It ain’t a Lion Trimmer, but…

[pop-pop]

I’ve had four of these Stanley 404 mitre clamps for well over a half-century and have occasionally used them freehand. Today, while making some sample frame corners, I noticed two countersunk holes for fastening the clamp to a surface and it sparked an idea.

An old method of fitting a mitre is kerfing. One of these mitre clamps is useful to hold the two pieces for kerfing.

After a kerf or two or three, the mitre misfits can be removed.

 

[Charles Lent]

That's how I did it for 55 years. I now do it on my miter saw or Unisaw with the miter gauge set to desired angle using a MiterSet gauge. Using this gauge to set my OEM miter gauge gets me any desired angle for a perfect fitting cut on the first try, but I have used those picture frame clamps that way for most of my adult life. It works, just not as elegantly as I can do it now.

Charley

 

[Mike Davis]

The only problem with that is allowing just enough extra to kerf and still maintain a good fit.

 

[pop-pop]

The only problem with that is allowing just enough extra to kerf and still maintain a good fit.

Measure once and cut twice.

 

[gamiller3rd]

Measure once and cut twice.

Truer words have never been said!

 

[tvrgeek]

My T-shirt says "Measure Once, curse twice"

I always had issues with my similar clamps not registering square in either plane. They are clones, not real Stanley. And of course, with a Lyon trimmer, there is a limit on how thin you can slice. I have been getting better luck with my fancy Bridge City sliding table thingie, but nothing beats a 45 degree shooting board for that last half a hair.

 

[Oka]

" I cut it twice, it's still too short, what do you want me to do now boss?"