shooting boards

[engineer one]

ok so at the end of the lesson we are getting to the fact that what the largest wood we should think of planing on a shooting board would be not more than 1inch thick??

i must say i was not expecting cutting the square to be easy, however since i was getting the same effect on thinner sections i thought to try it.

obviously the diverse woods are differently hard to plane, but i have tried
14mmthick maple which is about 40 mm wide, and as i have said a lump of 4x1 oak, as well as the square. i mean surely it would be nice to plane up table and chair legs on a shooting block???

so you weren't completely wrong mike :lol: :roll:

i was just trying the square to see the effect.

paul :wink:

 

[MikeW]

Oh, no worries--but I should have read through since my last posts before spouting off.

It's entirely doable using a shooting board. Think of it this way, one issue is stock holding--it doesn't matter what the plane is nor why the stuff is being planed. The better the stuff is held firm against movement or deflection, the better able the plane can accomplish the desired result.

Too, one needs a sharp iron to do most anything of worth. So I don't fear that I was fully inappropriate in the suggestions.

The bigger the end-grain stock, the more the mass of the plane comes into play. So too the physical force of ramming the plane into the wood--which comes back to stock holding.

Adding a bit of sandpaper against the fence if you haven't already is a good start to holding the larger stock against movement.

But the best solution once one reaches the limits of plane mass and stock size on a shooting board is to simply use different means to secure the stock. That helps to allow a plane of smaller size to effectively plane the surface of the larger stock.

Take care, Mike

 

[David C]

I suggest that shooting hardwood over 7/8" thick, will become difficult if not impossible.

This will doubtless not be entirely true so I look forward to the experience of others if they can tell us how thick they can go?

Thick stuff in general, is easily planed with sharp low angle block plane or any well tuned bench plane, in the vice.

Shooting comes into its own for thin and small stuff where it is difficult to balance a regular plane. That's my experience and I'm sticking to it #;-)#

David Charlesworth

 

[engineer one]

thanks mike and david, nice to get proper considered comments :roll:

one does wonder though why so many propose using a shooting board if such a thin stock is all it can take :?

paul :wink:

 

[Paul Chapman]

I would agree that once you get to about 1" you have probably reached the limit of what is comfortable to plane on a conventional shooting board. However, there are variables, including the type of wood and the plane in use. As the size of the wood and its hardness increases, the more a heavier plane becomes important. Once you have mastered basic shooting board work, Paul, it will become self-evident whether a particular piece is best shot on the board or by another method.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[engineer one]

oh no now i have to get a shot gun :twisted: :roll:
and i thought the slope stayed more sane than that :lol:

paul :wink:

 

[MikeW]

oh no now i have to get a shot gun :twisted: :roll:
and i thought the slope stayed more sane than that :lol:

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Now that is a healthy bit of laughing it off!

And I see if I had read enough of the thread, Mr. C's comment might have clued me in to read further.

On the plus side, this is more forum reading/writing than I have done for a long time. And even though I didn't do a dilligent enough job of it, it was great.

So as Wiley mentioned...thanks for the thread, Paul!

Take care, Mike
who now has to remain in the shop all night...

 

[engineer one]

so lets see if i got this right, i screw up, and something simple doesn't work,
and you guys are happy i asked. :roll:

well if only every thing were so simple :twisted:

mike tried your trick, still not sure but i am getting nice shavings from the maple, but not continuous ones. :?

still it is slightly thicker.

of course the real problem then is remembering which way to wind the adjuster, and then i need to properly support the wood i am working on,
will work on that tomorrow.

thanks all for the input, i have learnt lots, and so it would seem have some of you too. =D> \/

paul :wink:

 

[engineer one]

ok, back to the tormek, and cleaned up the bevel as suggested by mike w.
having tried it is seems to work better, so i went back and honed and polished the new angle.

that means moving the adjuster plate slightly.

anyway back in the plane, and back to the board.

now the major admission could it have been that only holding the wood to be planed by hand causing some of the problem too?????

so i have put some spacers on the other side of the workbench, and now find it easier to hold the wood to the end stop.

am now getting decent thickness shavings from both the maple and the oak. somehow the oak got me a thin but almost full length shaving,
on the maple only smaller shavings, not full length.

oak is 4x1. maple is 14mmx40 mm white maple.

now not sure the problem is solved, but the solution is nearer.

thanks for all the input, i have certainly learnt more than i thought possible from the kindness of you guys, and the experience from the pros within the gathering. have to say in personal experience, in other trades and businesses it is rare for experts to share their knowledge without making you feel useless and stupid. i think this thread has shown that we can all learn even the supposedly simple things, and there is always another angle to all problems.

now back to the bookshelves, and then the coffee table :roll:

paul :wink:

 

[AHoman]

somehow the oak got me a thin but almost full length shaving,
on the maple only smaller shavings, not full length.

Paul,
Very nice thread -- this was fun to read. FWIW I've found that some maple will give full length shavings on the shooting board, some pieces of maple will not. (I'm using a #62, not a #9). Living here in a very maple-rich region I can confirm that maple varies quite a bit in workability, so your results with it (compared to the oak) do not surprise me.
Cheers,
Andy

 

[Alf]

one does wonder though why so many propose using a shooting board if such a thin stock is all it can take :?

Ah, well that's sort of looking at it backwards. It isn't so much that you use a shooting board for everything except that which is too thick, but rather that you turn to the shooting board to deal with that which is too thin. Naturally there's a sort of no-man's land where you could either use one or not, but it depends on what degree of accuracy you want, type of wood etc. F'rinstance, in response to DC's query - I have shot stuff over 1" but it was neither easy or something I'd want to repeat in anything harder than the soggy stuff I happened to be using at the time.

And after all that, have you used any wax yet?

Cheers, Alf

 

[Philly]

Paul
Forgive me, I've kinda lost track.
So have you solved your "problem"? And what was it?
Philly

 

[bugbear]

one does wonder though why so many propose using a shooting board if such a thin stock is all it can take :?

paul :wink:

Because thin (1/4" - 3/4") stock is used a **** of a lot in woodwork in general, and cabinet making in particular

BTW, You probably could shoot 2" timber IF you had Philly's skewed plane. The BANG as the plane hits the wood is greatly lessened by a skewed (i.e. gradual) contact.

It's still a **** of a big cut though.

BugBear

 

[engineer one]

thnaks philly for the pithy comment ,
at least i hope it was that rather than taking the pith :twisted:

not completely solved, but much better than when i started.

problem not proper cutting, partially solved by finally getting a sharp edge on the no9 with a 30 degree bevel.
also supporting the wood better at its extremities(painful :roll: )

not trying to cut too large a section.
:lol:
paul :wink:
ps alf waxed as well 8)

 

[JesseM]

I used my shooting board to put 10 degree angles on the legs of a saw bench I made which has the legs splayed out. Approximately 1.5" SYP. It was tough and I had to do it 8 times, but not so hard that I wouldn't do it again. I was actually kinda pleased with the results. Some breakout, SYP is so nasty to work with sometimes I didn't really care. Used my LN #8.

I also routinely square up 5/4 cherry, maple. The 5/4 bubinga proved to be too hard though and I could not quite get finished.

 

[Philly]

Paul
Me? Take the pith...... :lol:
No, just glad you're getting it sorted. A lot of things just need the knack - as well as having the tool set up vaguely right.
Best regards
Philly

 

[engineer one]

must have been all those oranges then 8)

ta mate, just goes to show you shouldn't assume anything :twisted: :roll:

paul :wink:

now back to the bookshelves

 

[promhandicam]

Just wanted to say thanks for sticking with this thread Paul. Reading through it from beginning to end has been enlightening with the wealth of experience offered by the various contributors.

All the best,

Steve

 

[engineer one]

steve, it ain't over yet, the fat lady has not sung yet.

one thing you cannot complain about is that i don't stick to my point even if it makes me look dumb :roll:

paul :wink:

 

[Philly]

ta mate, just goes to show you shouldn't assume anything :twisted: :roll:

paul :wink:

Damn right! Assume nothing is as it "should be"
Best regards
Philly