Hooks and shoot for wide stock on the benchtop.

[Scott Winners]

My first bench hooks were made from a different scrap of plywood than my first shooting board was made from and that one difference has been a pain in my neck ever since.

About a week ago I had some stock out on the driveway pad with my lunchbox planer and finally got the new suite put together in the last couple days. I did not go crazy finishing these parts. The critical dimension is uniform thickness, and I have that.

These are all ideas I got from this website as far as I know, but not sure who all should get credit for this or that nuance.

For the shooting board I used a piece of figured cherry as the sliding surface, poplar for the piece the shot stock lays on, and some very straight grained maple for the back fence. This whole thing is nailed together, except for the maple that is bolted on. I did eventually wax up the chute for the shooting plane to slide on so I can enjoy the figured cherry without feeling bad about not having used it in a project.

I used all 5/16s hardware to bolt the back fence down to the cherry. Except the one through hole in the maple that is empty in this shot, that one I drilled at 3/8. In the first pic I am squaring the back fence to the side fence before marking the center of what s about to be a 5/16 hole in the underlying cherry. If I need a bigger slot in the maple someday I will make a bigger slot.

20231224_161002.jpg

Once the second bolt was in, then I squared everything to the plane sole on the chute blah blah. The bolt nearest the plane is the rotation point, the bolt to the left is the adjustment lockdown.

20231224_161024.jpg

The chute is square so the shooting is square and I have a bit of wiggle room with seasonal changes to maintain square.

The hooks came out OK. One of the under hooks shifted in the clamps while the glue was drying. I clamped both the underhooks into my vise to keep them firm against the bench face while the overhook was glued down, then cut the two hooks apart. Under duress the upper hooks should be parallel to the bench face and co planar.

20231224_161047.jpg

I also built, not pictured yet, a shim about 24 inches long and the same thickness (height off the benchtop) as everything else

[Scott Winners]

With all the pieces laid out, I should be able to shoot or crosscut stock up to about 18" wide on the benchtop, and probably up to about the full length of my next bench in the 90" neighborhood.

If two hooks and one shim at identical thickness is not enough I could unbolt the back fence from the shooting board and have a fourth piece for crosscuts on long and wide stock.

20231224_161115.jpg

And rather than wrassle some behemoth shooting board, I hung the shooting board on a wall, and put a retraining strap on a stud space for the hooks and shim to stand behind.

20231224_161139.jpg

I think I am ready to deal with some wide stock now. Will find out in the next few weeks.

Thanks to one and all for the various ideas I robbed.