Have to do a potential job. part of it entails a curved bay window. I know you can cut numerous groves in the wood to get the bend but just doing some research and ppl seem to cut them into the face of the skirt. which i would say would look a mess. I would of thought the rear. What do you do..
How i do it: Depth stop on mitre saw to about 2/3 the thickness of the board, Usually about every 25mm I cut, All on the rear of the board (saves on patching and making good) Sometimes I cut on the front, depends which is easier. Sometimes the boards can actually be easier to install with cuts to the face. But this increases the amount of filling to do.
Use MDF skirting which bends easily, you can kerf it on the back or use bendiply and a steamed moulding or cross grain ply. Loads of ways to do it which all require skill and expertise.
You cut the back of the skirting, BUT, some curves are so tight that the only way it would bend around would be to kerf the front too. In this situation it's best to find another solution, as the board is greatly weakened and its very difficult to keep a good finish as you're filling lots of kerfs.
Jord yes you are right, you could cut less but I prefer to use filler in the thinner parts as it makes it easier to curve the boards. Personal preference really.
To be honest mate as rough as it sounds I prefer to cut the skirting into 8 inch segments with a 30 degree angle on both pieces and form the curve using individual pieces, I find its the quickest way, provided its to be painted not stained, obviously. Had to do a semicircular bay last year, after kerfing a 10foot length with a handsaw for over half an hour, the flex was nowhere near enough, so did the above method and was pretty happy with the result. As chippie says, loads of ways to do it.
get a decent timber yard to run it through a planer to take off a few more mm at the back. it will make things easier to work also someone else had the idea of making the flat section from 6mm mdf and topping with a wooden moulding
We have a curved bay with a 200mm ish skirting in dark stain. I didn't do it but whoever the joiner was did a cracking job. saw cuts every 50mm from the front. You have to look very close to see the cuts. Helps it's dark stain.
I suppose if you lay out 12 x 150 verticals, or whatever height you need. then push the 6mm mdf up to it will bend rather nicely into a curve then cut off the moulding from standard timber skirting, kerf it, and fit it on top of the mdf
Might be better off using 3 x 6mm MDF, gluing and pressing into shape, allow to set, then use appropriate router bit for top profile. Mr. HandyAndy - Really
Just bend the MDF skirting in, Your only problem will be pre-cutting the length and mitres at the end and that depends upon your skills and tools.
Set up an oversized length of skirting between a couple of trestles/benches, and add some weights in the middle, anything will do, paint can's, mash hammers........ Add more weight over the space of a few days and you'll end up with a nicely formed curve, ready for fitting.
Seen a pic where a ply circle template replicating the wall was used then the skirting clamped and glued into that position over night. Never done it but looked good lol