I just acquired a Perfection miter box made by the Union Hardware
Company. It is in really nice shape, except for the paper label on the
back which tells you what the letters stamped on the index mean. Does
anyone have an intact label?  I would like to know what the letters
indicate.

Along with the miter box, I got a Disston 5" miter saw which has an etch
saying it was made for the "Stanley Rule and Level Company." There is no
Stanley logo.  Did Stanley drop that appelation at some point in time?
If so that would date the saw prior to that date.

Jim Thompson

Jim Tompson says:
>I just acquired a Perfection miter box made by the Union Hardware
>Company. It is in really nice shape, except for the paper label on the
>back which tells you what the letters stamped on the index mean. Does
>anyone have an intact label?  I would like to know what the letters
>indicate.

Jim -- I have a Perfection mitre box with an intact label, but it is at 
home, of course, and I am not.  I can check the key on the label tonight, 
and post the letters and the corresponding angles here. 

Regards,
Joe
_______________________________________________________
Joseph G. Baron
Raleigh, NC

Hi all.   

Jim Thompson asks:

I just acquired a Perfection miter box made by the Union Hardware
Company. It is in really nice shape, except for the paper label on the
back which tells you what the letters stamped on the index mean. Does
anyone have an intact label?  I would like to know what the letters
indicate.

According to the decal:

M - Miter or 45 degrees
P -  Pentagon or 36 degrees
H - Hexagon or 30 degrees
O - Octagon or 22 degrees
W - Window or Door Sill Pitch   or 9 degrees
R - Right angle or Square cut

Joe

Jim Thompson says:
>I just acquired a Perfection miter box made by the Union Hardware
>Company... 
>...(label missing)... 
>I would like to know what the letters indicate.

Here, in all its rather stilted, sprinkled with many extraneous commas, 
style, is the full text, transcribed from my mostly intact, with just a 
few holes and smudges, label.  (The text is about 98 characters wide, so 
it might get munged by one or more of the email handlers between hither 
and yon.)

-----------------------
                                  PERFECTION MITER BOX.
                Manufactured by the UNION HARDWARE CO., Torrington, Conn., 
U. S. A.
Patented Jan. 8, 1901.  Dec. 23, 1902.  Other Patents Pending.

    The saw guides can be instantly set and rigidly held by the set screw 
at any angle wanted.  To
facilitate such adjustment with accuracy, notice the projecting gauge 
points for setting against a
"T" or angle bevel.
    Any saw may be used, back saw, panel or hand.
    For cutting to exact depths, use a back saw, the back rib resting on 
the shoulders within
the swinging guide, this guide adjusted to the proper height, will 
determine the depth, at the
same time that it keeps the guide and the saw to the angle, to be cut.
    A friction stop, operated by a strong spiral spring below the set 
screw, holds the saw guide
from sliding down on the post.
    The three screws in the arch of the saw guide control and adjust the 
opening in which the saw
moves, to the thickness of the saw blade.
    The guide is long, thus insuring accuracy.
    May be detached in a minute from the wood box and folded to carry in a 
tool chest.
    By means of the sliding key (exactly adjusted between bearings) the 
saw guide can be set to
the angles mode commonly used, indicated on the dial by the letters 
M,P,H,O,W,R,W,O,H,P,M, viz.

                                                M -- Miter or 45 degrees 
                                                P -- Pentagon or 36 (?) 
degrees
                                                H -- Hexagon or 30 degrees
                                                O -- Octagon or 22 1/2 
(??) degrees
                                                W -- Window or Door Sill 
Pitch or 9 degrees
                                                R -- Right Angle or Square 
Cut
-----------------------
The Pentagon and Octagon degrees (the complementary half-angle??) were not 
very readable on the label, but 36 and 22 1/2 is what I get when I figger 
it out.  Now that I've looked at the label again, the letters make sense 
(d'oh!).  When I first looked at them, they seemed arbitrary.  Live and 
learn.

Just wondering -- the label talks about a "strong spiral spring below the 
set screw".  I've got two of these boxes, and I've seen numerous others, 
but the springs are always missing in action.  Has anyone ever seen of 
these with the spring in place?

Regards,
Joe
_______________________________________________________
Joseph G. Baron
Raleigh, NC

Jim Thompson says:
>I just acquired a Perfection miter box made by the Union Hardware
>Company... 
>...(label missing)... 
>I would like to know what the letters indicate.

Here, in all its rather stilted, sprinkled with many extraneous commas, 
style, is the full text, transcribed from my mostly intact, with just a 
few holes and smudges, label.  (The text is about 98 characters wide, so 
it might get munged by one or more of the email handlers between hither 
and yon.)

-----------------------
                                  PERFECTION MITER BOX.
                Manufactured by the UNION HARDWARE CO., Torrington, Conn., 
U. S. A.
Patented Jan. 8, 1901.  Dec. 23, 1902.  Other Patents Pending.

    The saw guides can be instantly set and rigidly held by the set screw 
at any angle wanted.  To
facilitate such adjustment with accuracy, notice the projecting gauge 
points for setting against a
"T" or angle bevel.
    Any saw may be used, back saw, panel or hand.
    For cutting to exact depths, use a back saw, the back rib resting on 
the shoulders within
the swinging guide, this guide adjusted to the proper height, will 
determine the depth, at the
same time that it keeps the guide and the saw to the angle, to be cut.
    A friction stop, operated by a strong spiral spring below the set 
screw, holds the saw guide
from sliding down on the post.
    The three screws in the arch of the saw guide control and adjust the 
opening in which the saw
moves, to the thickness of the saw blade.
    The guide is long, thus insuring accuracy.
    May be detached in a minute from the wood box and folded to carry in a 
tool chest.
    By means of the sliding key (exactly adjusted between bearings) the 
saw guide can be set to
the angles mode commonly used, indicated on the dial by the letters 
M,P,H,O,W,R,W,O,H,P,M, viz.

                                                M -- Miter or 45 degrees 
                                                P -- Pentagon or 36 (?) 
degrees
                                                H -- Hexagon or 30 degrees
                                                O -- Octagon or 22 1/2 
(??) degrees
                                                W -- Window or Door Sill 
Pitch or 9 degrees
                                                R -- Right Angle or Square 
Cut
-----------------------
The Pentagon and Octagon degrees (the complementary half-angle??) were not 
very readable on the label, but 36 and 22 1/2 is what I get when I figger 
it out.  Now that I've looked at the label again, the letters make sense 
(d'oh!).  When I first looked at them, they seemed arbitrary.  Live and 
learn.

Just wondering -- the label talks about a "strong spiral spring below the 
set screw".  I've got two of these boxes, and I've seen numerous others, 
but the springs are always missing in action.  Has anyone ever seen of 
these with the spring in place?

Regards,
Joe
_______________________________________________________
Joseph G. Baron
Raleigh, NC