Reply To: Miter box?
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Don’t worry too much about the numbers. With Stanley boxes they mostly described the saw that came with it in depth and length.
If the box has 6” posts, you need a 6” saw. I have both size posts for my box, but I never bought the 6” saw. I figured I could get one used if I needed to. Never did. THose saws are heavy beasts. The length of the saw mostly had to do with lots of cuts at a steep angle. A longer saw took fewer strokes. A sharp saw matters more.
I think every pro miter box had stops at 5°,9°,22.5°, and 45° so you didn’t have to lock the frame. Some had 30° The small numbers were standard angles for door and window sills.
They will cut any angle, though. It just requires you to lock the frame with a lever. The box with the numbers tell you what sided polygon miter the saw would cut at that angle. So for 4, you were cutting a 45° angle for a square cut to make a regular four sided polygon. Old timers went to work before they taught degrees … So yeah, that’s the older one. Transition boxes had both the numbers and degrees. Newer boxes had only degrees.
I think that’s also why roof pitch is traditionally specified in inches rise per foot run.
This fellow explains it here:
He explains some of the things to look for by way of missing parts. I think the rods are 5/16” drill rod or something like that . I bought some for my box for longer cuts and made my own. You do need the stop castings for repetitive work or make one from hardwood and some thumbscrews. And the doohickey for the saw to drop is nice, but not essential. I used a Stanley box for a couple years before I knew such a thing existed.
Look around the shop before you leave. I’m not an expert on Stanley boxes. I used em, but never owned one. The Miller Falls was a little lighter, would break down smaller for travel, and had very few settings that could go out of adjustment. It seems the Stanley guys were always adjusting their angle settings. ( hint, it’s an eccentric cam under the pivot point), either that, or they needed something to blame their open joints on. 😉
And I think some Stanley boxes were extendable for width of cut, but don’t hold me to that. Some had wood tables and some didn’t. The wood tables need replacing once in a while. My box had a metal groove the saw dropped into below the table height. If you didn’t adjust it properly, you either didn’t saw all the way through the work, or you dulled your saw instantly. I usually set a folded business card in the groove and set to that. It gave just the right clearance. You have to change that setting each time you sharpen the saw.
The Miller f alls box just required you to jiggle the saw with a flick of the wrist to drop it onto the cut. The Stanley box requires the thingy you clamp onto the saw. With both systems, you needed to play with the settings a little the first time you used it.
I think he misspoke on the saw. It usually was the tooth line length that mattered. My Miller Falls saw is marked 26” and is 33” OA. The Stanley 28” saw is actually 35” long.
My Box is actually like the Miller falls he has box except it had a different stop system. I bought mine in 1972 ($100 Brand new with saw! That was real money.) and I don’t think they still made the one he shows. I think production stopped shortly after I bought mine.
And don’t worry about it cutting 60°. I almost never had to cut that and if you do, you just cut a 45° block to work against. Stanley boxes often had a hole in the thumbscrews you could put a nail in for leverage. The MF boxes had larger holes in the thumbscrews that a nail set would fit in. Almost every detail on those old boxes was well thought out. You just have to discover them.
Here is a picture of my 26” saw for my Miller Falls, and the 28” Stanley model note the angle on the rear of the plate. Since it was behind the front post, teeth there make no sense on a miter box saw.
Note also a hole at the front of the saw back on both saws. They didn’t come like that. Craftsmen drilled them and put a bent nail there so you couldn’t pull the saw past the rear post and ruin your work.
I’ll bet your guy did that too.
If he took care of his tools, I’d get every tool of his I could afford. Be fair to the heirs. Carpenters of that era weren’t very rich. I got a lot of my tools from guys just retiring. If you low balled them, everybody in town would give you the stink eye. I made sure I wasn’t put in that position.
- This reply was modified 5 years ago by Larry Geib.
- This reply was modified 5 years ago by Larry Geib.