Shooting board question

[Anonymous]

Pardon my newness at all of this, but I have a question on shooting boards. I understand (I think) their basic use and plan on making one pretty soon.

The question is, what protects the board itself from being shaved away just like the stock? I THINK I understand Jeff Gorman's explanation http://www.amgron.clara.net/planingpoin ... gindex.htm , but seems to me you need to make your fence no less high as the widest plane blade you'll be using, in order for it to provide some support once the "middle bit" has been shaved away. Yes? No?

All that said, is it generally the practice to use a single plane for all shooting operations, or do you switch them up? (And if the former, which plane do you use, as a rule of thumb?)

Again, sorry for being so daft; I'm new to woodworking as a whole, and moreso with the handtools. As it is with my lack of time, I'm doing a pretty decent job of collecting, but not too much working!

 

[Philly]

Mike
If you look at the sole of your planes you'll see the mouth stops a few mm short of the sides(unless its a rebate plane!) You hold the plane on its side and butt the plane against the board. The first few shavings will indeed remove some of the fence but after that it will be "custom fit" to your plane. Those few mm of the sole will run against the fence-as long as you keep the side flat on the board the plane will happily (and repeatably!) cut parallel to the fence.
Hope this helps, in use it will be obvious,
Philly

 

[Anonymous]

Exactly as Philly said!

I built my third shooting board yesterday because the last one flexed very slightly under pressure from the toggle clamp mounted onto the 'fence' at the front when I had it nice and tight for planing oak end grain

I would advise that you use some pretty heavy material and a nice thick fence. For mk3, I used 19mm MDF for the base, 6mm MDF mounted on top of this for the guide and a piece of oak 30mmx50mm for the fence.

I attached the fence using three 8mm bolts with spring washers on the nuts this time and my initial use (made a box yesterday) suggest that this one is plenty strong enough!

 

[Waka]

Wheres the pics Tony

 

[Alf]

Mike,

Philly and Tony have pretty much nailed this one. A high fence is useful to help prevent the plane tilting in. Shooting boards really aren't that hard to make, honest. I was going to do a step-by-step on making one because it does seem to be a thing that bothers neanders, but then I thought it'd be ridiculous 'cos it's so simple.

As far as the plane goes, yes, generally you do tend to use just one plane 'cos of the "custom fit" you've made with the blade. In practice I've swapped between planes and not found it a bother, but it's bad practice. I like bevel-up planes for shooting, but you can use practically anything as long as you can get the blade edge more or less at right angles to the sole. And if you can't, well you'll just have to play around with shims rather more than usual.

Cheers, Alf

 

[Adam]

I was going to do a step-by-step on making one because it does seem to be a thing that bothers neanders, but then I thought it'd be ridiculous 'cos it's so simple.

Yes Please.

Simple perhaps - but loads easier in terms of time, if you can "copy" one. You get a design someone who has been through several iterations on - and it's much quicker - for those of us with limited workshop time, thats quite important.

Adam

 

[GEPPETTO]

Mike
If you look at the sole of your planes you'll see the mouth stops a few mm short of the sides(unless its a rebate plane!) You hold the plane on its side and butt the plane against the board. The first few shavings will indeed remove some of the fence but after that it will be "custom fit" to your plane. Those few mm of the sole will run against the fence-as long as you keep the side flat on the board the plane will happily (and repeatably!) cut parallel to the fence.
Hope this helps, in use it will be obvious,
Philly

:lol: Thanks, Thanks and Thanks.

I didn't have never understood "shooting board".

Now Yes

Thanks again.

 

[J.A.S]

Alf,

I'd also very much like to see a step-by-step guide to shooting board construction and use.

Would that be possible?

Jeremy

 

[Alf]

I'd also very much like to see a step-by-step guide to shooting board construction and use.

Would that be possible?

I'm working on it.

Cheers, Alf

 

[J.A.S]

Thanks, Alf. You're a star.

Jeremy

 

[Alf]

Thanks, Alf. You're a star.

You haven't read it yet.... :shock: :lol: Oh, and use may have to wait a bit. Construction seems to be sufficient waffle material to start with.

Cheers, Alf

 

[bugbear]

use may have to wait a bit.

Construction of a traditional shooting board is rather simple. You just have to be accurate.

Use is more "interesting". It's a zen thing of supplying some of the control yourself, and letting the plane and board supply the rest.

It took me a while to "get it".

Oh, and in response to the inevitable question I prefer a #5 1/2 or #6 for shooting. I have a Record #T5, and find it too light, and I havn't tried a #9, and I've never even seen (in the flesh) a #51.

And the blades need to be "smoothing sharp"

BugBear

 

[Alf]

Okay, BB, do your worst. My attempt to de-bunk the idea that making a shooting board is somehow difficult is now up. Feel free to cover the bases on the care and feeding as well as picking apart my poor effforts; I haven't the time just at the minute. You'll see which planes I favour in answer to that often-asked question, btw. :lol:

Cheers, Alf

 

[Anonymous]

Wheres the pics Tony

Finally remembered to take the camera into the garage. :roll:

Here you go. I use it for shooting with the plane (LA 164 or my 4 1/2) and when cutting shoulders with the tennon saw

Main points when making one are the height of the plane guide which must be higher than the metal at the side of the blade, and the rigidity of the base and fence. My fence is Oak and is bolted to 25mm of MDF with three M8 bolts. Works pretty nicely :wink:

Note: the marks on plane sole are wax candle from recent smoothing work with the plane :wink:

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

Hi all

Here is a picture of my Ramped Shooting Board, which is a little different to the others discussed so far. Advantages include being able to wear the blade more evenly (so it last longer between sharpenings) plus the entry cut is slightly skewed and this can cut more easily.

http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au ... entid=3557

It has an attachable mitre fence that gets bolted on. Also note the non-slip on the face of the fence (made out of drywall sheet).

http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au ... entid=3558

Construction is Jarrah and Pine.

Regards from Perth

Derek

I hope that the images come up. If not, can someone kindly tell me what to do.

Mod Edit. Derek you had the start and end image tags the wrong way around. Even so it didn't load, so I have changed them to a straight url. :wink:

PS Welcome to UKWorkshop.

 

[Philly]

Derek
Lovelystuff! Is that a HNT Gordon??
Do you find the incline helps?
Welcome to the forum-plenty of plane loving types here :wink:
Cheers
Philly

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

Hi Philly

Yes, that's a HNT Gordon Try Plane. I predominantly work with Aussie hardwoods and, if you know anything about them, they are really Hard and frequently with interlocked grain. Consequently, the best planes are High Angle ones, and the HNT Gordon range (made by Terry Gordon) use 60 degree cutting angles (even for the shoulder planes). At the time I took this pic I was mainly using the Try Plane on the shooting board. Now I prefer either a Stanley #62 or a LV LA Jack.

Does the ramp help? It does make a difference, but I would not go so far as to say that it is a huge one. It just feels easier on entry. If I was making a new one, and had the extra time, I'd build a ramped board rather than a flat one.

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[Alf]

Welcome to the forum, Derek.

If I was making a new one, and had the extra time, I'd build a ramped board rather than a flat one.

Interesting. I just did the exact opposite! I'm not totally convinced the extra effort required to make a ramped board is worth it. If I was doing a lot of stuff the same thickness I might change my mind though, blade sharpening not being my favourite task. Mind you I did mine a little differently, sloping the plane's runway rather than the upper board. Figured I might as well take advantage of gravity to help the plane through the cut (doubtful if it makes much of a difference , but hey, better than pushing it up hill... ) and it was a right PITA to get it right. Possibly due to my trying to use the scrapiest offcuts imaginable for the job.

Cheers, Alf

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

Hi Alf

I found this forum through one of your links. Thanks for the welcome. I hope I have something intelligent to offer on occasions.

I have seen your shooting board before and I really like it. Mine was also made out of scraps - the top is three boards jointed together - see what an HNT Gordon Try Plane can do!

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[Philly]

Derek
Yeah, I'm aware of Terry's planes-you just fell into my "Gloat-trap" :lol: :lol:
I have the smoother, block, 1 1/4 and 3/4 inch shoulder planes. They really are beautiful planes and work straight out of the box. I've had to flatten the soles a couple of times but it's no big deal.
Thanks for your opinion on the ramped shooting board-I'll keep that in mind.
And nice to have you over hear on UK Workshop-I "recognizes" you from WC :wink:
Cheers
Philly