Who makes a good saw for a Millers Falls No. 816 Miter Box

[Alan Lightstone]

Picked up a Millers Falls No. 816 Miter box on eBay. The saw that came with it is not tall enough to use with it (got screwed on that one). So I need a replacement saw.

It looks like I'll need a saw that's about 3 inches of cutting surface from the support on the top of the saw to the teeth to work with this miter box.

Who makes a good saw to use with that Miter Box?

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[Hilton Ralphs]

Lie-Nielsen offers exactly this service (http://www.lie-nielsen.com/catalog.php?grp=1499).

[Alan Lightstone]

Kind of hoping to avoid paying that much. Lie-Nielsen has enough of my income from all of their planes I've purchased. Sigh...

[Jim Matthews]

Alan - put a sacrificial plate on top of the plywood base.

"I met a man cutting a pair of notches in every truss of his pole barn. I asked why. He replied - my mule stays in the back,
and on the way out to plow, he catches his ears on every beam. It makes him ornery, and he won't pull."

"Why not cut a trench for him to walk under the beams, instead?"

"It's his ears what's too long..."

[James Conrad]

The real prize may be that saw, looks older than the box, have you done any research on it?

[Alan Lightstone]

Alan - put a sacrificial plate on top of the plywood base.

"I met a man cutting a pair of notches in every truss of his pole barn. I asked why. He replied - my mule stays in the back,
and on the way out to plow, he catches his ears on every beam. It makes him ornery, and he won't pull."

"Why not cut a trench for him to walk under the beams, instead?"

"It's his ears what's too long..."

The metal piece that guides the saw is too long for the particular saw. The back part of the saw blade extends beneath the plate, but not the front. That, along with the set on the saw blade, will just dull the saw and wear out the metal plate. I can't imagine that saw was used with this miter box.
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I am redoing the sacrificial plate with a single, thicker piece (1.5" height instead of 0.875" height). Won't help without a new blade, but will give me more options for less tall saws. As it stands now, I think I need about a 3" high saw blade, which seems pretty uncommon.



The real prize may be that saw, looks older than the box, have you done any research on it?

Hmm. The listing describes it as a Warranted Superior Saw.

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The whole shooting match cost me $11.50, so I'll wind up spending much more for the saw than the miter box, but for small parts, this should be much safer than using my SCMS.

[James Conrad]

Well, it's probably worth the $11.50, slight chance it was made by Disston, but more likely a second tier maker using Disston made hardware, attributing this to the blank keystone, that shows up around the 1920's I think. I'm sure someone else has better info on that.

[Richard Kee]

Alan,

I can't help with who might make such a saw, but the box itself is very useful for small items. I have one like it and use it frequently. You're correct on the size of the saw - mine has a WS saw, 3" under the spline and 12" length. Perhaps a WTB in classifieds might help.

Richard
UT Grad - 1971

[Jim Matthews]

The metal piece that guides the saw is too long for the particular saw. The back part of the saw blade extends beneath the plate, but not the front. That, along with the set on the saw blade, will just dull the saw and wear out the metal plate. I can't imagine that saw was used with this miter box.

Seeing the photo of the saw, I stand corrected.

That plate depth fits the proportions of a dovetail saw.
My Miter box saws are all at least 3" deep under the plate.

If the saw cuts straight, it's worth the money paid for the works.

I fear a decent saw will not perform particularly well in this design, with it's single fixation point.
Most need to guide the saw from two points to stay on the straight and narrow.

I have to wonder how well this saw would cut with a simple bench hook.
You could even make a second devoted to 45 degree miters.

[Alan Lightstone]

Interesting. I liked this design of miter box because with the solid center wood portion (as opposed to the open area in most miter boxes I've seen) it can work with smaller pieces. Also (admittedly with cheap miter boxes) the one I have with two points of fixation have a tremendous amount of play in them - seem terribly imprecise to me.

Am I totally wrong on this?