to do what's best for you me personally I can do both ways here is a link to a video Gary katz did on the the Collins coping foot I did look into buying this item a few months ago but the company that sells it here discriminate on there delivery charges to Scotland I won't deal with company s that do that. Any how the trend scribe jig would be good if you had so many to but as some one else said if you have a long lenght of skirting your are going to have to prop that up to in my eyes I wouldn't spend the money on it by the time I would set it up I would probably have the scribes done so here's the link

 

[Holmz]

The other nuance is when the floor is not level. Then one needs to scribe the boards on the bottom and either take wood off the middle or the ends.
The middle is no drama, but off of the ends becomes a beard-stroker as then the adjoins boards need to get shorter.
Maybe not a drama on pine, but on harder wood they do not flex to meet the floor.

The other gotcha is when doing the "scribe line". If the saw is not parallel or maybe orthogonal tri the back, then the scribe line is angled. So any "lambs tongue" moulding needs to be flat and cut with referencing off the back.

One can also do that with a jigsaw from the back kicked over at 45 degrees...
Having done this on a "vacation" it is possible, and I have no chop saw not a kapax.

Question: how do the experts do the corners?
I have almost always used the long wall (which is generally opposite the door) as 90 degree ends.
Then the ones the but up are coped to the long wall and 90 degrees at the door-wall.
Usually the remaing wall gets coped to the side and almost always go 90 degrees to a plinth base.
But is there a standard?

 

[joiner1970]

That video explains it perfectly the only bit I would have done differently in the past is where he shows cutting the skirting with a coping saw. I wouldn't have cut the long straight sections with the coping saw. It's much easier to do these with a handsaw or even the mitre saw if you're careful.

 

[live4ever]

I know the pros tend to use jigsaws mostly for coping, but as a relative new coper I found the grinder (or RAS if you have it) method to offer a lot of control. 

That, and I can't get the Collins foot for my jigsaw (1590).  [mad]

 

[wrightwoodwork]

Generally when doing a room of skirting the side opposite the door is done first then chased back to the door. On a square room the reason it is done in that order is if thier is any shrinkage in the timber you won't look straight into a gap when you open the door. Now if there is a recess in the room I will also fit the piece at the back of the recess first before I chase the skirting into the recess after starting with the wall opposite the door. Again for the same reason so if thier is any movement. Basically you should always be trying to hide any movement and when you open the door any movement shouldn't be visible straight away.

 

[gruz]

I use the coping foot- used it on the older festoon trion and now on the carved.  works really well, may need to experiment with which blade to use- and be sure the blade is long enough- otherwise you'll run into issues cutting thicker stock like large crown.
odd as it may sound, for many crowns, I also use a dremel with the sanding wheel for the small curves.  works well except for the dust.

 

[Ed Bray]

Well, the coping foot arrived and initially I mounted it on my Ryobi Cordless Jigsaw, this worked okay and I had a couple of attempts at scribing the picture rail moulding (not too successfully but better than my earlier attempts with a coping saw), before attaching it to the Metabo STEB. Had another 3 attempts and whilst I am improving still not proficient enough for actual fitting yet.

God, I hope it doesn't take years  [scared]

 

[deepcreek]

I should have mentioned that I always keep a sanding stick handy to fine tune the joints after coping.  This may help!

 

[Holmz]

Generally when doing a room of skirting the side opposite the door is done first then chased back to the door. On a square room the reason it is done in that order is if there is any shrinkage in the timber you won't look straight into a gap when you open the door. Now if there is a recess in the room I will also fit the piece at the back of the recess first before I chase the skirting into the recess after starting with the wall opposite the door. Again for the same reason so if there is any movement. Basically you should always be trying to hide any movement and when you open the door any movement shouldn't be visible straight away.

Thanks WW!

It is good to have the confirmation. (I arrived at that by beard-stroking, but now I am free my hand from the chins.)

 

[Ed Bray]

Due to issues using the Metabo I changed the Coping Foot back to the Ryobi Cordless.

After watching Gary Katz's video about 20 times I went out to have another half hour practise before my evening meal. The first 2 were not so good, but then on my 3rd (and last attempt) I had what I believe is a keeper. Not particularly fast, but I hope to get faster as my skills improve. The maximum gap is about 1/2mm (1/50"), I suspect I can live with that.

First I cut a 45 degree mitre, then I run a pencil along the cut line. I now use the Coping Foot to get close to the cut line whilst undercutting and then finish off with a half round or rat tail file.

 

[windmill man]

Very acceptable results Ed  I am very tempted to get one myself and try the foot  [thumbs up]

 

[GarryMartin]

Could you not have picked a more complicated moulding to practice with? That one looks too easy...  [tongue]

Seriously though, good work there, and I would guess already substantially better than most would achieve.

 

[Ed Bray]

Thanks Gents.

We will be painting them in most rooms so that will also help cover any gaps, but I would know if they are not that good, which is why I want to make them as good as possible up front.

As for the profile, that is the first we have bought, its the picture rail. I bought a couple of dozen 2.2mtr lengths from ebay old stock. It is a lot harder profile than anything I have seen done on youtube, but the technique should be the same, and if I can do okay with these, the others should be a piece of cake, right?