Multi-angle miter box with clamping feature

A miter box adapted for use with a saw for making cuts at each of a multiplicity of angles, comprising:

• a base comprised of a table having a generally planar upper surface;
• a saw guide assembled with said base and constructed for receiving the blade of a saw for cutting movement over said table upper surface, said saw guide being pivotable on an axis of pivoting relative to said base so as to enable the saw, mounted on said saw guide, to be aligned on each of a multiplicity of radii extending from said axis of pivoting;
• an upstanding fence member providing a back supporting surface having elements defining a support plane substantially perpendicular to the plane in which said upper surface of said table lies;
• and
• means for clamping a workpiece against said fence member, said means for clamping comprising:
• channel-defining means defining at least a first channel recessed into said upper surface of said table and having a proximal end near said fence member and a distal end remote therefrom, said first channel being defined by shaped opposite sidewalls which substantially replicate one another and are characterized by a multiplicity of substantially identical structural elements spaced regularly along the length of said first channel and projecting toward a center line thereof;
• a first lug piece dimensioned and configured to engage and mate with said substantially identical structural elements by which said shaped opposite sidewalls of said first channel are characterized so as to seat in said first channel at each of a multiplicity of locations along the length thereof, said first lug piece having opposite ends and opposite lateral surfaces extending therebetween, said lateral surfaces being formed with fixed mating structural features that correspond to said structural elements of said shaped opposite sidewalls for engaging matingly said opposite sidewalls of said first channel when seated therein, thereby to effectively lock said first lug piece against displacement along said first channel from each of said multiplicity of locations;
• and a first clamping piece mounted on said first lug piece for rotation about an axis normal to said plane of said upper surface of said table when said first lug piece is seated in said first channel, said first clamping piece having at least one projecting lobe portion with a bearing surface thereon disposed substantially at said plane of said table upper surface for being brought, by rotation of said first clamping piece, into clamping engagement with a workpiece supported against said back supporting surface of said fence member, when said first lug piece is seated in said first channel proximate to the workpiece.