Hayward on Mitre Shooting Blocks

For the upcoming release of our La Forge Miter Jack we've uploaded an article from "The Woodworker" detailing the construction and use of a miter jack from an English perspective. Charles Hayward covered nearly every aspect of woodworking through his countless  publications, and this one doesn't disappoint. Make sure you read through the construction details, since they give clues to how the vise is used.

Download "The Mitre Shooting Block" here.

I've had a miter jack in the shop since I first discovered it early in my woodworking. It doesn't get used every day, but when its needed, nothing else will do. Shooting boards are better for repetitive, simpler tasks like mitering a flat frame member or squaring the end of a board. It's when you encounter more complex joints that the miter jack really shines. Try planing a miter on crown with a shooting board. The other plus with a miter jack is that it creates a platform around nearly the entire workpiece. This means you can pare joint shoulders in one go and know that the surfaces will be in the same plane. If you're ever screwed up tenon shoulders, you know how easy it is to chase your tail around the joint with a shoulder plane, risking blowout at each corner. A miter jack not only gives you a flat plane to work from, but also holds the work at the correct angle automatically, and backs up the work to prevent blowout.

Next week, the wooden bits for our Miter Jack Hardware ship from Lake Erie Toolworks to us. We'll start a series of posts on building the jack using the hardware, and share even more uses for this less common shop appliance.

Thanks to the folks at the traditional woodworking publishing house Lost Art Press for the scans from "The Woodworker".