Patent ID: 8371200

Claim:
A miter box for clamping a work piece in place so as to provide for cutting the work piece at selected angles, the miter box comprising: a rectangular elongated base having a top surface to support the work piece and at least one channel formed in the top surface perpendicular to the side wall; a pair of opposed side walls extending vertically from the base and having opposing inner faces, wherein the sidewalls have at least one slot in alignment with each other; at least one guide rail positioned in the channel perpendicular to the side wall and having an integrated gear rack along a top surface of the guide rail; and at least one clamping assembly positioned on the guide rail selectively moveable along the guide rail to clamp a work piece in a selected position, the clamping assembly having downwardly biased ratchet teeth to mesh with the integrated gear rack, the ratchet teeth are moved upward by a release that has a pair of arms that extend on opposite sides of the clamping assembly to allow a user to grasp with two fingers and move the ratchet teeth upward so the clamping assembly can be moved away from the work piece.