Miter box restoration

[Peter Milano]

I'm a new member and first post. Finally pulled the trigger on a Millers Falls Langdon Acme 2-1/2 miter box which I am going to try and restore. Last patent date on the label is 1909 and the medallion on the saw handle would date the saw before 1917. I know some of you have restored these old miter boxes and I need help with a couple of things.
1. Is there a trick to getting the legs off? When I try to loosen the screw holding the leg to the frame it starts to loosen a little but then the leg seems to tighten up and I can't turn the screw any further. When I then try to turn screw in opposite (tighten) direction the leg starts to loosen then tightens as the screw is turned more. I have tried WD 40 but no good. I soaked the leg and screw in evapo rust for about 2 days and the screw still reacts the same way. Any ideas?
2. Any ideas about the original color?
3. The plates that make-up the bed look to have been chromed, at least that's what it looks like under all the ruse. All the pictures seem to show the bed plates as being red. Has anyone seen this before?
4. Lastly the handle on the lever that releases the swing mechanism is broken. Can this be welded or is it likely to break again? The metal is very thin where it broke.

Thank you in advance for all help and suggestions.

[Mel Fulks]

Welcome. I had one of those many years ago. Was painted black with red tables . Possible some owner had the tables plated. Plating stuff used to be a big deal with ads in many magazines and news papers. I'm old enough to remember when mitre boxes were treated like the ark of the covenant. Always brought onto job site by TWO solemn faced guys who would declare how many feet the unworthy had to stand back from it.

[David M Anderson]

Can you post some pics..?

[Joe Bailey]

I'm old enough to remember when mitre boxes were treated like the ark of the covenant. Always brought onto job site by TWO solemn faced guys who would declare how many feet the unworthy had to stand back from it.

What a great bit of writing this is -- nice, Mel

[Jim Koepke]

Howdy Peter,

Welcome to the Creek. Your profile doesn't show your location. You may live close to another member who is willing to help with your miter box.

I recently bought a Stanley model. It was without a saw for a couple of bucks. In the excitement of the "good deal" it wasn't realized until after getting it home that none of my back saws are long enough to work with it.

Kind of like a plane that is turning into the most expensive $5 plane in my shop because of all the parts it needs.

Good luck with the Langdon.

jtk

[Mel Fulks]

Well,thanks, Joe. I'm glad to have a kind word for my transcribed vivid memory.

[Tony Zaffuto]

Welcome. I had one of those many years ago. Was painted black with red tables . Possible some owner had the tables plated. Plating stuff used to be a big deal with ads in many magazines and news papers. I'm old enough to remember when mitre boxes were treated like the ark of the covenant. Always brought onto job site by TWO solemn faced guys who would declare how many feet the unworthy had to stand back from it.

When I was an apprentice (mid to late 70's) the job I was on was installing trim in a bank/office building. The foreman brought his MF Langdon. I was not allowed to use it, seriously! A another carpenter (journeyman) brought in a new contraption - a powered miter box, made by Craftsman, if I remember correctly. I was permitted to use it, probably in the hopes that I would nip a finger and leave the trade! Guards were pretty much lacking on the early powered boxes.

A few years later, the foreman came to work, almost in tears. Seems he was using his prized miter box, and left it on the landing of his basement stairs. A bit later he forget it was there and when going down to the basement, bumped/pushed it down the steps, breaking the casting. Karma! This guy also had a prized circular saw, which I was also not allowed to use (actually in that time frame, I had not yet used a circular saw or a table saw!). I was a rank beginner to these things, and he popped the bade off and told me to touch up the teeth and make a couple of cuts (rip, again IIRC). Anyhow, I said I never did this before and as us apprentices expected to be showed how to do things, before we did them, I was in very deep water, as the foreman strolled away. I took a mill bastard file I had in my tool box and proceeded to file the teeth, without a whole lot of rhyme or reason in how I did it. Guy came back a bit later and said "aren't you done yet, put the blade back on the saw and get to work" and that I did. I don't know if I mounted the blade backwards, or if the sharpening was that poor, but after mounting and proceeding to cut (actually pushing/cajoling the saw to make the big board into littler boards), the saw went up in smoke. This time real tears came from the foreman's eyes.

After that, I was relegated to handsaws. After a couple of weeks, another journeyman was taking his handsaws to the foreman on a Friday. When I asked why, he replied that our contract stipulated the company have our saws sharpened once a week. I took mine over to the foreman also and he told me he didn't think I qualified! I asked him if he didn't know, maybe the union business manager did. Foreman gladly took my saws, though our relationship was never as good anymore as the times I brought him to tears!

I left the trade in early 1989 to start a manufacturing company and remain there to this day.

[Mel Fulks]

Tony,you almost brought tears to my eyes ....of laughter.

[Tony Zaffuto]

Tony,you almost brought tears to my eyes ....of laughter.

I figured you must have been around some of the same guys I was! When I served my apprenticeship, there were two classes of journeymen: those that would go out their way to show & work with you and those that would rather let you hang. I was fortunate to work with far more of the former. After I became a journeyman and was running work, I was given an apprentice. I worked with him the best I could, but he had a horrible habit: he would not bring his tool box on the job! If I told him to cut something, out to his car he would go, bring a saw & square in, do the cut and then take the tools back out. That lasted for a couple of hours when I finally told he couldn't be running out to his car for every tool. Message didn't sink in, because the next time I told him to do something, he went to my tool box and grabbed some of my tools. I exploded.

I guess all apprentices are the same and there is karma.

[Peter Milano]

Thanks. I just saw the same model and vintage miter box on ebay. It was "restored". It looked exactly how mine is starting to look after I treat an area with evapo rust. The tables on the ebay box also looked to be a cleaned up plated table rather than a cleaned up painted table. There also doesn't seem to be a paint color under the rust. I used evapo rust as I believe it is paint friendly while electrolysis is not. Could it be that there is no paint or japanning on the box? I will try and post some pictures.

Thanks

[Peter Milano]

I'll try and get some pictures later today.

[Peter Milano]

Thanks. Good idea about the location. I just updated. That's the reason I keep buying planes and saws. I have plenty spare parts. I rarely pass up a Stanley because I know I'll probably buy another that needs some parts.
Thanks
Pete

[Tom M King]

I still have one I bought new in 1973. It was mid '90s before anyone made a power miter saw that I liked. I can send pictures of mine if you need closeups. It has to be a newer model, but I don't know that they ever changed them much. No one ever used mine but me, and some great carpenters, now all gone, that were younger than I am now, but I thought old then, in the '70s and '80s.

[Peter Milano]

Here are some pictures of the miter box dis-assembled with some parts cleaned up.DSCN1720.jpgDSCN1721.jpg

[Tom Humbert]

Tremendous!