ggs: I used a mitre jack with a plane for a good while, but then I got
a guillotine mitre trimmer (just like a Pootatuck but made by his brother-in-
law, I believe) can't recall the maker's name---anyway, I sold the
mitre jack last August at the Best in the West PNTC extravagoonza and a
guy from Lee Valley bought it. I can't remember his name either, but he
told me all the old time guys used paring chisels, on account of the
plane cutting in to the jaws doing it my way. My way was to send the
work through the jaws a little more than I wanted to plane off; I used
a mitre plane, and practically never hit the jaws. They'd been hit
before I got it, plenty, but it still worked fine for me. Since using
such a tool is art, not science, you can do it with a roller or a
brush, so to speak, and if you're building your own mitre hack (how
hard can it be?) you can be the boss of how it's utilized. I do *like*
the idea of paring with the work held suchlike, but it never occurred
to me. best to all---gammage If you were Einstein's father, we wouldn't
have the bomb." Peggy Hill

--- On Wed, 7/13/11, Adam R. Maxwell  wrote:

> From: Adam R. Maxwell  Subject: [OldTools] mitre jack
> usage (was Re: mutant workbench) To: "oldtools porch" 
> Date: Wednesday, July 13, 2011, 8:35 PM Ed Minch asked:
> >> >> > How do you use that miter(re) jack? Looks
> like its backwards
>> I replied:
>> >> Well, I clamp the stock between the jaws, then
> plane the approximate
> >> 45 to a more accurate angle. The only time I've
> seen one in use was
> >> on Roy's show. I like to look down the ramp face
> as I'm planing, but
> >> could well have something backwards :). Mine is
> still set up for
> >> clamping in a face vise, and I've not fixed that
> yet.
>> Darrell LaRue then wrote:
>> > I keep seeing people advocating the use of PLANES with
> mitre jacks.
> > Even Roy Underhill does it.
>> http://www.pbs.org/woodwrightsshop/video/2800/2803.html That episode
>> is where I learned that a mitre jack existed,
> and how it might be employed (@ 17:45 minutes in).
>> > Matt Turner (former Galoot and builder of skinny
> boats) once showed me
> > how he uses a mitre jack: with a really big paring
> chisel.=A0 The long, wide,
> > massive (and dead flat) blade registers on the face of
> the jaws, and you
> > simply slice off whatever sticks up.=A0 It will not
> bite into the jaws, so no need
> > for paper or tape for protection.
>> This would work well, if my wide chisel actually had a flat
> back :). Good catch on the tape; I use blue masking tape and plane
> until I hit it, which is easier than gluing cardboard on as some
> advocate.
>> I've also seen articles discussing the use of a saw with a
> mitre jack, and claiming a French origin for the tool:
>> http://theparttimewoodworker.blogspot.com/2010/08/saw-that-never-
>> was.html http://www.leevalley.com/en/newsletters/Woodworking/5/5/col-
>> lection.htm The idea is that you saw first, then finish with a mitre
> plane.=A0 The saw shown in the photos looks perfect for this purpose,
> and I'd really like to find or make one.
>> Are there any other ways to use these things?=A0 Any
> other galoots who have made and/or used one of these want to weigh in?
>> --> Adam, sometimes backwards in Port Angeles WA
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