I needed a miter box to help a neighbor replace some small trim on his bay window. I didn't want to haul my boat anchor-of-a-miter saw for these small pieces. I watched this video three or four times then built one. My neighbor was stunned at how dead on accurate the cuts were and said, "that's brilliant!" I told him that it's Paul Seller's idea not mine I just copied him. Thank you Paul!
Yes, Acrprmann, I pay attention. I watch Mr. Paul Sellers, working with chisels and hand planes, and hand saws and such as often as I can. My Favorite of all wood working videos on the internet, is watching Paul Sellers make the Geometric Inlay. Utilizing this very design of miterbox. I made the Poorman router, the dovetail guide. When a woodworking master teaches, they stop and mention what to be more Critical off. I had never even Heard of a knife wall. Never, until watching Paul Sellers cutting several across a board. I utilize the knife wall all the time now. As well, I stopped using a pencil, and began using a marking knife. All things I learned by watching the Master woodworker. Seeing Paul file away the teeth on a saw blade and recut them, my head still spins. Then, among all else, I watched Paul Sellers make the Dovetail guide on a board, mark out the lines to cut and, then flip the board over and mark the opposite side. The simplest low set up time of any tool. This is what I do every Early Am. I enjoy Paul's videos. Well done Mr. Sellers. Simply well done. I love the ending of the Geometric inlay video when you place the bookmark into your own book, that is clever beyond words.
Mr. Sellers, I am always amazed at how simply you are are to breakdown complex joinery. Your videos are worth your weight in gold. Every time I watch them, I am fully captivated and engaged in what you do. You are truly a master of the craft and I feel privileged to have a glimpse into your world. Thank you for all you do.
Never ceases to amaze me how efficiently you work. You work so efficiently it almost looks like you are working very slowly but as I follow along with your videos I find myself looking for the remote to rewind button because I'm so slow... I have to remind myself you've been doing this for 50+ years. Love all the videos! beginning my doorman's workbench build next week! Please don't stop.
+Darrell Gardner - Sharp tools (which cut very fast) make things look easy. Watch (if you haven't) some of Paul's saw, plane, and chisel sharpening videos. Knowing how to use them completes the formula for "easy" woodworking.
Thanks for the tip, I've actually watched every single one of his videos. I've began sharpening my saws, made a few mallets (getting ready to make another out of osage orange), winding sticks, making a TV stand now... in preps for the bench. I've been a machinist for 23 years and just getting into (6 months so far) traditional woodworking. What I find difficult is transferring from metal where I'm used to .0001 tolerances, to wood where the tolerances are layout are obviously different. I'll get there, it's just going to take a bit of time breaking the habit of precision and use to fractions vise decimals lol.
I bought a Mitre box years ago. It was sloppy where the saw guides were but I stuck some duct tape on one side of the channel to remove the sloppiness. It works a treat I made this too and it’s very accurate. Thank you
Paul, as a newbe in woodworking, your time and help has been a great benefit to me . I spent a lot of time learning about tools and techniques from you. Thanks for taking the time to help us learn from your videos.
Useful, simple & effective. Inexpensive too. Thanks Paul! On a side note, I hope that you start teaching again here in the USA. I look forward to another class.
There is only one thing I can say.God, I love watching you work (teach).What ever word or words you want to use to describe what you do.I have learned so much & expect to learn so much more.I have received confirmation that my recent book order should be in my splintered hands in about 3 to 4 weeks.I can hardly wait. I feel like I did as a little kid on Christmas morning.Thank You so very much for what you do for the wood working community,I am also very thankful for the internet. Without it I don't know if I would have found you.I hope this doesn't sound to mushy. But then again I really don't care.Marty
Have been using a store bought mitre box and as you noted, "...sloppy..." So glad to see this video. As always, thank you for your inspirational tutorials. Looking forward to getting your book.
That's easy! The idea appears to be spend a few extra seconds to get two precise 45s that will produce many 45s...for those times when I'm away from my shop...love it! I gotta hunt down that double-sided tape too! Paul defied me to pull it apart...not to prove him wrong, but to test the strength.
I guess im asking the wrong place but does any of you know of a tool to log back into an instagram account?? I stupidly forgot the password. I would love any help you can offer me.
@Camilo Moises Thanks so much for your reply. I found the site through google and Im in the hacking process now. Takes a while so I will get back to you later when my account password hopefully is recovered.
Hi Paul, Ive seen you use some very nice marking gauges over the years. The one you used today seems very easy & fast to adjust. Would you show us how to make one like this? Thanks. You are a true Master!!
I'm not as proficient as you in cutting that neatly, my miters are not quite 45 degrees (though I'm getting better). But I put another 1x3 on the other side as well, same height, and cut the complementing piece of wood on the other side: if my miter on side1 is a bit over 45deg it will be the same amount under 45deg on side2, and together they always make 90 degrees. voila. :) crisis averted.
T.C After 40+ years in fine furniture I had never thought about what you just said. The two pieces would have to compliment themselves perfectly making it a perfect 90 deg. every time! This is very good for painted or say higher-up trim not seen as close. For what I do with furniture 99% I could not use this tip but..., very clever indeed.
@@axegrinder3746 As long as you use the same slot in reverse it will cut the opposing angle. In the end you really need to use a shooting board for the best accuracy.
So way back before power tools. How did finish carpenters make off angle cuts for miters and stuff. Like 48 degrees or something. Miter boxes only seem to do perfect angles. Why am I asking? Sometimes as a landlord I have to cut one piece of trim and I don't have my Miter saw with me. I have my manual saw... and some wood. This seems like a good option. Did pre-powertool carpenters just make a custom miter box every time? Maybe they just got a really good at making really accurate off cut angles free hand.
True master. You need accurate 45? mark it and cut it free hand while eyballing it. That is master level experience with a saw. Mine isn't great as all my freehand cuts are not straight or plumb or perpendicular to work, same with freehand drilling. I base my accuracy on jigs for now. Maybe I'll reach a level where i can rely on my cuts to be plumb just from feel and experience.. somewhere in distance future perhaps.
You should have put a mini starrett square on that miter at the end to show how perfect it was.. I'm gonna make myself a fret slot miter box for .023" kerf & put a piece of plexi on two wing nuts into the saw to adjust the depth, That's the idea anyhow instead of buying an expensive setup & saw from Stewart McCdonald
yeah, i know....Sorry, what i meant whas, i love to see you work on something that are bigger better stronger and more komplex....i just love to see how you do it.... I have seen every vidio, all of them.... =)
+Magnus Johnsson He presents more complicated projects at woodworkingmasterclasses.com. He charges a nominal fee for access to the project videos, but as a paying member I will say that it is well worth it.
Excellent quick tip, Paul! Out of curiosity, any recommendations for a reliable and accurate combination square? The two I own are annoyingly prone to wiggling apart and going out of square.
+Max Makes I may be wrong, but I seem to remember noticing that Paul uses a 'Starret.' I have 2 of them (miniature 6" and the 12", like Paul's) and have found them to be convenient to use (i.e. not too heavy) and accurate.
+Raphael Kaschka You are probably talking about twist drills here and these can only be sharpened on grinding wheels as they are too hard for filing or on stones.
Great video, thank you, but I don't know what the name of the tool is that you used to mark the angles on the miter box. :( I don't like having to ask someone at the home improvement stores because they see 1. I'm a woman, 2. I'm a bit "seasoned" (60 yrs old) and 3. I'm blonde. I guess it's natural for anyone who notices these 3 things about me to assume I have no idea what I'm doing which is sometimes offensive to me, especially if I'm already having a rough day. I've actually been known to lash out at an innocent young man who thought he would help me by giving me advice based on his "vast knowledge and experience" he aquired in just a few months of working at the store. Hmph! If the poor kid refers to me as "Ma'am" instead of "Miss", well then he's really in for it. So dear sir, that said, I'm pretty sure you can understand why I'd appreciate it if you named the tools you were using in your videos. (I'm pretty positive the kids working at home improvement stores would appreciate it as well, even more so than I) ...wink, wink... Thank you so much.
Hey Paul,what brand is your tenon saw and how much does it cost ? Can you recommend a good saw for dovetails and box joints,something that doesn't cost 200$,i have some boxes to make in a future and i am in a need of a non profesional tool that will get the job done,something between chinese junk and Veritas 500$ saw.I am on a budget ,i heard hacksaws can be used as well ,is that true??? Very nice and educational video as usualy,keep a good job!
zumbazumba1 you can use almost anything, but there are trade-offs. I've heard of people using hacksaws, and getting good results-the most important thing is how you use your body and how you prepare the stock-but hacksaws are set up to cut metal, so it's going to be harder and take longer to make the cut. I have no idea about surface finish, tho. if you're just buying a couple of saws, you might look at the Lie Nielsen ones-afaik, they are the most reasonably priced premium saws available, now, and they work great. another thing you could check out is Paul's frame saw video. he made a really simple saw for very little money. the reason I didn't go that route is that I haven't been able to find blades that matched what I wanted-the easiest option is to use a miter-box saw blade, and they are all crosscut, afaik. there's a 32tpi blade by Nobex on Highland Woodworking for $17. they also have a complete frame saw with a Japanese-style blade for $125. for joinery, if the frame saw is too big (as most of the commercial ones seem to be) it'll be hard to control. also, I have had a hard time with the inline handle (like the gent's saw he's using)-I'd much rather have a back-saw-style handle. if you build one yourself, that's an option. for myself, in order to learn from a firm foundation, I wanted clear, traditional cross- and rip-cut blades, so I went with the Lie Nielsen tenon and carcass saws. but Paul got really good results with the frame saw he made, so that might be a good option for you. Dan Cutler mentioned Crown, and their prices seem to be pretty good-maybe cheaper than Lie Nielsen. I can't speak to the quality personally. the price of their dovetail saw is very good, but it's really short. I have no idea if that's a good thing or a bad thing.
+zumbazumba1 Nope. Hacksaws don't quite slice it for me. Actually the best inline Gents saw for the money if you do want to buy new is the Veritas one which can be had in the UK for under £40. I wish it had 16 ppi but they do hold a cutting edge well and I can resharpen them with a fine file.
+Dan Cutler If you do buy the crown or any of those made by Thomas Flynn with the Gent's-style handle you will need to sharpen them when they come as they don't out their best efforts into this part of their saw making, shameful though that is. Just see the saw as a kit.
+ThoperSought Lot's of info there but please don't be put of by inline gents saws as they are some of the very best because they give the most direct thrust. Lie Nielsen saws are not really inexpensive at around £96 here in the UK. That's 3 times that of Veritas I believe. Somewhat prohibitive to many woodworkers without better results. Depends on what you want but i don't want people getting the impression they must have to spend a lot. Actually, it may not look as pretty, but the Zona 24PPI modellers saw cuts pristine cuts too and that's only £10.
it's a board which allows a plane to run up the side of it at a 90 degree angle to ensure the cut is 90 degrees (or whatever angle you set the board to.
Frustrated. I've tried this device so many times and still can't seem to get my miters correct. My box cut is true and straight, but when I use it to make single cut to a piece of 2x2, then rotate one of the two cut pieces 180* to check, I'm way out of square.
I'm think you misinterpreted my comment Derek. I was not implying that Mr. Sellers jig was poorly designed, I was looking for friendly advice or constructive tips as to how I might figure out what I was doing wrong. You gave me neither.
Derek Charette If it is such a elementary skill, why don't you tell him what he did wrong? So that he may correct his ' operator error '. Maybe you can't teach, therefore you are not inclined to be making this type of comments. If you are not here to help, keep your opinions to yourself.
Not poor but I refuse to buy YET ANOTHER wildly inaccurate hand mitre. I can't make Mr Sellers' shooting board, don't have the tools, but THIS I can hack. Many Thanks!