# Mitre Jack



## Steve Maskery (1 Jul 2009)

I don't know how many of you have the FWW special on Jigs. It was on the shelves of my local WHS a few months ago. It's all reprints from FWW, of course, but it's a handy little collection.

One that caught my eye was a Mitre Jack (although it appears that the Americans know it as a Miter Shoot). The article was written by Toby Winteringham from Norfolk, UK.

The reason I noticed it was because my dad used to have one. I remember seeing it when I was a kid, but I've no idea what happened to it. I haven't got it and I don't suppose my brothers have either, so I don't know where it's gone. But it's a jolly useful tool.

I've spent the last couple of days making one up. It was rather more work than I had anticipated to be honest. I'd forgotten how hard it is to hand-plane beech in 80 degrees.

Anyway, here is the end result:






Just clamp in my sawn mitre and plane it flush:





It's absolutely fantastic, perfect mitres every time, and it handles large sections that a shooting board wouldn't even look at - That moulding there is 54mm thick. I'm very pleased. 

And I have to say a very big Thank You to Gareth for going shopping for me to get the veneer press screw. Gold Star and a Team Point!

Cheers
Steve


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## Paul Chapman (1 Jul 2009)

Very nice, Steve, but how do you avoid planing the jig when the workpiece becomes flush :? 

Cheers :wink: 

Paul


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## DaveL (1 Jul 2009)

Paul Chapman":1pzxq4h8 said:


> Very nice, Steve, but how do you avoid planing the jig when the workpiece becomes flush :?



The very thought going round in my head as well. :-k


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## Steve Maskery (1 Jul 2009)

Well, you plane carefully. It will need dressing from time to time, but Toby reckons he needs to do his only once a year.

S


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## Paul Chapman (1 Jul 2009)

OK, thanks Steve.

Cheers :wink: 

Paul


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## cutting42 (6 Jul 2009)

Steve Maskery":2108cuwl said:


> And I have to say a very big Thank You to Gareth for going shopping for me to get the veneer press screw. Gold Star and a Team Point!



So that's what you wanted it for!

You are most welcome and thanks for the tea, tour and lunch.


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## wizer (6 Jul 2009)

doh. Steve I have a pair of them in my loft which will be hitting eBay soon


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## Steve Maskery (6 Jul 2009)

Well you should have no trouble getting rid of them on here to anyone who needs a good mitre solution. It's the bees knees.

The only slight design flaw is the fact that the swing of the handle is greater than the clearance of the jig itself, so it limits you as to how far into the vice you can clamp the unit. This could easily be overcome by making the whole thing a bit bigger.

But I heartily recommend it.
S


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## WellsWood (6 Jul 2009)

wizer":3q9riian said:


> doh. Steve I have a pair of them in my loft which will be hitting eBay soon



A pair? S'cuse my curiosity, but how do you come to have a pair of something most of us have probably never even seen Tom?

Looks like a damn useful bit of kit though, can I have first refusal on one when you decide to get rid?


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## OPJ (6 Jul 2009)

Steve Maskery":1vovzhfn said:


> Well, you plane carefully. It will need dressing from time to time, but Toby reckons he needs to do his only once a year.



...That probably corresponds to the amount of use the jig actually gets!!  :wink:

Only joking! I can see how this jig would be much easier to use than a shooting board for larger work.


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## Steve Maskery (6 Jul 2009)

He reckons he uses it on every job. One side is 45 deg, the other is 90 deg for trimming tenon shoulders and the like.
S


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## AndyT (8 Jul 2009)

Nice jig. I've an old Woodworker annual with a piece (prob by Charles Hayward) describing one of these. He says to stick pieces of card across the working faces and replace them if they get cut into. Might be easier.

Andy


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## Benchwayze (11 Jul 2009)

I suppose you could always put a router on 3mm thick 'skis', and use a properly adjusted end-mill, to trim the end-grain! :twisted:  

John.


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## FatFreddysCat (12 Jul 2009)

Paul Chapman":33vxuls5 said:


> Very nice, Steve, but how do you avoid planing the jig when the workpiece becomes flush :?


The old timers used to face off the jaws by glueing a layer of pasteboard onto each face. When the pasteboard got torn up it was easier to replace and more accurate than refacing with the plane. Pasteboard was often used for files, folders, etc in the office before the days o plastic. These shooting blocks certainly only ever came out if the mitre guillotine blades were all away at the sharpeners because some fool apprentice had nicked the last pair  

Steve

I noticed that your jaws appear to be made from single pieces of timber rather than the "bricks" I recall. Presumably that was done for stability. Your method of working seems different, too. The ones I've seen had a wooden block screwed to the underside so they could be held in a vice lengths ways to the bench. The bench top then supported the workpiece and the mitre plane was used "downhill", so to speak as opposed to holding the mitre shooting block flat and leaving the work to dangle unsupported.


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## Steve Maskery (12 Jul 2009)

FFC
The jaws are laminated - 3 pieces each - not solid. I alternated the growth-rings, too.

Yes there is a block on the back, that is what is held in the vice. If I were to make this again, I'd play about with options for that. It's fine for mitres in the vice, but for 90 deg shoots I have to use it in the tail vice. That's OK, but the swing of the handle gets in the way a bit. That's the only criticism I have of it really

Cheers
Steve


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