My New DW703 DeWalt Miter Saw and Hanging Moulding
Posted on October 28, 2006 – 6:30 pm by admin
Guess what I got today? I have been wanting this particular tool for years. Last Autumn, when I was hanging moulding in one bedroom and building a new front porch, I borrowed my friend Craig’s miter saw. Recently, like a bum, he came back and grabbed it for something he was working on. Since Winter is coming up, I decided it might be a good idea to finish the moulding in the rest of the house. With moulding, it is a good idea to do room by room, so you don’t go broke. Well, this morning, I broke down and went to Lowe’s and picked up a DW703 DeWalt Miter Saw. I also picked up about a hundred feet of moulding for around the windows and doors of the bedroom.
I made some cuts on the moulding to test out this saw. Wow…what a smooth operator. The thing I like about DeWalt is that they offer many attachments to go with their tools. There are so many cheap brands of tools out there, but after I had my experience with my Black & Decker rip saw (I had to return twice because I blew the bearings), I decided to buy only quality from now on.
As I mentioned above, I started hanging the moulding in the bedroom today. I want to give a few tips, one of which I learning this morning from my father. Here is a picture of the windows before anything is done to them:
The first thing I do, whenever I start a moulding project is to grab a piece and make some marks on the walls where the moulding is supposed to go. This helps later on when I need to make some marks on the moulding itself before cutting it, as well as when I am ready to nail it to the wall. I line the marks up with the corners of the windows or doors, whichever I am working on at the moment.
I make these marks by using the moulding itself as a straight-edge. After I make the marks on the wall, I mark up the moulding. Notice on the photo above that I mark where I want to make the cut as well as the angle it is supposed to be cut. I do this on both sides. I am sure you can imagine how many people cut their angles the wrong way. This is just an error proof move.
Ok, I have cut all my pieces with my new miter saw and am ready to hang. I use the marks that I made earlier on the wall to line up the moulding vertically and horizontally. Then I use a 5/64″ drill bit to drill 4 evenly spaced holes in the moulding only…not the wall. This is what I learned from my father this morning. It stops the moulding from splitting. Also, the material that this stuff is made out loves to make it difficult to get my 1 1/2 inch finishing nails started and who like bent nails after whacking them a few times…
After I placed the moulding on the wall, one piece at a time and put the nails in the holes, I use a 1/32″ nail set to hammer the nails in the wall. This reduces the chances of those lovely hammer marks and dents in your new moulding.
After a few minutes of work, I was pleased to see such a wonderful result.
Now, All I need to do is to caulk the corners and nail holes with white caulk and paint the moulding white. Next…the crown moulding and the base moulding. I am going to do a post on how to install crown moulding, because I have the secret as well as a guide you can look at. Adios…
4 Responses to “My New DW703 DeWalt Miter Saw and Hanging Moulding”
By Paul on Oct 29, 2006 | Reply
If you do accidentally whack your wood moulding, use a wet sponge in the dent mark. The water will swell the wood grain so the dent disappears. I don’t think this will work with MDF, but you never know.
By admin on Oct 30, 2006 | Reply
I am not sure I used real wood moulding at all in this house. I did hit the moulding a few times while hanging the crown moulding yesterday. Also, thank the lord for white caulk. The cuts were fine, it was the walls that need help.