Stanley Handyman Mitre Box H114A

 What? Another Mitre Box?  Yes, that would make it No 10 or 11 if you count the electric compound mitre saw in the garage. 

It is a cheaper design one, but I only paid one buck for it, so... It followed me home (Tm) :-)

That and a very familiar flashlight I used for years.

Mine was the 90 degrees version MX-991.

It works and has the red filters and the spare PR6 bulb.

Both for one buck, each, yard sale finds.

And YES, the sacrificial board on the MB is fastened offset and was used on both sides.

A great way to protect both the saw and the MB and forms a zero clearance support for the cut

I was curious about it, so I sacrificed a whole dollar on it. :-)

Quick history

 Their first such line was Defiance introduced in 1905 (screwdrivers), in 1923 the name was renewed with the US Patent office and used until the 1950s being replaced by the Handyman line.

There was also a similar line called Four Square, short lived from 1923 to 1935.

The Trade Name Handyman used to belongs to North Bros and was acquired with their 1946 merger with Stanley.

I think the Handyman line was used until the early 80s. Guessing mine is from the early70s.

Looking for a Type study? There are none, but I spotted a few differences thru the years, all in the name of Value Engineering.  Make it cheaper No 1.  Aye Aye Captain. 

Sears Craftsman had a similar Miter Box (Made by Hempe, prefix 881)

It shows how far Value Engineering can change a tool

These three designs share some DNAs.

Stanley No 150, Craftsman 881-3634, Stanley Handyman H114A

Top the Craftsman and bottom the Handyman. 

Essentially same mechanism, but with more fiddling screws adj..

Instruction label on bottom of wood board

The Sears Craftsman version, Years later

Still made by Hempe.

Forget the casting for the bed.

Make a cheap plastic injection fence.

The only metal parts are the saw guide and hardware.

NO, that is not a spring at the bottom of the post holder.

Reinforcing ribs, save on material, should be as strong.

Save for the angle locking mechanism, it is essentially identical to the Stanley design.  

There no shortage of similar patented "saw guides", they all claimed to be different and improved, but they are all very much similar.  Probably explained why my older Hempe patented box was applied for in 1948 but not issue until 1953 (Jul 7th 1953 2644493).  Never saw such a delay in my prior tool's search. 

Attached it to a piece of Termite Barf Board (Tm) :-)

Still too costly?  How about make it all in plastic?

Save for the odd screws, post and hardware.

Injection molding can makes intricate parts easy.  

Quick and fast, the part's shapes minimize the amount of assembly afterward.

Well at least they re-introduced a bed casting

An added bonus feature; A way to lock up the post.

Probably more secure and easier to adjust for stop cuts

Sure looks like plastic to me, but I could be wrong?

First impressions: 

Of my newly acquired Handyman H114A.

Not bad at all, solid.  Strongly suspect will not have the same feel if it was all plastic...

Cast bed, no machining

Only markings on bed is A416

I looked it up, there is an alloy A416, but it is stainless, so guessing a foundry part No.

Aluminum or some pot metal? (EG Zamak)

Guessing the older ones were Aluminum then they switched to a Zinc Alloy?

An older bed, Model H114, with Handyman label.

Looks like thicker walls and ribs

Pic from EBay

Mine is a later model H114A

Earlier Handyman label  H114

Pic from EBay

Notice the cut out in the back of the saw holder bracket on my H114A.

Save on material and weight (shipping).  

From the same earlier model and pictures.

The back is solid, no cut out.

Top of bracket is pointed, mine is more rounded off.

Pic from EBay

The stamped metal lever secured with a wing nut in the slanted slot, is what lock the angle.

It is also the most obvious difference at a glance I spotted from the earlier H114.

That and the bed casting is different.

The two following pics from Ebay, Model H114.

Notice the fewer ribs in the back of the fence

One solid thick piece of steel, filed or grinded in a V up front

Back to mine

Later model (H114A) used a slightly thinner piece of steel, stamped.

The front bend, makes up the V to engage the notch.

Still a very solid piece of steel.

Stamping metal is probably cheaper and faster than grinding.

Mine had a user installed piece of plywood on the bed.

Highly recommended for better results.

The bed casting has grooves at the different angles provided.

Fixed angles (notches) with no provision to adjust and lock holder in between fixed stops.

The bed casting is soft metal, will not damaged your saw teeth if cutting into it,

But a sacrificial bed is recommenced and should be used for better support of work piece. 

The bottom of the removed board, it was used on both sides and

 had its position shifted once to get undamaged wood under the saw kerf.

Due for an upgrade.

But how good is it??

Let's dig up the instructions for it and find out.

Don't look for a leaflet, 

this one has the instruction's printed on the cardboard box.

Pic from Ebay

White cardboard box with yellow prints

Pic from EBay

Later boxes are all yellow.

This one dated 1978 from seller

Model 19-114

Pic from EBay

It will accept both a panel saw or a back saw 

I put in a small back saw (12 in) to try it.

The shape at the bottom of the orange cover, does two things.

It minimized the contact surface on the saw plate, 

but it also capture the bottom of a backsaw stiffening bar. 

But the angled shape of the bend and flex in the guide plate,

allows for a less than positive stop.

This provide a stop cut action.  

By moving the saw plate up down on the post you can set it for stop cuts.

In my experiments that is not a positive stop and the saw can slip.

Cut is bang on 90 degrees.

Only minus is a very small slant to the left on the thickness.

Operator error or saw set??

I am frankly impressed with this little box. Solidly built, but still light and portable with decent accuracy.

To improve its performance, I would highly recommend bolting it down on your work surface, slots provided in casting for that purpose.  It is after all on the light side.

Luckily my row of 3/4 holes up front had just the right spacing.

Used my jig's hardware assortment from LV to find suitable fastener

While true of any Miter Box, the following will also helps:
Once secured, your cuts accuracy will improve, secured the work piece also, instead of just relying on your hands, will improve further accuracy.

If the saw used still want to drift right or left, check for uneven saw set at the tooth line. 

The favored side has too much set, run a file, 

flat, lightly on it, then recheck.  

Its size is really meant for small work, like moulding pieces and small frames, NOT carpentry framing..

As with many design of this type of Miter box, you can use either a small panel saw (Handsaw smaller than 20 inches) or a backsaw.  The stiffness imparted by the back on the saw (Backsaw) makes for a stiffer saw plate cutting more accurately, while a small handsaw (Panel saw) has some whip (flex) to it, introducing small vibrations in your cuts. Nothing too serious, but visible to the trained eye and my microscope :-).

As I said earlier the accuracy out of the box is pretty good, sufficient for some applications, but for utmost accuracy, you should then always shoot your angles on a shooting board.  It will both removes saw whiskers and true up your angles exactly... to the shooting board angle, so make it good.

Lets do a quick experiment by putting it thru small tasks.

Tools used.

Small tenon saw, 90 degrees Engineers square, 45 degrees Mitre square, Kerfmaster, Micrometer, Chisel & Mallet, Router

Cut a lap joint using stop cuts

After ensuring the saw could cut straight at 90 degrees, miking the saw tooth line to adjust my kerfmaster, it was time to adjust it to the width of my piece to sink in

Adjusting the Kerfmaster to the width of the piece

Making adjustment for my stop cuts. Not quite half.

I am eyeballing it, but I would simply use a known thickness block (setting blocks) 

to set it for better accuracy 

you simply used it with a stop block.

One way...

Then the other.

This ensure that the two parallel cuts would be the right distance, 

accounting for the kerf with

Not quite same depth on both side, Operator error.

Again eyeballing, and not trusting the depth stop setting.

quick work with a chisel and my router

Nice tight fit, off the saw

Cut a corner miter for 90 degrees

Fun fact about angle cuts.  If you cut a piece of wood at 45ish degrees then put those two parts together, they will form a perfect (complementary) 90 degrees.  Cut two different pieces of wood the same way, then put them together, you now have twice the error.

Test pieces A and B.

First angle cut, both pieces mated.

Bang on, of course.

Wanna make it a harder test? Cut your first piece on a 45 degrees setting, then cut the other by first swinging the holder to the other 45 degrees (right or left).  You now have introduced more errors in the mix.

Cut one way.

Labeled 1

Then the other way.

For some reasons had more fiddling to lock it properly at 45 on this LHS.

Also added a clamp to immobilize the piece, much easier and precise.

Labeled 2 

Then I mixed and match various combinations of A, B, 1 and 2.

all fit pretty good at 90.  All good.

So all in all, recommended.  Had some issues with the guide locking mechanism, nothing serious. While it cannot afford the precision of a two guides Miter Box design (more rigid), it demonstrably afford sufficient accuracy to be useful off the saw.

Its design, small size and weight also makes it much more portable than a regular Miter Box, albeit a old school wooden box is probably equal in this regard.

An old school wooden mitre box.

Sized to cut construction lumber 2X4s

Considering its simple design and few parts, it should be easy to find a complete one.

But beware, I've seen one on EBay, in excellent condition... with a missing locking metal wedge, rendering it useless :-(.

I seen them at around $35+ on Ebay (plus ridiculous shipping), but that is too much considering you can get a Stanley No 150 MB for around $75 or a good old two post MB: Langford, MF or Stanley around $100ish a bit more for a newer Nobex if you look around. Craig list, Kijiji etc, cheaper still in yard sales

 I would not pay more than $20ish from a dealer or $5-10  or so in a yard sale for such a Handyman tool.

What I think it is worth, your results may varies :-)

Bob, with apparently a big pile of tools to put away, before someone bangs a toe on them, go figured :-)