Mitre boxes are invaluable if you need to cut a significant amount of wood at an angle. You could be making something for the home or for work, but whatever reason you have for needing it, you’ll soon find you get your money’s worth from having a mitre box handy.
You can buy them in all kinds of places too, and they aren’t hugely expensive. Since it is a good item to have in your basics section of tools, you should definitely make sure you have one.
Of course if you have bought a proper mitre saw you probably won’t see the point in buying a mitre box. But sometimes it can be useful to have one around the house, because you can use it with a normal saw. If you only have one cut to make it can be a lot simpler to grab a saw and your mitre box and use those instead of a mitre saw. So there is definitely a case for having both in your arsenal of tools and associated items.
The name mitre box is slightly misleading though if you are expecting to buy a box shaped item. It is designed with various grooves in it at certain points, so you can decide on the angle you want and keep the wood still while you cut it at that precise angle.
The first thing you should do when you buy a new mitre box is to think about making a sample cut on a sample piece of wood. This will get you used to using it and you will know what to expect when you need to make a real cut for a particular reason. You will also have more confidence when you are cutting because you will have tried it and you’ll feel better at cutting a proper length of wood. If you have skirting board or coving that needs to be cut properly, you don’t want to start with that if you haven’t tried cutting with one of these before.
So if you don’t have a mitre box, think about adding one to your collection. Even if you have a mitre saw you can easily find time to use one of these when you have a single cut to do. And once you have one you will be glad you spent that small amount of money buying it.