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Thread: Benchcraft Miter Jack

  1. #1
    Join Date
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    Benchcraft Miter Jack

    I've nearly finished making a Benchcraft Miter Jack. No offense to Benchcraft but I found the instructions so different from how I am used to working that I disregarded them and focused on a couple of pictures.

    It is the first thing I've made where all the detail work was made by hand and it has been a humbling experience. Having a professional shop one becomes accustomed to obtaining precision from the machinery. Milling wood is much different than working wood. The larger cuts were made on a bandsaw and the smaller ones with a handsaw. All trueing was done with planes and chisels. The large 45's are very accurate but somehow the 22 1/2 is slightly off, I'll have to fix that. Planing and chiseling endgrain in hard maple highlights how quickly edges breakdown and how often sharpening is required.

    Having done this gives a new appreciation to those craftsman who used to do this on a daily basis.
    Attached Images Attached Images

  2. #2
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    Looks great! I was looking at the designs again this week. This may be my next project.

    I'm curious about one aspect of the design, and since you constructed it, you might have thoughts... On either end, there is the beam of material that is inserted cross-grain. Do you think these pieces actually strengthen the construction or are necessary? It seems to me to be unnecessary and a point of potential joint failure... but I wonder if I'm missing something?
    clamp the work
    to relax the mind

  3. #3
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    The beam is to insure that the platform remains flat and in my view is required. If you make one I would encourage you to disregard the instructions. Make the platform using round numbers and the mating pieces to fit.

  4. #4
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    Aha! Makes sense. I didn't think of it as something that kept things flat. Thanks!
    clamp the work
    to relax the mind

  5. #5
    Very nice work! These things are super usefull and then making one yourself!

  6. #6
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    Nice work Keith!
    Bumbling forward into the unknown.

  7. #7
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    Sep 2015
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    Hey Keith,

    it it looks like you did a beautiful job, and I am not trying to hijack your post or anything, but I am willing to look stupid. What is it? How does it work? I have never seen one.

    I am sure it's obvious to all you galoots out there, but I don't have my galoot membership card yet. Can you 'splain to a noob?

    Thanks guys.

    Joe

  8. #8
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    Last edited by Stewie Simpson; 11-26-2015 at 1:32 AM.

  9. #9
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    I'll add to the novice question...could you show a piece clamped to be planned and a plane as it would be used?
    Nice work!

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Phil Mueller View Post
    I'll add to the novice question...could you show a piece clamped to be planned and a plane as it would be used?
    Nice work!
    Phil,

    There is a video on this page:

    http://benchcrafted.blogspot.com/201...know-jack.html

    It shows the miter jack in use with text for the instructions.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  11. #11
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    Thanks Jim. Wasn't quite understanding that the plane runs on the surface of the jaws...

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Koepke View Post
    Phil,

    There is a video on this page:

    http://benchcrafted.blogspot.com/201...know-jack.html

    It shows the miter jack in use with text for the instructions.

    jtk
    Thanks Jim! I'd never fully understood how these were used until I saw that video.
    Fred

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    Perth, Australia
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    What stops the faces of the mitre jack from being planed away?

    Regards from Perth

    Derek

  14. #14
    Two methods:
    - Glue a sacrificial surface on the faces, like cardboard or thin veneer. When the damage becomes too bad, you can replace it
    - Make sure you only plane the objects you want to plane. That will damage the face a little bit around the opening, but the rest of these faces is large enough to guide the planes sole.

  15. #15
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    My first impression was that this was not a great idea, but maybe, if the face used most was end grain, and the wood used for construction was very dense, then the damage would be minimized. I like the versatility of this approach however.

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