Stanley STA120600 Clamping Mitre Box and Saw 1 20 600

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That was to "grip" the MB to the surface and more importantly, to correct an out of square, level playing field... so to speak :-) Look around the shop before you leave. I’m not an expert on Stanley boxes. I used em, but never owned one. The Miller Falls was a little lighter, would break down smaller for travel, and had very few settings that could go out of adjustment. It seems the Stanley guys were always adjusting their angle settings. ( hint, it’s an eccentric cam under the pivot point), either that, or they needed something to blame their open joints on. 😉 I think he misspoke on the saw. It usually was the tooth line length that mattered. My Miller Falls saw is marked 26” and is 33” OA. The Stanley 28” saw is actually 35” long. If you look around, you will find other fine craftsmen, who either used them in the past or are still using them, so yeah, they would do. And lots of framing shops (as in picture frame) used those Nobex for years. Mine, incidentally, came at auction in a lot from a picture frame shop.

But this question is about the various Stanley's Mitre Box (MB) that came and went thru the years. I can so understand the confusion trying to navigate your way thru it, some models came and went, while others soldiered on until 1984. As to the tension on the slide, there were two things I remember. Some saws had a hole that you could puta brad in a hole to prevent the tapered pawl from slipping into its notch if you were close to a predetermined angle but wanted to be just off it. And underneath that area was a screw to adjust the tension or drag on the swing arm. You could make it stiff or loose. You shouldn’t have to flip any lever with your hand with either style. The system is designed so you can load the work with both hands while the saw is up, then hold the work with one hand and work the saw with the other. The thinner the set, the less wood you are removing. The limiting factor is friction in the cut. You don’t want that, but you do want the set even on all the teeth. And stoning removes any burrs left from sharpening. Before I started honing, I would only have the saw set every 3 or 4 sharpenings. The saw ran smoother on the 2nd or 3rd sharpening. So i honed My saws before I actually sharpened them myself. ( since I retired I sharpen them all myself)

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That helped, although for me it turned out that twisting the handle worked even better than pulling to one side. Lubricating the rods also helped.I used my saw once without the box as a dovetail saw to cut the pins and tails on the tail vise assembly of my workbench 45 years ago.those are 3”+ tails. It’s the only time I ever used the saw without the box. That was before I had a bandsaw- it’s actually what helped make me decide to buy a used bandsaw – LOL. Are these miter boxes good enough for mouldings and other cabinet work, or are they only precise enough for house trim? If it is is decent usable shape, go for it. If its a rusty clunker with missing parts, let it go. Hand boxes last more than a couple lifetimes. By the way, the sloppiness in the 358 may simply be that the saw plate is thin for the setting of the uprights and they just need a slight twist. The sloppiness is small…I can wiggle things a bit, but it doesn’t really seem to matter (affect the angle). I just noticed there was zero of this wiggle in the 2358. Features such as etched measurements or magnified windows can help promote accuracy and ensure precise cuts. Etched measurements indicate where the saw blade should be positioned while magnified windows allow visibility when making delicate adjustments or fine cuts. Support Features