Patent Application
20150020657
1. Technical Field
This disclosure generally relates to woodworking tools, and more specifically relates to a fence for a miter box.
2. Background Art
Miter boxes have been used for many years by finish carpenters. A miter box allows a finish carpenter to cut angled cuts that provide attractive joints for a variety of different finishing work, such as window and door casings, baseboard, and crown molding. Cutting crown molding presents a unique challenge because crown molding is installed at an angle with respect to the wall and ceiling. As a result, cutting a traditional 45 degree angle in crown molding requires a compound miter cut, which means the saw blade is typically set at a first angle (such as 45 degrees) with respect to the miter box fence, and the blade is then tilted at an appropriate angle. Compound miter cuts create unique challenges for the finish carpenter for a variety of reasons. First, because crown moldings are made to be installed at different angles, a different compound miter cut must be used for each different angle of crown molding. For example, crown moldings that have a designed angle with respect to the wall of 38 degrees, 45 degrees, and 52 degrees are common. To make an appropriate compound miter cut, the finish carpenter must first determine the appropriate angle of the crown molding being used, then use a table that converts the angle of the crown molding to an appropriate blade tilt on the miter saw. Another challenge to cutting crown molding is the molding is laid flat and pressed against the fence, which is not representative of how it is installed. As a result, it is easy to get confused regarding which direction the cut needs to go, and whether the top or bottom of the crown molding is held against the fence.
Several devices have addressed some of the problems in cutting crown molding by providing various ways to hold crown molding at an angle while cutting, which eliminates the need for performing compound miter cuts. For example, if a 45 degree crown molding is held at a 45 degree angle instead of being held flat, a single miter cut is all that is needed instead of a compound miter cut. These devices can be classified as two separate types. The first type is a device separate from the miter saw that holds the crown molding at an angle while the saw cuts the crown molding. Examples of these are show in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,481,320, D557,296 and D640,112. The second type is a fence system for a miter saw that provides stops on the horizontal part of the fence that allow placing crown molding between the stops and the vertical part of the fence at the appropriate angle. Examples of these are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 346,240, 752,406, 3,397,722, 4,875,399 and 7,726,224. Both of these types hold the crown molding at the appropriate angle while cutting, thereby eliminating one of the angles needed during the cut. This allows crown molding to be cut with a miter saw using simple miter cuts instead of using compound miter cuts.
One drawback of the second type of devices discussed above is the stops for the crown molding are placed on top of the flat surface of the fence. If the finish carpenter then needs to use the miter box for cutting flat stock such as a door casing, the device used to cut the crown molding must be removed. What is needed is a miter box fence system that allows cutting crown molding and that allows cutting flat stock without modification of the fence system.
A miter box fence system includes a vertical portion and a movable portion that may be moved with respect to the vertical portion. The movable portion includes a notch that allows one edge of crown molding to be placed in the notch while the other edge of the crown molding extends towards the vertical portion. The movable portion may be moved with the crown molding in place until the crown molding makes appropriate contact with the bottom of the notch and with the vertical portion. The movable portion may then be secured in place. Because the notch in the movable portion creates a stop for cutting crown molding, and because the notch is below the flat portion of the movable portion, the miter box fence system may be used to cut both crown molding and flat stock without modification.
The foregoing and other features and advantages will be apparent from the following more particular description, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
The disclosure will be described in conjunction with the appended drawings, where like designations denote like elements, and:
A miter box fence system 100 is shown in
Because crown molding is installed at an angle with respect to the wall and ceiling, cutting crown molding when laid flat on a miter box fence requires making a compound miter cut. The angle of the compound miter cut will vary with the angle of the crown molding. The compound miter cut may be eliminated if the crown molding is held at the appropriate angle while being cut.
A cross-sectional view of the miter box fence system 100 in
Crown molding may be cut using the miter box fence system 100 by placing a first edge of the crown molding into the notch 330 and by placing a second edge of the crown molding against the vertical planar surface 310, as shown in
One of the advantages to the miter box fence system 100 is the finish carpenter can visualize what cut to make based on the orientation of the crown molding. Thus, in the configuration shown in
One significant advantage of the miter box fence system 100 is the ability to cut flat stock such as baseboard 810 without making any changes to the miter box fence system 100, as shown in
The miter box fence system 100 may be made of any suitable material, including wood, plastic, metal, composite or synthetic materials, etc. The most preferred materials are wood and plastic, which provide the necessary rigidity while allowing a miter saw to easily cut the miter box fence system 100 that is directly under the blade.
The miter box fence system 100 may be used on motorized miter saws or on manual miter saws. The miter box fence system 100 may be attached to the miter saw in any suitable way, such as using nuts and bolts to couple the vertical portion 110 to a corresponding vertical fence on the miter saw. This could be done, by way of example, using flathead screws that extend through the vertical portion then through corresponding holes in the vertical fence on the miter saw, thus recessing the flat heads below the vertical planar surface 310 so the screws do not interfere with use of the miter box fence system. Of course, wing nuts could replace the hex nuts shown in the figures to make it easier to adjust the movable portion by hand without using tools.
Various fasteners could also be used to movably couple the movable portion 120 to the vertical portion 110. Nuts and bolts are shown as one example, and any suitable fastener could be used for coupling the movable portion 120 to the vertical portion 110 in a way that the movable portion may be moved or adjusted, then fixed in the adjusted position. For example, the internal portion of movable portion 120 could be threaded. In this configuration, access to the head of the bolt from the back side of the vertical portion would allow a user to turn the head of the bolt to move the movable portion. Another possible configuration is to use smooth rods instead of bolts, with friction push nuts that have a release mechanism. In addition, the number of fasteners could vary. Thus, while the figures show four bolts, any suitable number of fasteners could be used. In addition, a more complex design is clearly within the scope of the disclosure and claims herein. For example, the movable portion 120 could be movably coupled to the vertical portion 110 using a track and rail system, similar to a drawer sliding on drawer guides, with a locking mechanism to lock the movable portion 120 in a desired position. The disclosure and claims herein expressly extend to any suitable fastener, number of fasteners, and mechanisms that can couple movable portion 120 to vertical portion 110 in a way that is adjustable, yet allows fixing the movable portion 120 in a desired position.
The miter box fence system provides an easy way to cut crown molding using a single miter cut instead of a compound miter cut. The finish carpenter can easily visualize what cut needs to be made because of the orientation of the crown molding. In addition, flat stock may be cut without any changes to the miter box fence system.
One skilled in the art will appreciate that many variations are possible within the scope of the claims. Thus, while the disclosure is particularly shown and described above, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that these and other changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the claims.
