Replies

1. 
   rod | Dec 02, 2005 06:49am | #1

   David Charlesworth's first book has an article on making and using winding sticks and in the second book he has an article on the making and using of shooting boards. I found both articles useful.A google on shooting boards would turn up quite a few articles I'm sure.
   Rod

2. 
   geoff7325 | Dec 02, 2005 10:33am | #2

   Take a look at http://www.amgron.clara.net/ and look under 'Planing Notes' and there are 2 shuting boards there. The ramped version has the advantage of utilizing more of the planes blade. Nice site to have a bit of a look at.

   
   

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   Edited 12/2/2005 2:38 am ET by geoff7325

1. 
   kesac | Dec 23, 2005 10:17am | #7

   That's a wonderful site.  I am impressed with the owl, and the moorish dovetail.  I had seen those before, but had never given a thought to how they are made.  I have saved the link just for that.

   Thank you.

2. 
   philip | Dec 23, 2005 10:49am | #8

   "nice sigh to have a bit of a look at." Bookmarked.
   I second that.
   Caused a chuckle to read that it took 30 years before he became converted to the use of a honing jig.Philip Marcou

3. 
   Patto | Dec 06, 2005 05:09am | #3

   Hi,

   Sort of.

   You will need a rebate on the base board that is about two inches wide and a bit deeper than the distance from the edge of your plane to the edge of the blade. Its not a bad idea to put a slightly deeper groove at the inside edge of this rebate to hold any dust a prevent that tipping the plane.

   The cross board needs to be far enough back from the end so that the plane is supported for the whole of the stroke.

   Dave

1. 
   AlanTurner | Dec 06, 2005 02:37pm | #4

   On the wear edge of the top board, I inlaid a piece of very small ebony as it is hard and a bit oily so there is little to no wear on it. Plus, if you leave it just a wee bit proud, then final tweaking is a breeze. It was a left over fron some cockbeading, so must have been about 1/8" by 1/4" or so.Alan

   http://www.alanturnerfurnituremaker.com

4. 
   Midnight | Dec 10, 2005 03:26am | #5

   Can I simply flatten and square two boards and them glue them square to make the L-shape?

   Near as I can figure, I'd be using 4 pieces of stock to make a basic shooting board. Base the design along the lines of a bench hook (transverse piece along the underside of the closest end to hook against the bench, identical piece at the opposire end of the opposite face to support your stock, and 2 overlapping pieces as Patto describes.

   What stock dimensions are preferred in practice?

   You make the boards to suit the size of stock you're working with, bearing in mind that a bigger shooting board will handle wide stock every bit as easily as narrow; not so with a narrow shooting board...

   All of the units I've seen have been pine or popular.  Is this by chance or design?

   Traditionally you scour your offcut bin to find suitable stock for jigs; there's no hard and fast rules for preferred stock. Mine (you'll soon realise you'll need more than one shooting board) are all made from 12mm ply simply because I had it available.

   If you're interested in more options, "Making Woodworking Aides & Devices" by Robert Wearing has a wealth of information for all sorts of jigs that you'll need at some time.... What you won't find in the book are sizes to build the jigs to... as I said, you make them big enough to suit your needs...

   Mike Wallace

   Stay safe....Have fun

1. 
   Patto | Dec 12, 2005 05:58am | #6

   There's a bit I forgot to mention that I only realised this year. Make another bench hook to support the far end. It only needs to be 50mm wide, but must be the same height off the bench as the shooting board. This will help keep the stock flat on the bench.

5. 
   sawdustandshavings | Dec 26, 2005 11:13pm | #9

   Hi Familyman,

   I have made about a dozen shooting boards in the past three years, every one better than the previous.My last shooting board I made was made in 2002 is the best i have ever made and will not need make one again as I do not think that this one can be improved.I am now 13 years old so if I can make one then I am sure you can, however I do believe that it is best if you make it from maple as it is very wear resistant and quite stable. if this is not possible for cost reasons then I would advise on using any other hardwoods but try to avoid the tropicals and exotics because of their expansion and contraction/ warpage properties.Here's the link I used to make mine:

   http://www.sydnassloot.com/bbuckner/MitrePlane.htm

   Any Questions, Just Ask, I hope I can help.

   Good Luck,

   Sawdust.

   'It's not a mistake It's a design feature'