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
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