Crown molding cutting is really, REALLY getting me down. Help?

don't feel so bad, most carpenters have trouble with this job.

if i understand your question, you need to adjust the placement of the wood in the saw. you maybe need to raise the top edge higher on the vertical fence while holing tight to the bed. a little experimenting with extra pieces should give you the adjustment.

try holding a short piece tight in the saw like you are ready to cut it. if you peek around the piece the little flats should be aligned with the fence and bed. with a sharp pencil mark along the top and bottom edges of the wood. you can use these marks to act as a reference for any adjustments up or down.

are you cutting inside miters? if so you should be doing a "coped" joint. one side is cut 90 degree cut and intersecting piece is cut at 45 degree and then "backcut" along the front edge of that 45 degree angle cut.

Don't count on your room corners being exact angles. First try with some scrap wood to get the right angles down for your corner. If you have a compound miter saw, you can cut the crown lying down with 31.62 degrees angle and a 33.5 degree compound angle. This is alot simpler than trying to hold the crown at the proper angle in the saw. For inside corners, definitely use the coping method.

I'm not sure where the 1/4" gap is. Is it on the top, bottom, or a wrong cut.

Have someone hold the piece up for you and get the joint right first, and then finish nailing off the piece. As you work around the room, get the joints right then nail half of the piece up and leave the other end loose, so you can manipulate the corners to get the joint to work.

Alot of people have issues with crown. Take your time and have fun. Good Luck.

If there is a gap on the inside(where you can see it) and you have the saw set at 45 degrees, then the corner is not a 90 degree corner. So reset the cut angle to a higher degree 47,to50 degrees. Rather have the opening in the rear than on the front. Recut(try on a piece of 2x4 or wood of similiar size as crown and cut both and put up and see the fit that up there with the other and hold by hand till you get what you want. Once you got the angle make that necessary cut to the crown molding. Experimentation with the angles. And the next corner will be the same challenge.

Remember the room is "roughly square".

There's A very inexpensive little tool you can get at rockler.com.I own one and the very first time I ever cut crown moulding,it came out perfect.it is really simple to use.I got A late start in woodworking.So I don't have A lot tips or time that comes from experience.

Cut out the back of your crown where your miter cut is. It's called coping and you need a coping saw to do it. It's the right way to do crown.just do one side, though. You can also use a dremmal tool.

A 1/4 in gap sounds like you may have cut on the wrong side of the line. Do that twice (once on each end) and you have a 1/4 in mistake. Well, that is if your blade kerf (thickness) is 1/8 inch.