Looking for shooting board plan and …
maple_geek
| Posted in Project Plans/CAD Software on
Hi,
I am looking for a sturdy and accurate shooting board plan. I am also looking for a sturdy and accurate router jig plan for cutting mortises.
Thanks in advance.
Eric
Replies
Eric -
Can't help you with plans, but can you explain what a shooting board does? I've heard of them all my life, but never dealt with one. Where/when might I need one?
PlaneWood by Mike_in_Katy (maker of fine sawdust!)
PlaneWood
A shhoting board can be used to "touch up" a miter edge with a hand plane. It is well known that power tools will leave a certain amount of saw marks on the wood that can make a joint look less than perfect. By shooting the edge with a hand plane on a shooting board, you can mremove these saw marks and make your joint perfect.
I'm not sure I explained it well, but that's the use I would have for a shooting board. It's a pretty simple jig, but I want to make sure that I build one very accurately.
Eric
Ericm,
A few weeks ago this topic came up and was discussed on here. As I remember, no plans came forward form the group, however the Charlesworth book was mentioned...he had some pictures in his 2nd edition....as I remember it.
I went over to Woodcraft and took a look at the book. Yup, they were there and an explanation of there use. I came home and slapped one together for 90 degree and 45 degree ends. I have used it with a #4, #5 Stanley....it would probably work much better with the appropriate plane (#11 or 12 I think)...but it does help get the fuzz off the ends of the miter cuts and tighten up the joint.
The design calls for a rather large rabbit (1/4" deep by 2" wide) in 3/4 MDF that the plane rides in on its side. Then you take a chunk (or a couple of pieces of 2x4) of wood and cut a 45 degree and attach that to the MDO perpendicular to the rabbit. I then attached a board with a 45 degree end to the chunk of wood so that I had a ramp (maybe 12" long) so I could clamp the stock I was working on. The key is the ramp line up exactly with the rabbit edge..and the ramp is a perfect 45 degree. Then I attach a small piece of plywood where the ramp and rabbit meet to protect the stock from tear out when your planing. In essence, when you put your 45 degree mitered work piece in the jig it forms a 90 degree angle to the plane riding in the rabbit. good luck
So, your basically saying that a shooting board is just a guide so that the knife cuts straight?
How did it get the name "shooting board"?
As you can see, I'm totally ignorant on this subject!!
PlaneWood by Mike_in_Katy (maker of fine sawdust!)PlaneWood
I've no idea where the term 'shooting' came from Mike. All I know is that traditional hand made drawers made a bit fat for the opening are 'shot' to fit. You 'shoot' a face or 'shoot' an edge of a board to get it true with a plane.
I'd guess it might have something to do with shooting as true as a bullet, or something like that. 'Course, me being non-American, I'm not very familiar with fire-arms and the terminology applied to travelling bullets, but no doubt all you rootin' tootin' gun-toting Yanks can put me straight (as a bullet) on that score, ha, ha--- ha, ha, ha, ha. Slainte. Website
Eric,
Regarding the router jig, there are a few ways you can go. Gary Rogowski describes a simple jig in his book, Router Joinery. Nice, but essentially designed for one size only. It's basically an MDF top with a slot routed in it (where a bearing guide rides) and a hardwood fence glued and screwed from underneath. Very easy to make. But, you'll have to make a separate jig for each size mortise (or mill up accurate shims and such). These types require that you lay out marks on each piece to be worked, and line up and attach the jig to each piece separately. Which may not be a bad thing. Just doesn't seem like an efficient way to work, and if you're not careful you may end up with inconsistent results.
If you want to get a little fancier, you can cobble up an adjustable jig. FWW had an article in the not too distant past on how to build it. I think the article was by Lon Schleining, but not sure. Looked like a good design.
Personally, I prefer the adjustable-type, and of those I'm partial to Pat Warner's design. It's a pretty simple jig to make, set-and-forget (for identical pieces), and you only have to make the initial layout marks on the first piece. Check it out in his Fast, Easy, and Accurate Router Jigs book. Great book, btw.
Mike,
Next time you come over ask me about the shooting board and I'll set mine up for you. What the shooting board does for me is keeps me from tilting the plane while "shooting" as in / or the other way, ain't got no key of that one. Obviously the tilt is overly exaggerated as shown. I've been shooting with a board for less than a year and I'm sold on it. The only problem I'm have is I shave too much material at the beginning or the end of the board. I have not had that problem while "vertically shooting" for years, so I know how to solve the problem, FOCUS on my technique.
Happy Holidays,
Dale
PW -
I have been using a crossgrain shooting board for about a year now, and it is great. I like it esp. for squaring the ends of drawer parts since if one starts square, life is so much easier. The one I made is like that in the Charlesworth book, but for the wear strip, where the lateral margin of the plane rides, I inset a small piece of ebony. The plane rides ont eh ebony, which is slick, and wears well. After building it, I very carefully planed and scraped the ebony, and the stop, to a dead-on 90, whihc took a bit of time, but has held solid. I used 1" BB for the base, and 1/2" cabimet ply for the bed where the stock goes (a cutoff), and I dan't now imagine being without it. It is what led to the acq. of a No. 9 L-N, which is quite a tool.
As for miters, I ran across a donkey's ear shooter, and like that also, esp. for small moldings that require miters. I don't know how to draw and post, so can't give you a sketch. I think there is pix in Graham Blackburn's book.
S4S,
Speaking of the LN #9 ...the picture on their web site of the #9 in action...I'm confused about the shooting board that is displayed. I'm not sure if the tool is shooting the two big chunks of wood (appears to be mahogny)...or if the two big chunks of wood are holding stock that is being shot. I ask because I thought that may be another jig?
BG,
I went to look, and while not entirely clear, it appears that the wood being shot (an end miter) is between the chunks of mahogany. The mahogany is registering the No. 9 plane for an accurate miter trimming cut. Typically, this would be called a donkey's ear shooter. There will be a handscrew (wooden if ofd), which will tighten the stock between the two pieces of mahogany. One piece of the mahogany is fixed, the other attached to the screw. Mine is quite old. A pix is attached. Ignore the background; it at that point is just sitting in a box of junk; it has since been cleaned up.
Alan
S4S,
I like that, it appears it would be easier to control the plane on mitered cuts..gravity is on your side...so to speak ..and less concern about perfect 90 degree between the bottom and side of the plane. Is / Does your moving chunk of wood have an appendage to slide in a dado for alignment?...or is that overkill?
BG,
The device pictured on the L-N cite is a miter jack (aka mitre jack). A shooting board is different. The very best plan and description for use which I've seen for a shooting board is in David Charlesworth's vol. 2. You can shoot very accurate miters on it, with the use of a jig which is also pictured in his book. I also purchased a No. 9 and agree that its use along with a shooting board makes life a joy. There is no better way to accurately fit a drawer to width, in my opinion. I also like their control in making mitered cornered boxes, as well as the occassional spanish cedar linings, which must be mitered to exactly the same length as the inside dimensions of the box. This can be carefully planed down to a perfect miter and length with great confidence.
My boards are of mdf with a maple fence and work great. Even an mdf jig can move about with time and use, and so needs to be replaced sometimes. Very easy to do. I haven't inlayed any wear strips or plates for this reason; I don't want to be reluctant to make a new one when the old is really passed its prime. A very thin bit of paste wax on the side and sole of the plane and off you go silkily.
Cheers,
Greg
Greg,
I did replicate one of Charlesworth shooting boards. I looked at the book at Woodcraft..but I don't own it so I'm not sure the name....I use it for shooting mitres on box 45's. I'm still getting used to it and don't own a #9 (sigh). I use it on top of my bench hook...and left enough room so I can flip it around to shoot square edges...
I gotta buy the book.
BG,
Although I use my #9 routinely, you don't need one. You can still get good results with a very sharp iron in a plane sure to have the sole 90 degrees to the side on which it slides. I've felt one of the new low angle jacks would excel at this, and be well suited to many other task as well.
I plug David Charlesworth's books here all the time, it seems. They are compiled from articles written for the U.K.'s Furniture and Cabinetmaking magazine. His writing style is clear and detailed, but with good humour. He has run furnituremaking courses since the late '70's and I believe this teaching has given him good insight into what the student needs and how to convey it effectively. All my work improved dramatically after volume 1, especially as to planing. You will find the articles on shooting boards and the best articles on drawer-fitting I've ever seen in volume 2. If you're looking to source the books, the easiest is Amazon.com. Or, if you're especially sneaky, you can slip them into a plane order from Lie-Nielsen; they have carried his books for a long time now.
S4S: Funny, I was going to comment on your Queen Anne's in the lacewood thread. Those pictures show beautiful work. Your advice seemed on the mark as well. I couldn't agree more about drawer-fitting. Good control, quiet and great satisfaction.
Cheers,
Greg
Greg
Thanks. I really enjoyed designing and making that table. I made a pair of very modern tables (in terms of cabriole leg style) as a wedding gift for my stepson and his new bride, and was itching to make a more traditional one.
I actually posted the table over at Saw Mill Creek, in the Neanderthal forum, and so wasn't going to put it here, but thought that the pix of the lacewood might be helpful to the other gentleman. I must say that hand planing that lacewood was not that easy. Pretty tough stuff.
Alan
Edited 11/20/2003 1:12:18 PM ET by s4s
BG --
Yes, there are stub tenons on both the fixed and the sliding blocks. I used mine to shoot the miters on the ebony cockbeading on a drawer, which I just posted somewhere on here in response to a lacewood finishing question. I cut the very small miter by hand and eye, and then just shot it in at about 2/1000 at a clip till it was perfect. Very easy and quick. And quiet, of course. Miters don't always want to be a perfect 45, of course, and you can make adustments in the angle by using a piece of matchbook cover, playing card, etc.
I agree with the gentleman above as to the fitting of a drawer with a shoting board. It is very quick, easy, and accurate (and quiet). Making a fitting drawers is one of my favorite aspects of working wood.
Alan
"The Complete Woodworker," ed. Bernard Jones shows several different kinds of shooting boards and has an interesting discussion of them. That book was first published around 1900 and describes the state of the art in handtool work from that era. It was reprinted by TenSpeed Press in 1980 qand 1988 and is avail at Barnes and Noble (online). I would send you electronic copies of the diagrams but I don't feel like playing fast and loose with copyright infringement today.
As for set up accuracy, I've had good luck with the engineer's squares made in India avail at Highland Hardware. Affordable accuracy. For setting up 45 degree angles, I have used plastic drafting tools avail at Office Depot, etc.
As for the name "shooting boards," "The Complete Woodworking" talks about "shooting a mitre true with a shooting board," but I gotta wonder if it wasn't originally a "chuting board," since the plane rides in a sort of chute?
Ed
Eric...
There's a book available through Amazon... Making Woodworking Aids and Devices by Robert Wearing... covers a host of things, shooting boards included...
It doesn't give plans per say, just illustrates the concept, leaving it for you to decide how big a board will be appropriate for the stock you're using.
Mike Wallace
Stay safe....Have fun
Here's a set of plans that was redrawn from an original factory mitre shooting board.
Cheers,
eddie
Jeff Gorman has plans on his site. Here's one of them.
http://www.amgron.clara.net/planingpoints/shootingboards/shootingindex.htm
Jeff
The shooting board question has been covered so here's the best router mortiser I've seen...FWW #141
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