Question about miter boxes...

[Chuck Tringo]

So I am anxiously awaiting my LV Low Angle Smoother, and am nearly complete with my shooting board. I am finding that Neandering is not only far more relaxing for me than powering up almost any one of my power tools (except the router, dont think ill be giving that up any time soon ;)) and I was thinking about what other tools I can replace with hand work...this was also instigated by a few other reasons....most of my family (me, my wife, and two daughters) all suffer from allergies, my youngest (4) bad enough that she has had 2 athsma atacks in the last 2 years brought on by allergies. Due to this, I am looking to go as neander (and dustless) as possible. Also, one of the few times I get to work in the shop (read: garage :D) is when my youngest is taking a nap, which precludes the use of most powertools. Soooooo, to make a long story short, I was looking at miter boxes and was wondering what the general thoughts were on ones that Lee Valley sells...any opinions from anyone who has distched the universal motor for a miter box are welcome, the lee valley one is just the one that I had my sights on....and also the (much cheaper) jorgy sold by the orange borg. Thanks for the input in advance. :)

[Ben Davis]

What exactly are you trying to do? If it's just get 45* angle cuts why not make a 45* shoot board?

[David Keller NC]

Chuck - Traditionally, craftsmen made their own miter boxes. I would suggest doing this first - you may find that you'll want to spend the money on something else (like another hand plane!). Doing this is simplicity itself - you simply make an upside - down "U" from a decent hardwood (mine's maple), carefully mark a 45 degree cut, and saw down with the saw you will use with the box.

Typically, a "tenon" back-saw filed cross-cut is used for this purpose, though a smaller, open handled carcass saw will also work. The L-N 12" "tenon" saw works well for this purpose - it's what I use with mine.

Note that it's important that the same saw used to make the cut down the sides of the "U" of the miter box be used to make cuts in workpieces - another saw with a tighter set will wobble in the kerf, and a saw with a larger set will bind in the kerf.

[harry strasil]

my miter box is an old Stanley 358, I got for $20, its a lot more accurate than the majority of the new stuff.

[Chuck Tringo]

What exactly are you trying to do? If it's just get 45* angle cuts why not make a 45* shoot board?

I do plan on making 45* attachments (vertical and horizontal) for my shooting board, but Ill still need to cut stock to length. I suppose I could learn to use a handsaw correctly, I was just of the thinking that a miter box would allow me to get pretty close and it would only take a few strokes on the shooting board to clean it up.

[Kevin Brenton]

Chuck
best 80.00 dollars I ever spent was on a used Stanley Mitre box ,I spent a couple of weeks restoring it .I use it frequently .It's very accurate and will cut any angle . For cutting mitres I scribe the line right around the stock cut with the saw at the angle just off the line and then sneak up on the line with the shooting board and my No 7 Stanley.
The handle doesn't look like that any more though , I dropped the saw last week end and it hit the floor and broke into four pieces.

[Robert Rozaieski]

If you are going to shoot with a miter shooting board (highly recommended) then a shop built miter block is all you need. I like this style (pic stolen from Stephen Shepherd's web site):

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii105/shepherd1857/miterbox.jpg

[Chuck Tringo]

If you are going to shoot with a miter shooting board (highly recommended) then a shop built miter block is all you need. I like this style (pic stolen from Stephen Shepherd's web site):

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii105/shepherd1857/miterbox.jpg

Rob, I think that looks like a winner, Just need to finish my shooting board and make one of these and I think Ill be good to go. Thanks :)