Wondering if there are any easier ways (I suppose that with time & practice, I could learn to do this the "old-fashioned way" - by eye-ball):

Rather than mitering, I find that I prefer the finished look of coped (overlapping) joints - particularly in an older home, where years of paint build-up/plaster leave the corners a bit too out-of-square for effective mitered joints.

I'm using pine & painting it.

What I've done in the past is to trace the profile of a squared scrap, in pencil, on the flat back of the shoe strip, then I cut as close as I can with a coping saw, then finish it out with my Dremel with a small drum sander. This has worked well, but is a bit time-consuming.

Your suggestions???

The normal way to cope is to cut the new piece at a 45 (as if you were going to use a miter joint) and use the edge of the cut as your cope line. It is very easy this way to cut the cope with a back bevel so that the visible edge is tight.

Radix is right about how to scribe the line. heehee. Just whack it off at a 45 and there is your line. I only have two rules about coping. Number one is to have your coping saw cut on the pull. Number two is to always start at the top(the skinny part) and come down.

Oh, yeah. Buy a coping saw. It shouldn't cost you more than ten bucks.

Radix -

Thanks - It's simple, but I had never thought of it.

Chuck - I'm all set on the coping saw front -- I've got two good sharp ones, with blades that work well on pine.

Last time I did it, I had a cheapo miter box. Now, Im borrowing my father-in-law's Craftsman compound power miter saw. I'm buying him a new blade and a bottle of Maker's Mark as my "rental fee".

Thanks a bunch, guys!

Another tip concerns the short pieces. If you are going to have to cope a wee piece, mark it and cope the end before you cut the other end. You can cope bay windows too. Just make the left cut and outside 22 and cope the right.

Coping is a time saver with stained trim, but I rarely bother coping painted shoe. You have to caulk all of it anyway. Baseboard, on the other hand, has to be coped to be tight.

I finished my baseboards having bought raw millwork from a local supplier. This was a 1x6 oak base molding, which is quite a slab to cut through. I did all the coping by hand using a coping saw, and a little help with small files to get the fine detail or clean up an edge.

For hogging out the bunk of the material, I tried using power tools but never had much luck.

For soft/small pine, you'll have no trouble just doing it with a saw. My advice would be to finish it first, though. The finished surface somehow makes it easier to follow the edge.

But I have yet to find a coping saw that lasts. They lose their tension after a while.