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Woodlee
8th March 2008, 06:04 PM
Not quite finished but here are some images of the Stanley Mitre box I have been working on .
I think it is a model 244 ,but I am not sure as it has no label like the later models of that era .
The patent dates are 1904 as cast on the quadrant.
Later models will take different size saws as there are two lots of holes in the saw keeper .
This one is adjustable for a shorter saw ,by moving the front post to a second tapered hole just in front of the cutting board.

I stripped it down completely and used electrolysis to remove the rust from the frame and some of the larger parts .The smaller parts were done in citric acid .
All the treated screws were cleaned on a wire brush ,heads polished and blackened .
The frame and all the parts that needed Japanning were given two coats of the mixture and left to dry between coats .Then after a week they were baked in an oven at 220C for an hour, left to cool and harden.
I then repainted some of the parts silver using an aluminium silver paint ,and dry brushed silver over the raised letters and numbers on the quadrant to highlight them and make them more readable.

A new top support bar was made from 1"x 1/8" brass strip ,cut down by hand and filed to 1/2" wide to fit into the clamping caps .
Two replacement retaining screws were machined up on my lathe ,the caps were drilled and tapped 12 x 24 UNC.
Stanley was a bugger for not utilising standard threads , and it's near impossible to work out what the threads are unless you have an original screw to measure.

I was reasonably lucky with this mitre box as most of the small parts that are usually lost were with it , just one screw that secures the legs and the two screws retaining the top support bar were missing .The trip device that clamps on to the saw back was even there.
I also suspect that a length stop is missing ,but can find no reference to that part in any of the old repro Stanley brochures.

I still have to work on the saw ,(clean up and sharpen) and get the piece of timber sized for the cutting board.

I have done some test cuts with the mitre box after leveling and setting it up and it is very accurate.

Pic: 1 front of box ,
Pic : 2 topcap that holds the support bar (new brass bar as well)
Pic : 3 the new retaining screws
Pic: 4 the whole thing ,board just placed in for photo's
Pic : 5 as it was before I decided to give it some TLC.

Kev.

wheelinround
8th March 2008, 06:19 PM
Looking good Kev :2tsup:

did your other stuff you bought of e-bay arrive yet.

Ray

Woodlee
8th March 2008, 06:23 PM
Looking good Kev :2tsup:

did your other stuff you bought of e-bay arrive yet.

Ray


Damn ,,,Ray your quick ,I just posted this and went back to have a bo-peep and you are already there.
Got the Mortise chisels ,going to post pics of those for Scribbly Gum .
Still waiting for some plane totes and knobs and a set of Footprint carving chisels .

Damn ...got my eye on another mitre box .Its like a disease .

Kev

prozac
12th March 2008, 04:15 PM
Nice job Woodlee. Still haven't collected mine yet.

prozac

Woodlee
12th March 2008, 10:00 PM
Nice job Woodlee. Still haven't collected mine yet.

prozac

Thank you .
I'm working on the saw now , have finished the blade , tote is next .
Then I need to get the new board off the guy who is thicknessing it for me.

Cheers
Kev

prozac
14th March 2008, 11:19 AM
I finally collected mine yesterday. Looks complete and in very good condition bar a bit of powdery rust on the frame and also some light rust on one side of the saw blade. The blade is dead straight...not bad for a tool over 100 years old!

I am the 3rd owner from what I can gather. Owned originally by a Coach Builder from Umina, Percy Cornish. He eventually went into upholstery and the business was sold to the chap I bought the saw from. It's nice to know the background of a piece of history such as this.

prozac

Woodlee
14th March 2008, 10:48 PM
Looks good Prozac. Exactly the same model as mine ,wish I new some history of mine ,I did ask the guy who I bought it from ,but he just ignored my question.
That will clean up nicely ,electrolysis will clean the frame in a couple of hours.
At least you got the top support bar and the correct thumb screws with it .
The sliding stock guides that slide up to the rear fence ,did you get those ?They are easy to make if you wanted to replace them .
I think I can see the locking thumb screw through the slot in the second pic for the stock guides.
Looks like the board has been replaced as well .I have an original cutting board if you want a pattern to make a new one.And the stock holders for measurements.
Saw looks good too , mine still has about 80% of the original etch on the blade ,just be careful when you clean the blade ,on the left side the etch is about halfway along.
All in all though a good find .
Here's a link to a website with some info on Stanley mitre boxes ,he has some reproduction parts , but they are easy to make yourself .
http://www.tooltrip.com/tooltrip9/stanley/stan-mbox/stan-mbox.htm

If you need any pointers let me know.

Kev.

prozac
15th March 2008, 09:00 AM
"The sliding stock guides that slide up to the rear fence ,did you get those ?" Not sure which bits they are woodlee. I have no knowledge of these tools, and bought this on a whim b/c it looked great and I thought it would be useful. I've attached the last 2 photos I have fyi, maybe you can see if they are there?

What tipped me over the adge to buy it was the saw being 30" or 32". I have not measured it yet but the seller said it was 31" so will be one of the 2. Either way you generally don't see this size for sale.

Thanks for the offer of a pattern for the cutting board. Yes please! I was told it was not original.

Stock holders?

I have begun scraping the saw with a stanley knife blade. Is this the right procedure? Do I need to avoid the region where the etch may be? As the rust is only very light perhaps the next step should be an electrolysis bath? Better learn up on that too.

I will be very happy if mine ends up looking as nice as yours.

BTW do you know what that plate and spring arrangement does on the front guide?

prozac

prozac
15th March 2008, 09:23 AM
Have had a read of the Stanley guides you provided the links for. It would seem that for mine and maybe yours as well that they are the 1909 model that did not come with a length stop.

My mitre box doesn't look like it has the "stock guides". It appears to have all/most of the other bits. I will measure the saw and the length of the mitre box today to see which model it is.

prozac

prozac
15th March 2008, 11:33 AM
woodlee I've just come in from measuring the saw. Perhaps I shouldn't have as I was a happy camper whilst i thought it 30" or so. It comes in at 26"!!! Hahahahahaha. The jokes on me then. Never mind I am no less enamoured with it, and now I have another story to tell.

prozac

Woodlee
15th March 2008, 11:45 AM
I think the model is 244 ,but I'm not sure .My saw is 24 1/2 " heel to toe ,with the tote fixed on its 30 1/2 ".
No length stop , like the later models ,but , my board has a round metal insert about 1 1/8" diameter ,to the right hand side of the saw blade .It has a threaded hole in the center , I havent been able to fathom out what this is for , but I think it maybe an anchor point for a length stop .The later models has the length stop mounting on the left hand foot .
Not sure if the saw size is a good indicator of the model or not , I think you could order what ever saw you wanted.
I will make a drawing or a pattern of the board and get it to you .
Yes the Stanley scraper is what I used to clean the rust from the blade ,(the one that takes the Stanley knife blades ), then I used 400 wet and dry carborundum paper and turps to polish ,and moved up to 800 to finish .I used a scrap block of wood as a sanding block .
Just go easy around the etch area ,you maybe surprised and it may still be there.I used some cold gun blue to enhance it and lightly polished over it with 800 to clean off the excess blue.
I also blued the spine of the saw as it looked like it was done originally.
I have attached a pic with some of the smaller parts that are usually missing , and I can take pics of specific areas if you want so you can see the arrangement .

prozac
15th March 2008, 12:36 PM
According to the link you supplied http://www.tooltrip.com/tooltrip9/stanley/stan-mbox/mbox09.pdf , if your saw is 24" then it is for a model #244. Your mitre-box must then be 18" long and your cutting board 4 1/8" wide. Mine will be either a #246 or #346 depending on the length of the mitre box. The 246 is 18" long, the 346 is 20 1/2" long....... Just measure, it is 20 1/2" so it is a #346 with a 26" saw blade.

Forgot to mention, the saw length is measured on the blade from toe to heel. If the heel is mitred as mine is then measure to where the blade would finish if it were a full blade.

From the chart on the link above it appears that the size of saw was "matched" to the length of the mitre box.

Thanks for the "blue" tip. Had you thought of using electrolysis? Any reasons why you didn't use this method?


prozac

Woodlee
15th March 2008, 02:36 PM
I must have missed all that info somehow or didn't study the chart carefully enough (more like it ):doh:
The board on mine measures 201/2" x 4 1/2" so that makes it 346 .
Thanks for the heads up.
The reason I didn't use electrolysis is because I don't have a plastic tank big enough for the blade to fit in .I could have made one from MDF and lined it with a plastic bag I guess ,maybe I'll do it later .The saw has a few stains on it from where it was sitting in the guides.
Not sure if the process will affect the etch though.


Edit: back to your previous post re plate and spring on the front guide .It is to do with releasing the saw to let it down to the cutting position ,yours is a slightly different arrangement to mine.If you look at the pic of mine in the previous post you can see the saw is held up near the top of the posts.This may be a feature that the original owner decided he could do with out.If these are missing I reckon it would be near impossible to find them as they are reasonably small and easily lost if removed from the tool.
Mine has a plate under the top cap of the support bar with a lever that has a hook which catches a plate in the top of the guide and holds it up , there is also a similar arrangement on the rear tower.The plates in the guides are held in a slot at the top of each guide by having half circular cut outs which fit around the two post that the guide runs up and down on.
When you lift the saw up to the top the hook engages the plate in each guide holding the saw up .
To release the saw you push it forward and the trip stop that fixes onto the spine of the saw in front of the tote hits the front lever and lets it go .The saw drops at the tote end and the other end raises up and trips the lever at the top of the rear post allowing the saw to come down.The spring under the guide on the front tower cushions the fall ,but there is no spring on the rear post and it comes down with a bit of a thump.I've looked at the parts lists and it shows only a spring on the front post.
Hope I've explained this so you can work out how it operates.

Under the guide on the front and rear there are two brass height stops ,one has a thumb screw ,this one sets the depth of the saw to allow trenching .
The other is adjusted by way of a screw driver and sets the total depth of the saw ,so you don't cut through the board.Both the ones that are tightened with the thumb screw on mine have been left loose at some stage and the saw has cut into where the thread is ,I have to be careful and keep them tight so they don't vibrate under the saw teeth and bugger them completely,also not to over tighten them.
According to the brochures on the Tool Trip website this depth should be set so the saw cuts 1/16' into the board when new.There should also be instructions there that explain how to square up the saw and also change the front post from the front hole to the one further back to the operator. Both posts can be rotated in thier mounting holes to reduce clearance between the guide and the saw.
Also if you look carefully at the poles that the saw guides travel up and down on ,you will see they are marked in inches .I think it is the right hand one on each post.
I didn't notice this until I had stripped mine down to clean it.They are very faint and hard to read .

Regarding history of mine ,I do know who the possible original owner is as his name is neatly stamped into the tote a gentleman by the name of A.T.Barrett.
I've been sanding (up to 320 and then steel wool )the tote this morning after scraping off the old finish during the week , I have just given it a coat of 75/25 BLO and turps ,the grain in the wood is looking good .
Once it dries I will wet sand with the BLO/turps mixture up to 800 and then tomorrow start with the shellac to finish it.
I think the saw handle is Apple ,a popular wood for Disston saw totes.

It's good to have some one who is doing a similar project ,and compare the subject and ideas.
I hope to get many years of good service from my mitre box and think it will be good for some box making projects I have in mind.



Kev

prozac
15th March 2008, 03:43 PM
I measured along the rear frame. Can't remember if it is same size as the board but the chart suggests it is the length of the iron frame.

About the spring clip thingy. I have just read about it but no where near the amount of info you gave. There does not appear to be anywhere for the spring clip on the rearguide. I have to admit though that I have not studied the mitre box long enough to retain its features. As you point out it appears I am missing the grip screws and the stock guides, perhaps some other bits as well.

Looking at your earlier photos there is a fine angle calibration around the front of the quadrant casting. Was that there under the rust and muck?

prozac

Woodlee
15th March 2008, 05:36 PM
Yes there is markings on the front edge of the quadrant for any angle between 90 and 45 ,in both directions.
Larger marks every 5 deg with one degree marks in between.The numbered markings on the top of the quadrant are for cutting mitres for multi sided shapes 4 for square ,6 for hex 8 for octagonal and so on.The little plate on the arm right in front of the quadrant has the alignment mark on it.
Very handy for box making , no need to work out the angle ,just swing the arm and drop it in the locking hole.
The arm will lock on any mark ,but has holes for the numbered ones on top of the quadrant.

Just had a flash back looking at the pics of your mitre box,it looks familiar , was your mitre box on Ebay ? I seem to remember the rust on the left side of the blade and the quadrant.If its the one I was watching for a couple of weeks It was
re- listed a couple of times .I didn't bid on it ,the seller was adamant he wast going to post it.
Any way good find .

Kev.

spoinky
11th April 2008, 03:01 PM
Well a couple of things. The length/size of the saw has no bearing on which mitre box models you guys have. Disston sold them in various lengths and also depths of the blade. These were supplied to Stanley to sell with the boxes. All the Disston No.4's had apple wood handles. (also 11 points per inch crosscut teeth).
The saw trip on the mitre box needs the corresponding attatchment on the saw. Many are missing in the wild.
In the pictures, both mitre guides have cut-outs in the back fence for the sliding stock guides.
If there are holes at each end in the sides of the back legs, they would also have originally come with a rod with length stops attatched.

Hope that this all helps.
Enjoy the wonders of these tools

Woodlee
11th April 2008, 05:40 PM
Spoinky ,
Mine dosent have the feet with the holes for the stop rds ,but it does have a circular metal plate inlet into the cutting board ,which has a 1/4' thread in the centre .
Im still trying to fathom what purpose this served ,there is no mention as what its for in any of the brochures for the mitre box ,but it is shown in the spares list.
Maybe it is possible that it was part of the stop rod set up, like a support from underneath.
I have just received my timber for a new board ,so I will be be fitting that this weekend.

Im wondering how Prozac is progressing with his.
Cheers
Kev.

prozac
11th April 2008, 11:53 PM
Too embarrassed to respond.

prozac

Woodlee
12th April 2008, 06:46 PM
Prozac,

Here's the finished mitre box on my bench .Don't mean to embarrass you further ,but I'm quite please with the end result.
Kev.

prozac
13th April 2008, 01:03 AM
Wow Woodlee that is really something! Better than new. I will have to read through again to check your procedure. What type of timber is that on the cutting board? I will have to get a copy of your template.

prozac

m2c1Iw
13th April 2008, 01:37 AM
I'm quite please with the end result.


And so you should be, it looks great fantastic result.

Mike

Scribbly Gum
13th April 2008, 01:29 PM
Beautiful job Kev.
What wood did you select for the bed?
It seems to match the mitre box very well.
I've got a Stanley 2246A, and I can't find any info on it at all. It is a later model than yours with telescoping saw guides.
Did you happen to come across any reference to it(mine) in your research by any chance?
Onya mate - yours looks great
SG:2tsup::2tsup::2tsup:

Woodlee
13th April 2008, 03:18 PM
Thanks guys .
It was a lot of work but I enjoyed every second of it .Its a joy to use and very accurate.

The timber is Tassie Oak I think , I got it a pile of second hand timber from a demolition sale.

Prozac I can make a template for you ,just let me know when you are ready.

Scribbly ,I can e-mail the Stanley instructions in a PDF file if you want them .

I'm still wondering what the little round metal plate in the board is for ,I haven't been able to find any info on it or its purpose .

Kev.

Scribbly Gum
13th April 2008, 05:19 PM
Spoinky ,
Mine dosent have the feet with the holes for the stop rds ,but it does have a circular metal plate inlet into the cutting board ,which has a 1/4' thread in the centre .
Im still trying to fathom what purpose this served ,there is no mention as what its for in any of the brochures for the mitre box ,but it is shown in the spares list.
Maybe it is possible that it was part of the stop rod set up, like a support from underneath.

Cheers
Kev.

Looks like a spot for a rod that could mount a hold down for the small offcut on the right hand side of the cut. Of course this could be totally wrong.
Thanks for the offer of the instructions Kev. I'll send you a PM.
Regards
SG:?:?:?

wheelinround
13th April 2008, 08:03 PM
:2tsup: Nice work Kev looks great.

Woodlee
13th April 2008, 09:24 PM
Looks like a spot for a rod that could mount a hold down for the small offcut on the right hand side of the cut. Of course this could be totally wrong.
Thanks for the offer of the instructions Kev. I'll send you a PM.
Regards
SG:?:?:?


I'm thinking its a support for a length stop ,but my box dosen't have the bushes cast onto the feet brackets to take the length stop rods .Maybe its as you say or a short stop ,I dunno .
I'll probably go to my grave still wondering what the hell its for.
Sent some e-mails to the guy who has the tool-trip website asking if he knew , but he has never replied.
The original board is very light timber ,very soft as well ,I think it is Western Red Cedar or maybe Red Cedar. Bit hard to tell unless I cut it ,if its Western Red Cedar I will recognise the smell immediately.My Father has used Western Red Cedar extensively through out his house for feature walls etc and I know the smell .

Cheers
Kev

jhelsel
28th December 2008, 11:23 AM
G'day gentlemen,

Hope you don't mind my jumping into your conversation. I am new to this site and read with interest your messages regarding the restoration of the Stanley mitre boxes. I have a Model 358 with two 28" back saws. Everything is complete and in "like new" condition. OOPS! I almost forgot, the coupler for the stop rods is missing along with the two screws that go with it. No big deal, I have a South Bend metal lathe and can easily make those parts. I don't know the age of it, but I do know who owned it originally (now deceased). Any idea when Stanley stopped making this item?

Regards,
Jay D. Helsel
USA

Woodlee
28th December 2008, 05:19 PM
Jay ,
Definitely not interrupting ,I like talking about old stuff .
I'm not sure when Stanley ceased production of the older models , but I do know they continued to make them for many years .
The model I have was patented in 1901 I use it often as I find it is very accurate.
A few weeks ago I dropped the saw and busted the handle ,have the material now to make a new one for it.

In 1944 they were offering 7 models of Mitre box ranging from the 240 to the 460 .
I guess as they made improvements and newer models the older ones were phased out.
I have PDF flies from Stanley mitre box catalogues which I can send to you by e-mail if you would like.
Just pm me with your e-mail address and I'll send them on.

This link (http://www.woodworkforums.com/http://www.tooltrip.com/tooltrip9/index.htm) is to a website that has information on Stanley mitre boxes and other tools that they produced .Unfortunately the website is not working atm , but hopefully it will be operational in the future.
Have you any pics of your Mitre box you could post ??

Kev.

jhelsel
29th December 2008, 05:01 AM
G'day Kev,

Thanks for the quick response to my questions regarding the Stanley mitre box. If you are referring to the catalog pages converted to PDF by Stan Faullin, I already have them. If you have something else, I would appreciate having them. My email address is [email protected].

I don't have any photos at the present time, but when the weather breaks so that I can get back into my shop, I will take some and post them for your viewing pleasure. This mitre box is like new. Not a spec of rust anywhere (including on the saws). I don't know why there are two saws with it, but I sure don't mind owning them. The interesting thing about them is that they are identical except for the design of the handles. Interesting!

I also need to see if I can figure out about when it was manufactured. Should I be able to find a date somewhere on it or on the brass name plate? Any thoughts?

By the way, I am a retired university professor who has been in love with woodworking and woodworking tools since I was six years old. I am now 72. Google me if you care to learn more.

Regards,

Jay

Woodlee
30th December 2008, 11:45 PM
Jay ,
Looks as if you already have the PDF files I'm referring to there are three in total .
I attached them here so you can save them from here if you want them.

Sounds like you have got a good find there .I think these tools were more popular in the US than here ,I'm guessing they may have been a bit on the expensive side for most Australian cabinet makers of the time.
The do appear on Ebay here occasionally ,unfortunately I live in a small town in the bush where tool shows and flea markets are non existant so I dont get the chance to visit such events to pick up bargains.I'm limited to Ebay unforunately.

My background is in metal working and engineering ,but I like woodworking as well .I do have metalworking facilities as well as woodworking .

Kev.

jhelsel
31st December 2008, 04:07 AM
Kev,

Thanks for the response. I saved the pdf's on the mitre box.

Again, when the weather breaks I will take some photos of miine and post them. I will also take some photos of my fully restored 10" South Bend lathe. When I got it (for free), it looked pretty rough. I completely disassembled it, replaced all worn parts (including the cross-feed screw and nut), cleaned and painted all parts as appropriate, and reassembled it. It looks like new. I figure it would now bring about $10,000 (US). South Bend will now restore your old lathe for $13,000 (US). Mine is every bit as good. I also have every attachment made for it except the grinding attachment that fastens on the compound rest. One of these days I'll find a good deal on one of those as well. I don't use the lathe much, but I sure enjoy owning it.

Regards,

Jay

Woodlee
31st December 2008, 11:34 AM
Jay ,
I remember the Southbends from my apprenticeship ,the company where I did my time had quite a few of them in the maintenance sections around the plant .They were use mainly for small quick jobs like making or modifying fittings for plumbing ,and stuff .
I always wanted to take one home with me .

I was fortunte to enough to be give a lathe and amilling machine just recently , I have to make room for them before I can set them up ,also the lathe will need some work to bring it up to scratch .Both machines have been in storage for 12years.The mill will be able to be put staright to work with some cleaning and a good service.The lathe will need stripping and cleaning and a new motor.
The lathe is an Edgwick MK1 6 1/2" swing English toolroom lathe ,the mill is a well made Asian import of some vintage.

Have attached pics of my Myford Super 7 and the lathe and mill on the truck after removing them from storage.

Kev.

jhelsel
2nd January 2009, 02:59 AM
Dev,

YEOW! Congratulations. You should enjoy many years of enjoyment from the lathe and milling machine. Even restoring them should be fun.

Regards,

Jay

zitan
17th August 2009, 11:00 PM
Kev;

Are you any closer to figuring out what the metal insert in the board is for? I've got an early 240 with it in and always wondered what on earth it's meant to do!

Great post here BTW; I restored a 1960s era No. 60 in 2005 as I felt sorry for it, and at the time was able to get a lot of replacement parts (screws, angle plate, etc) from Stanley USA; though I did have to machine up a new indexing pin and had everything that was nickel plated, stripped and re-plated. Might even post some photos here one day. The 240 is on the list of things to do, as well as a 358 (SW vintage with Simonds saw that came with its original shipping crate), and a mid-late 1930s 460 (the BIG one). Tackling these ones isn't a job for the faint hearted as you know. I'll make a start when I figure out how to remove the brass makers plate without damaging it in order to re-japan the frame.

Missed out on a saw on eBay the other day that still had its saw trip clamp attached to it - went for around $23-30 but I left it since the seller wanted US$75 for shipping!

One other thing, from what I can tell the boards for all these boxes are made from poplar, stained dark walnut brown for the earlier models, later painted Stanley orange.

Woodlee
18th August 2009, 10:59 PM
Kev;

Are you any closer to figuring out what the metal insert in the board is for? I've got an early 240 with it in and always wondered what on earth it's meant to do!

Great post here BTW; I restored a 1960s era No. 60 in 2005 as I felt sorry for it, and at the time was able to get a lot of replacement parts (screws, angle plate, etc) from Stanley USA; though I did have to machine up a new indexing pin and had everything that was nickel plated, stripped and re-plated. Might even post some photos here one day. The 240 is on the list of things to do, as well as a 358 (SW vintage with Simonds saw that came with its original shipping crate), and a mid-late 1930s 460 (the BIG one). Tackling these ones isn't a job for the faint hearted as you know. I'll make a start when I figure out how to remove the brass makers plate without damaging it in order to re-japan the frame.

Missed out on a saw on eBay the other day that still had its saw trip clamp attached to it - went for around $23-30 but I left it since the seller wanted US$75 for shipping!

One other thing, from what I can tell the boards for all these boxes are made from poplar, stained dark walnut brown for the earlier models, later painted Stanley orange.


No still none the wiser ,I haven't thought about it much since I posted here.
Some one suggested it may have been for a stop that sat on top of the board ,but I have never seen anything in the Stanley catalogues or any mention of a stop by any one.
I had a mishap with my saw though ,I decided to move the mitre box to a bench outside of my shed , because of the heat of the day ,I picked up the mitre box and tilted i back ward a bit and the saw slid out and landed on the handle ,shattering it into four pieces.
I had some black walnut given to me by a forum member here and will get to making a new handle for the saw .I managed to glue the pieces of the handle back together with Sellys Resorsinol (two part resin ) glue so I could use it.Not pretty but I can use it.

Kev.

Riddles
20th November 2009, 05:51 PM
Kev;

Are you any closer to figuring out what the metal insert in the board is for? I've got an early 240 with it in and always wondered what on earth it's meant to do!

Great post here BTW; I restored a 1960s era No. 60 in 2005 as I felt sorry for it, and at the time was able to get a lot of replacement parts (screws, angle plate, etc) from Stanley USA; though I did have to machine up a new indexing pin and had everything that was nickel plated, stripped and re-plated. Might even post some photos here one day. The 240 is on the list of things to do, as well as a 358 (SW vintage with Simonds saw that came with its original shipping crate), and a mid-late 1930s 460 (the BIG one). Tackling these ones isn't a job for the faint hearted as you know. I'll make a start when I figure out how to remove the brass makers plate without damaging it in order to re-japan the frame.

Missed out on a saw on eBay the other day that still had its saw trip clamp attached to it - went for around $23-30 but I left it since the seller wanted US$75 for shipping!

One other thing, from what I can tell the boards for all these boxes are made from poplar, stained dark walnut brown for the earlier models, later painted Stanley orange.
Zitan,
During your work on the No.60 Stanley, did you see if there is any way to make a fine adjustment to the mitre angle if the ones set by the pin are not dead accurate. The posts holding the saw slides seem to be held on the bottom by what looks to be an off-set or cam type ring. Any ideas?

Ernie

73sport
9th August 2011, 08:45 AM
:2tsup:
Not quite finished but here are some images of the Stanley Mitre box I have been working on .
I think it is a model 244 ,but I am not sure as it has no label like the later models of that era .
The patent dates are 1904 as cast on the quadrant.
Later models will take different size saws as there are two lots of holes in the saw keeper .
This one is adjustable for a shorter saw ,by moving the front post to a second tapered hole just in front of the cutting board.

I stripped it down completely and used electrolysis to remove the rust from the frame and some of the larger parts .The smaller parts were done in citric acid .
All the treated screws were cleaned on a wire brush ,heads polished and blackened .
The frame and all the parts that needed Japanning were given two coats of the mixture and left to dry between coats .Then after a week they were baked in an oven at 220C for an hour, left to cool and harden.
I then repainted some of the parts silver using an aluminium silver paint ,and dry brushed silver over the raised letters and numbers on the quadrant to highlight them and make them more readable.

A new top support bar was made from 1"x 1/8" brass strip ,cut down by hand and filed to 1/2" wide to fit into the clamping caps .
Two replacement retaining screws were machined up on my lathe ,the caps were drilled and tapped 12 x 24 UNC.
Stanley was a bugger for not utilising standard threads , and it's near impossible to work out what the threads are unless you have an original screw to measure.

I was reasonably lucky with this mitre box as most of the small parts that are usually lost were with it , just one screw that secures the legs and the two screws retaining the top support bar were missing .The trip device that clamps on to the saw back was even there.
I also suspect that a length stop is missing ,but can find no reference to that part in any of the old repro Stanley brochures.

I still have to work on the saw ,(clean up and sharpen) and get the piece of timber sized for the cutting board.

I have done some test cuts with the mitre box after leveling and setting it up and it is very accurate.

Pic: 1 front of box ,
Pic : 2 topcap that holds the support bar (new brass bar as well)
Pic : 3 the new retaining screws
Pic: 4 the whole thing ,board just placed in for photo's
Pic : 5 as it was before I decided to give it some TLC.

Kev.

73sport
9th August 2011, 09:05 AM
:2tsup: iam restoring a 1904 stanley mitre box. I am missing some parts.i was wondering if you be interested in making me some parts. In your post you where wondering what the threaded washer in the original sawing board. I looked at the stanley parts list ,and photo . In the photo it shows the sliding stock guide screwed to the sawing board and used as a lenght gauge (used for multiable cuts). Thanks .

babates
11th February 2012, 06:28 AM
Too embarrassed to respond.

prozac
thats a beautiful job! I just acquired one with all the working parts, just a bit grimy and with some surface rust. Do you happen to know what the original color scheme is for these boxes? hard for me to tell if it's japanned black or a blue color. Also the back seems to be painted an aluminum color in the recesses.

pmcgee
14th February 2012, 06:12 AM
This link (http://www.tooltrip.com/tooltrip9/index.htm) is to a website that has information on Stanley mitre boxes and other tools that they produced .

Try it now.

Paul.

chrrris
23rd March 2012, 04:58 PM
I've just posted some scans of old (early 1900's and 1926) Stanley catalogs. The relevant pages for Mitre Boxes are posted below. Hope they're helpful in determining model and age.

Early 1900's:
http://willough.customer.netspace.net.au/Images/stanley_unk_18_19_half.jpg
1926:
http://willough.customer.netspace.net.au/Images/stanley_sw_1926_42_43_half.jpg

Regards,
chrrris