Cutting a notch in skirting well

have fitted a fireplace, all good except I not happy with the quality of the skirting board cuts, so I’ve ordered some more.

its very visible so I want to get it looking spot on.  What is the best tool to cut it vertical and then a small slot out of part of the base to accommodate the hearth?

first go I measured up twice, used mitre saw for the vertical cut and then a jigsaw for the cutout.  It looks rubbish as for whatever reason it’s too short, starting to think my rage evolution doesn’t cut exact as this isn’t the first time, and the cut out is a little wonky and I have a small over cut at the corner

now I could fill, but I’d rather cut it right.

Any other tools better?  I’m thinking about some sort of table / ban saw thing where I move the piece of wood rather than the tool.  I have plenty to do so don’t mind in investing in another tool.

A bit low tech but a tenon saw, straight edge and a pencil?

Edit: and a sharp chisel of the appropriate size

starting to think my rage evolution doesn’t cut exact as this isn’t the first time

Have you set it up with a square to check the blade against the fence? They won’t be accurate out of the box.

As above, tenon saw and sharp pencil.

Alternatively, use the ones you have done as templates, measure carefully the differences and scribe, mark and cut just inside your lines with your jigsaw. Practice makes perfect and templates are usefully cheap things.

Make a template in stiff paper/card. eg Cereal box. Works for me every time.

As km says the evolution needs a little tweaking to get it cutting square. Easy to do and once done it cuts well. For the notch a jigsaw should be fine but they can wander. I quite like a Japanese pull saw for this sort of job

Coping saw.

Ah assumed the mitre would come square, no idea how to adjust it will google.  That’s bloody annoying if it is off square surely it shouldn’t be.  I was thinking it might be not wearing glasses and somehow getting the lazer line wrong / not lined up with the pencil line.

ive tried a coping saw in the past with the stairs and found I couldn’t cut straight with that either.  I also find tenons hard to work with, I find it hard to get the saw going and just end up rasping it backwards across the piece rather than actually sawing it if that makes sense.  Fine on bigger bits of wood but not on thinner stuff like skirting or architrave

maybe I just need practice

+1 on Japanese pull saw. Excellent tool.

Just googled pull saw, think we have a winner,

A beveled saw will want to pull the piece through as it cuts, leaving you with a wandering line even if the blade is square to the fence. If you can’t push/hold the piece firmly against the fence and table, get a clamp on it. I’d not trust the laser either. If you can screw a flat piece to the fence and make your bevel cut, it’ll perfectly reference where the blade is going to cut. Line your cut-mark up with the cut on the ‘fence’ and you’ll get it right every time.

Another vote for a pull saw – way more intuitive than Western tools, I find. You’ll benefit from clamps here too – if you don’t have a vice, clamp the piece to a table top and kneel down to cut the notch, so you’re face on to the cut. The weight of the saw will help you cut cleanly as you’re cutting on the back/down stroke anyway – it’s true of most tools really: let them do the work, you just keep them straight/level.

My evolution didn’t cut anything like square out of the box and took some filing of the adjustment slots to allow me to correct it.

The laser isn’t accurate enough for anything other than decking, fencing and general carcassing work really.

Precutting your lines with a sharp blade, something like a Stanley/craft knife will help keep your saws running where you want them and leave a neater finish.

Any circular saw will do a good job if you build a “fence” out of some offcuts and use a baseboard and clamps.  One of those cheap oscillating multitool saws will make the notch cleanly.

And learn to measure, taking into account the thickness of the saw blade.

Learning to measure is probably the best tip!

I’m restoring an old house and have learnt all sorts of timber work tips as I was a novice to start with. I am finding as I go on I reach for the power tools less and less. If I’ve got a lot of timber to cut I’ll use the powered mitre saw but more often than not I reach for the hand saws as they do the job just as quick once you’ve taken setup of the electric saw into account and you get more control. Especially with the fiddly bits!

A portable work bench to clamp whatever you are cutting makes manual cutting very easy, but I often clamp bits of wood to other things if I can’t be bothered getting the workbench out.

I haven’t used the very much expensive jigsaw I have for months, they just never seem to do what I want very well.