after seeing andy's post yesterday, and hearing that a good friend's 
grandfather died yesterday, i thought to pull out my grandfather's 
miter box (a goodell-pratt 1306A from the 1920s, 
http://members.cruzio.com/~cikasper/gpa/gpwhole.jpg) and give it a 
well-deserved cleaning and tuning.  it has cut fine, but was rather 
dirty when i got it and i have favored using my stanley 358 'cause it 
doesn't dirty my work.

enough with the fiddly stanley, though.  i want to use something i 
don't have to adjust every time, and can think of gramps when i use it.

so i took off the angle attachment from the left side of the base:
http://members.cruzio.com/~cikasper/gpa/gplftstop.jpg

and the right-side length stop rod holder:
http://members.cruzio.com/~cikasper/gpa/gprtstop.jpg

gave them a good wash and they're now soaking in citric acid to get the 
rust off.  then some wax and reassembly.

i took the back panels off and will wash and soak them tonight, 
treating them the same way.

thus is pretty much everything off the base frame, excepting the saw 
carriage.  now, the knob that is supposed to lock the carriage 
intermediate to the stops on the "patented framing scale" is frozen in 
place, the carriage is dirty, and the saw guides need to be cleaned 
out.  i have the bearings out of the front one, and have to put some 
liquid wrench on the back one to get them out.

lots o'wind.  now, for the questions:

i'd like to really clean the base.  has anyone taken off the saw 
carriage assembly and successfully returned it to the base, without 
sacrificing the accuracy of the box?  i am kind of loathe to remove it, 
but also don't want to just soak the whole thing, hose it down, and put 
it in the oven to dry.  unless that's the only way.

i am missing some parts, too.  it appears from the catalog images there 
are depth stops on both the front and rear saw guides.  if so, i am 
missing one depth stop, and the formed washer that fits in the channel 
and is clamped to the guide by the screw.  i have both depth adjusters, 
the small stops that land on the depth stops, which i believe are for 
fine adjustment of the depth; these also might be to keep the saw from 
hitting the bed when the depth stops are set at their lowest.  i am 
also missing the length stop rod.  can anyone who has an original 
length stop rod tell me if it's really just an l-shaped piece of 1/4" 
square rod?  or what it looks like if not?

and a question of whatzit?  there is a stem sticking out of each saw 
guide post, which has two flat faces and a set screw; you can see it 
here on the front saw guide post, just below where the saw guide comes 
up out of it, sticking left; sticking right is the screw for the front 
depth stop:
http://members.cruzio.com/~cikasper/gpa/gpwhole.jpg

i know the all-steel boxes 
(http://members.cruzio.com/~cikasper/gpa/mfallsteelpg.jpg) 
post-acquisition versions of the g-p all steel boxes 
(http://members.cruzio.com/~cikasper/gpa/gpallsteel.1.jpg and 
http://members.cruzio.com/~cikasper/gpa/gpallsteel.2.jpg courtesy of 
roseantiquetools.com), so many of my questions might apply to your 
boxes...

any and all help is much appreciated.

bill
felton, ca

------------------------------------------------------------------------
OldTools is a mailing list catering to the interests of hand tool
aficionados, both collectors and users, to discuss the history, usage, 
value, location, availability, collectibility, and restoration of 
traditional handtools, especially woodworking tools. 

To read the FAQ, unsubscribe, or change email options, use the web 
interface at:     http://www.brendlers.net/oldtools/oldtools.html

OldTools Archive: http://www.frontier.iarc.uaf.edu/~cswingle/archive/

i know it's a faux pas of netiquette, but i fear i must answer my own  
post to tip future purchasers of goodell-pratt and miller's falls  
all-steel miter boxes to an outstanding thread discussing their  
features and adjustments, penned more than seven years ago and not  
really identified as being about these boxes in particular.

http://denali.frontier.iarc.uaf.edu:8080/~cswingle/archive/get.phtml? 
message_id=47765&submit_thread=1#message

with respect to my post:

On Sep 14, 2005, at 11:52 AM, I wrote a bunch of questions about a  
goodell-pratt miter box:

> i'd like to really clean the base.  has anyone taken off the saw  
> carriage assembly and successfully returned it to the base, without  
> sacrificing the accuracy of the box?  i am kind of loathe to remove  
> it, but also don't want to just soak the whole thing, hose it down,  
> and put it in the oven to dry.  unless that's the only way.

still no general response, nor does that thread hint at anything.

> i am missing some parts, too.  it appears from the catalog images  
> there are depth stops on both the front and rear saw guides.

this is true, there are front and rear depth stops.  they are different  
parts (which i know now for certain because of ken greenberg's  
reference in 2000 to a parts list in the back of the miller's falls  
catalog #49  
(http://denali.frontier.iarc.uaf.edu:8080/~cswingle/archive/get.phtml? 
message_id=87001&submit_thread=1#message); i assume they're mirror  
images of each other, so when i try to make one i'll be working on this  
idea.

>   if so, i am missing one depth stop, and the formed washer that fits  
> in the channel and is clamped to the guide by the screw.

called a "depth gauge bent washer".

>   i have both depth adjusters, the small stops that land on the depth  
> stops, which i believe are for fine adjustment of the depth; these  
> also might be to keep the saw from hitting the bed when the depth  
> stops are set at their lowest.

they are in fact for the latter, and if i understand the way the saw is  
supposed to be set up based on catalog pictures and photos from tom  
price's "galoot's progress" page they are not supposed to hit the top  
of the guides, but be set up opposite to them on the saw guides.

>   i am also missing the length stop rod.  can anyone who has an  
> original length stop rod tell me if it's really just an l-shaped piece  
> of 1/4" square rod?  or what it looks like if not?

again, thanks to ken's post i know now it's exactly this, and the  
goodell-pratt catalog 16 indicates that it allows for a maximum length  
of 20" in repeated cuts.  a little measuring from the edge of the miter  
box and i should be able to figure out how long to make the rod, and  
measuring its proportions from the parts picture should give me the  
length of the right angle bend.  unless someone has an original and  
wants to shoot me the measurements ;^).

> and a question of whatzit?  there is a stem sticking out of each saw  
> guide post, which has two flat faces and a set screw; you can see it  
> here on the front saw guide post, just below where the saw guide comes  
> up out of it, sticking left; sticking right is the screw for the front  
> depth stop:
> http://members.cruzio.com/~cikasper/gpa/gpwhole.jpg

and this turns out, as kirk eppler pmailed me, to be the spring release  
for the saw guides.  you can hitch the guides up to put in your work,  
then pull these out a bit to release one, then the other to the surface  
of the work.  the set screw is to keep them from being too ornery to  
move easily.

i apologise for the first message, excepting for my first question, as  
i had gone through the archives last night (i thought) pretty  
thoroughly.  i still have some exploration to do, but thought i'd bring  
any recent (ted, kyle) purchasers of these fine miter boxes up to snuff  
with the 7-year-old state of the art.

best,
bill
felton, ca
just say "pass the spitoon for a bit of shining, please"

------------------------------------------------------------------------
OldTools is a mailing list catering to the interests of hand tool
aficionados, both collectors and users, to discuss the history, usage, 
value, location, availability, collectibility, and restoration of 
traditional handtools, especially woodworking tools. 

To read the FAQ, unsubscribe, or change email options, use the web 
interface at:     http://www.brendlers.net/oldtools/oldtools.html

OldTools Archive: http://www.frontier.iarc.uaf.edu/~cswingle/archive/