Unusual Braunsdorf Mueller miter box

[Mel Miller]

Picked this up recently because it seems to be pretty unusual to me. Has all sorts of fence adjustments, and the base will swivel.
Is anybody here familiar with all that these were supposed to do? Anybody have a copy of the instructions?
It uses a standard backsaw. None came with it, but that would be easy to replace.
These had to be expensive to manufacture with all the castings and machine work required.

I'm mainly a plane and level collector, so after I play with this for a while it will be for sale.

Mel :)

[Marv Werner]

Looks like the miter saw is fixed inplace while the backstops are angle to adjust for the angle to be cut. Interesting concept.

[John Coloccia]

I've never seen one like that, but it looks like it was specifically designed to frames and moulding. Set the angle you want to join at, do one piece on one side and the other piece on the other side. Perfect joint, every time. I really don't know if that's right, but that's what I'd use it for if I had one. Pretty clever, actually. Makes me wonder why we don't have something like that for our power miter saws. Hmmmm...

[David Keller NC]

I've no personal knowledge of the particular tool, but here's a circa 1905 description of it:

http://books.google.com/books?id=P4DmAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA116-IA3&lpg=PA116-IA3&dq=braunsdorf+mueller+miter+box&source=bl&ots=wIIwFACuze&sig=DVzEjSdRMl5NzOclxCeWHEkxna0&hl=en&ei=yU7kTLP2LYKB8gbD4sGCDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBMQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=braunsdorf%20mueller%20miter%20box&f=false

It's unusual enough that I'd do some more research. Rare and complicated things can go for big money on the antiques market, but then again some rare and complicated things don't bring much.

[Jim Holman]

Very interesting, you show me yours.... This is similar to the R.H. Dorn's Patent. Pat. June 12, 1900 but not identical. The Dorn's patent has two parallel beams retaining the saw. I would very interested in seeing additional pictures and will gladly supply some more of mine if you like.

[Trevor Walsh]

These are pretty sweet, any chance at getting a close photo of how exactly the saw plate attaches in there?

[Mel Miller]

That's what I like about a forum like this - post some pictures, and you will soon know a lot more about an item. Thanks for everyones input, and a special thanks to David for the Google link, and Jim for the pics of his miter box.
I hadn't noticed the numbers on top of the fence until I saw Jim's pics. Jim: do you have the numbers on the base like mine? I haven't figured out what these numbers are for?
I took a couple pictures of the saw guides and stops also.

Mel :)

[Jim Holman]

Thank you very much for posting the pictures of the saw holding mechanism, they are a great help. Mine has the same numbers stamped on opposite sides of the turntable and I do not have a clue what they mean. At first I thought they might refer to the pitch of a roof but they are far too close together. I am baffled.

[Wes Grass]

I'd guess those are numbers of sides of a frame. And they're closer together than you'd think because you set both sides?

[Michael Hammers]

Does anyone have an average idea of what price one of these might fetch in the wild?

M

[Mel Miller]

I think they are scarce enough that there are not enough past sale references.
It's just a matter of a buyer and seller coming to an agreement on a price.

Mel :)

[Eric Coyle]

So did you flog this boat anchor, or could you not bear to part with it. I'd be interested in whatever info you found along the way. Mine is identical.

Eric in Calgary!

[Mel Miller]

So did you flog this boat anchor, or could you not bear to part with it. I'd be interested in whatever info you found along the way. Mine is identical.

Eric in Calgary!

I found a buyer shortly after the original posting.

[Eric Coyle]

anybody found any further info on this item. It is a compound miter saw, and attachments bolt onto the wings to facilitate that. All ads request interested parties to get the "pamplet", which I have beenj searching for to no avial for some years now. Anyone got any info to add? glad to hear of it.

Eric

[Thomas Schneider]

Care to divulge how much it was worth? Like you some of us might come across one and ask the same questions you did!

[Eric Coyle]

paid under 200 CDN (150 us$) ....but heres a fancier madel than mine along with a sold price of 791 us$, and a patent drawing for the elusive compound miter attachment

http://www.jimbodetools.com/Drop-Dead-Stunning-RUFUS-DORN-S-PATENT-Ornate-Cast-Iron-Revolving-Mitre-Box-p27796.html

http://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/pages/US831940-0.png