Making my own shooting board

[disco_monkey79]

I know this has come up a gazillion times before, and I've been reading through the various threads, but...

Are these available to buy? The reason I ask is that I've got no way of cutting a dead straight edge for the guide piece (hence the need for a shooting board in the first place), otherwise I'd be happy to have a crack at making my own.

Or if anyone has any suggestions for getting that straight edge in the first place.

Also, does it matter what wood is used? I've seen them made out of scrap ply, and also from fancy-looking hardwoods. Obviously, the hardwood will last longer, but des it really matter?

Thanks!

 

[Racers]

Hi, Mr Monkey

You have a plane, plane a staight edge, make a shooting board using it, use that to make a better striaght edge and make a shooting board use that to make a better straight edge and make a shooting board. :wink: :wink:

Pete

 

[Paul Chapman]

If you use MDF the board should be straight enough for the guide piece. Just sand the edge to get it nice and smooth. Here are three I made using MDF - one for 90 degree shooting and the others for 45 degree shooting.

They really are straight forward and inexpensive to make - have a go

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[disco_monkey79]

Reet, will pop to B&Q at the weekend, armed with a straightedge, and get a bit of MDF!

Thanks all, for the replies!

 

[Harbo]

I made mine from scrap:- a piece of melamine coated kitchen door and some veneered MDF

Rod

 

[Paul Chapman]

If you've not seen it already, Alf wrote a great piece about shooting boards on her website http://www.cornishworkshop.co.uk/rocketscience.html

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[disco_monkey79]

Lovely. I see you all have snazzy planes for these. Is my humble Stanley jack going to be alright?

 

[woodbloke]

Ramped shooting board soon to come...with a difference :-" [-( :mrgreen: 8) - Rob

 

[Harbo]

LN 9's as common as muck?

Rod

 

[Steve Peacock]

Here's a trick I used recently when butt-joining narrow boards into wider boards...

Take a length of mild steel angle-iron. Drill holes for small screws at each end. Screw the angle iron to the top of your board, with the edge of the angle near the edge of the board (with a small wood "overhang"). Use a flush-trim router bit to cut a perfectly straight edge on the wood. The bearing runs on the angle iron and cuts the wood to match. Angle iron is usually pretty straight (pick a good bit).

Be careful not to run the cutter into the steel. Be careful not to push too hard against the angle iron or you'll bend it slightly in th centre (furthest from the screws). I managed to get some invisible glue lines this way, so it seems to work OK.

 

[Titus A Duxass]

Take a length of mild steel angle-iron. Drill holes for small screws at each end. Screw the angle iron to the top of your board, with the edge of the angle near the edge of the board (with a small wood "overhang"). Use a flush-trim router bit to cut a perfectly straight edge on the wood. The bearing runs on the angle iron and cuts the wood to match. Angle iron is usually pretty straight (pick a good bit).

Good tip!
I have a piece of ally right angle which is very damn near square, I'll "support" it by mounting on the edge of a piece of mdf/ply.

Thanks
Titus

 

[mickthetree]

Hi Discomonkey!

They should have a panel cutter at your b&q store. Get them to cut you some bits to size as these will be dead accurate.

Mine is 18mm ply not mdf and has worked great, but the one thing that was an absolute revelation to me was bees wax. I always thought it was poor workmanship, but once I added bees wax my plane flew down that run like the proverbial slope!

Your jack will be fine. Nice and sharp. You should not need to force anything. Force will bring about inaccuracy.

As long as one edge is straight then you reference your fence off this and screw it down. Check again after you've screwed it in that it hasn't moved.

WIP please!!

 

[knappers]

Good luck with getting accurate cuts out of the saw monkey at B&Q - I've never had any luck. Now I just get them to cut oversize so I can get the bits in the car and then finish at home. It's a shame, but they can't seem to grasp that if I say 720mm I MEAN 720mm...

Si.

 

[disco_monkey79]

Will do! The shooting board is to enable me to work on my waney-edged sycamore shelves, so will do a 2-in-1 WIP (unless it all goes horribly wrong, and you'll never hear from me again!)

Thanks again, everyone

 

[disco_monkey79]

After a slight (2 months) delay, I have made a shooting board (constructed during the royal wedding - treasonous?).

Anywho, I had a go at the sycamore boards. The edges have improved, but they're a long way from the perfect flat faces I want.

I'm trying to plane 2ft lengths of inch-thick timber. Is this too big for the shooting board method? Don't get me wrong, I didn't expect it to be easy, but there's no point striving for perfection if I'm going about it all the wrong way.

What sort of plane is recommended for this sort of work? I was trying with my jack, and found it very uncomfortable to use one-handed (the other hand was steadying the workpiece).

Much obliged!

 

[jimi43]

I'd swear Rod does it deliberately! :mrgreen: :wink:

I used to think you had to be about 90 years old to drool uncontrollably! :mrgreen:

Derek (Cohen) has a wonderful description of shooting boards on his site too...and that Jarrah wood one...ooooo!

Jim

 

[Paul Chapman]

I'm trying to plane 2ft lengths of inch-thick timber. Is this too big for the shooting board method?

I think you're going about this the wrong way. If I were planing a piece 2'x1" I would do it free-hand on the bench top. A shooting board is not really suitable for pieces that size.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[Alf]

Ditto. If it was either a) shorter, or b) thinner, that's when the shooting board comes into play for me. 2"x1" is readily jointed in the usual manner (once you get the knack!)

 

[condeesteso]

I made mine from scrap:- a piece of melamine coated kitchen door and some veneered MDF

Rod

yep, that's how it's done. That and a couple Lie Nielsen's...
But a square (just close to square is good), a straightedge, a scribe or blade, a saw and a plane... and you can make a bang-on shooting board (some stock too of course). Manmade stock is good as it is stable, and shooting boards are disposable anyway, never cherish one.
Use the square flipped to find true 90 degrees, use a blade to mark, not a pencil. Saw close then plane to the blade incision (you see the edge as the plane reaches it - it's good to a thou say, good enough). Use the same square trick to mark the 90 degree support blocks. btw, make a shooting board 2 faces, and just flip it over when tired.
For the 45 degree for shooting, use compasses to get a very accurate 45 degrees (school ones are close enough). For a mitre in the support cross piece, I'm stuck... cos I knock mine out on the Festool Kapex, and boy is that close. I appreciate that may sound annoying (the Kapex bit) but we all cheat, in the end

 

[AndyT]

For that size, the first step is to get the wood clamped so it does not move - you need two hands on the plane, and won't have one to spare to 'steady the workpiece.'
It sounds like you don't have a suitable vice. If not, there are other ways round the problem, such as clamping to a piece of square timber which is clamped or screwed to the benchtop, or clever wedge/cam arrangements.