I came across this guy at an estate sale a couple of years ago. I could see it was a miter box, but hadn't seen one like this before. It looked like everything was there, albeit the box was in bad condition. It had certainly seen use in its time. After some research I discovered later that it is missing a thumb screw that locks the angle in place. For $4 I couldn't resist taking it on as a "project". This month I finally got around to the restoration. But first, a bit about what it is ...
As you see the label on the back identifies this as a "Perfection Miter Box" manufactured by the Union Hardware Co., Torrington, Conn. My online research shows these first appeared on the market in the early 1900's. A patent was granted in 1902. The manufacturer suggested retail price was $3 from an early catalog (1901). The instruction label was also in rough shape and not fully readable. Fortunately, I found a transcript here.
Armed with the old box, the internet information and numerous photos of similar boxes for sale I set about restoring. This involved building a new wooden box (no salvaging the old one), and repainting the hardware. I don't know the original woods used, but I chose cherry and beech. This is the result. I aged the new label by wiping it with sweet tea and heating it in the oven until it turned slightly brown.
The box has a number of interesting features that make it very user-friendly. First, note how the label and guide refer to the presets using letters, not numbers -- M, P, H, O, W and R. These are the meanings. You can tell it's designed with a craftsman (as opposed to an engineer) in mind.
The original is well constructed. I noticed there were dowels showing from the back and bottom. I guessed these ran through the strips as reinforcement, but couldn't be sure. Cutting through one of these confirmed my hunch. I did the same in the new box.
It's advertised in the catalog as BYOS, meaning you bring your own saw (my words, not theirs). The saw can be either a back saw or a handsaw. Both will work. Three screws at the top offer a way to tighten or loosen the distance between the guide bars, making it adaptable to different blade thicknesses. The central pin (in the center of triangle formed by screws) holds the guides at a fixed distance. By tightening or loosening the three screws you control the thickness at the bottom of the guide as these work in opposition to each other. Well thought out design, IMHO.
I had a surprise early in the process. As I was disassembling the hardware from the box, when I removed the back hardware I found these underneath. In case you're wondering they're paper shims someone added to adjust the angle. It must have been off by half a degree or so. This was their fix.
I don't have any plans to use the miter box. After the work of making a new box, I don't have the heart to cut into it. It was just fun to have this motivation of restoring a bit of "perfection" to learn a bit of tool history.
As you see the label on the back identifies this as a "Perfection Miter Box" manufactured by the Union Hardware Co., Torrington, Conn. My online research shows these first appeared on the market in the early 1900's. A patent was granted in 1902. The manufacturer suggested retail price was $3 from an early catalog (1901). The instruction label was also in rough shape and not fully readable. Fortunately, I found a transcript here.
Armed with the old box, the internet information and numerous photos of similar boxes for sale I set about restoring. This involved building a new wooden box (no salvaging the old one), and repainting the hardware. I don't know the original woods used, but I chose cherry and beech. This is the result. I aged the new label by wiping it with sweet tea and heating it in the oven until it turned slightly brown.
The box has a number of interesting features that make it very user-friendly. First, note how the label and guide refer to the presets using letters, not numbers -- M, P, H, O, W and R. These are the meanings. You can tell it's designed with a craftsman (as opposed to an engineer) in mind.
The original is well constructed. I noticed there were dowels showing from the back and bottom. I guessed these ran through the strips as reinforcement, but couldn't be sure. Cutting through one of these confirmed my hunch. I did the same in the new box.
It's advertised in the catalog as BYOS, meaning you bring your own saw (my words, not theirs). The saw can be either a back saw or a handsaw. Both will work. Three screws at the top offer a way to tighten or loosen the distance between the guide bars, making it adaptable to different blade thicknesses. The central pin (in the center of triangle formed by screws) holds the guides at a fixed distance. By tightening or loosening the three screws you control the thickness at the bottom of the guide as these work in opposition to each other. Well thought out design, IMHO.
I had a surprise early in the process. As I was disassembling the hardware from the box, when I removed the back hardware I found these underneath. In case you're wondering they're paper shims someone added to adjust the angle. It must have been off by half a degree or so. This was their fix.
I don't have any plans to use the miter box. After the work of making a new box, I don't have the heart to cut into it. It was just fun to have this motivation of restoring a bit of "perfection" to learn a bit of tool history.
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