Megan Fitzpatrick and I drove up to Columbus, Ohio, last Thursday with Al Parrish, our staff photographer. We visited Ron Herman at the shop for his business, Antiquity Builders of Ohio. Ron had recently shot a couple of videos for us; one on sharpening saws and one on a joinery exercise. He’s working on an … Read more
Tag Archives: Ron Herman
Ron Herman’s DVD on Saw Sharpening
One of my goals in this job has been to help produce a saw sharpening video that makes sense of all the dogma about this simple task. Should you set the teeth before or after you file them? Should you sharpen fleam from one side of the saw? Or turn the saw around to do … Read more
The Forgotten Miter Box
Once common, the miter box has been relegated to garage sales. Here’s why you should find one for your workshop.
By Ron Herman
Pages: 36-39
From the November 2010 issue # 186
Buy this issue now
I build houses for a living, and I have a full array of power equipment at my disposal. Yet, when I trim out a house or construct built-ins, I almost always turn to one of my manual miter boxes.
These nearly forgotten tools are more accurate than power saws. They can handle stock and mouldings that many power saws struggle with. And they are cheap, rugged and are hiding under every rock (if you know where to look).
In fact, miter boxes have always been a staple of my family’s construction business, and I think they should be in your workshop as well. So here’s an introduction to one of my favorite tools.
Web site: Read about backsaws and other saws on our site.
Web site: Visit the web site of the Mid-West Tool Collectors Association. Join and attend a tool meet.
To buy: Lie-Nielsen Toolworks makes replacement miter box saws in custom sizes.
In our store: “Handtool Essentials” contains lots of great articles on saws and getting started in hand work. Read more