Shooting board for Handplane

[Eric Brown]

It is used to square ends of boards with a handplane without tearing out the back edge. It can also be used for shooting tenons. Specifics:

Bottom board - 16"W x 24"L x 3/4"T Maple plywood
Top board - 12"W x 24"L x 1/2"T Maple plywood
Fence - 2"W x 12"L x 2 1/2"T Maple
Edging - Maple
Maximum Cut - 16"L x 2" T (with Veritas BU LA Jack Plane)
Plane rides on Teflon tape.
Finish - Boiled linseed oil

Shoot-001.jpg

[John Keeton]

Hey Eric, I clipped your pic and saved it in my jigs folder for future reference! I like the idea of the slick tape.

[Eric Brown]

The tape works well, its a little pricy, but I don't need to wax. Good trade-off I think.
One thing I didn't say was that I use David Charlesworth's technique of using Denatured Alcohol for making end grain cutting easier and smoother.

Eric

PS: I will finish my Miter Shooting board by next week and then my Screw Miter Shoot soon after. The Screw Miter Shoot is in the Mag "Essential Shopmade Jigs" by Fine Woodworking on display until June 30, 2009.

[John Keeton]

Eric, I look forward to seeing those - cancelled my FWW subscription, but I will try to take a look next time I see it on display.

[David Keller NC]

Eric - Can't tell for certain from the picture, but your shooting board might be missing a critical feature. You absolutely must incorporate a dust groove into these boards - a shallow table-saw kerf would do.

The reason is that dust falling from the workpiece and plane will gradually work its way into the corner and underneath the plane, causing the plane to no longer be at 90 degrees to the workpiece. Potentially, I suppose one could clear the dust after every pass with the plane, but that would quickly get very tedious.

[Eric Brown]

David, I don't seem to have any problems at all about dust accumulation. The teflon stays very clean. Perhaps the LV BU LA Jack plane with a sharp blade helps also.
My use of Denatured Alcohol may also reduce dust. I also tend to brush my bench and tools off as I work. I like a clean area. Perhaps I made this board pretty so that I treat it better than a thrown together one.

Thanks for the comments. Eric

[David Keller NC]

Eric - I suspect you will find eventually over a period of months that you may have to include one of these (dust grooves) if you work any sort of resinous softwood such as EWP - the dust/shavings generated by these species have a tendency to stick to plane soles, plastic surfaces, and just about everything else. You may not, though, if you stop to clean everything frequently, though I think most of us only do that at the end of the project (and sometimes not even then )