Shooting Board

[Jerry Thompson]

The new edition of FWW has an article on a jib for precise joints. I see how it is made but I do not understand how it would be used. It seems that the plane would shave off some of the jaw blocks. I would like to build one but I am short on the smarts to figure these things out.
Thank you
Jerry

[Andrew Homan]

I would like to build one but I am short on the smarts to figure these things out.

Hey Jerry,
if you pay for the shipping, I'll send you some smarts.
Seriously, I just went to get the new FWW today and my bookstore didn't have it out yet -- guess I'll check this week. What you're describing sounds like a miter jack -- I'd like to build one myself.
_Andy

[Jim Becker]

The design of the one in FWW is quite interesting...it supports both 45º miter sweetening as well as accomodates 90º work for refining tenons, etc. I may actually try to build one sometime.

Jerry, I'm far from an expert on this...in fact, quite the opposite. But my impression is that this type of shooting board doesn't get damaged for a long time simply because you're taking extremely fine cuts on the workpiece using the end-grain for support and just using the jig for guidance.

[Mark Singer]

I have a few and the fence is back of the work piece and the plane just rides back and forth since the plane body limits the iron...the side of the plane is on the bottom...I use a LN #9 which is a Miter plane designed for shooting.
The article in Woodwork was very strange because the boards were designed for a left handed person and they showed him sawing with his right hand...they did not seem to mention they were shown opposite hand....it is worth looking at??? Very starnge!
Shooting will improve your woodwork....I have shown using them for different projects on SMC...like jointing real veener and panels

[Doug Shepard]

Normally the thin gap between the plane sides and the edge of the blade end up supporting the plane and the blade eventually bottoms out. So there's a limit to how much of the shooting board gets removed and after that it stops. I have the mag issue but am going off the top of my head though in thinking that the way he was using the plane on that particular jig, it maybe didn't bottom out? I do recall him mentioning that the reason he didn't glue it together was so he could slightly reposition the blocks every so often to compensate.

[Michael Pilla]

I've been wanting to make one of these for a while and wondered the same thing. The author writes:

"In
time, you’ll get a feel for the crucial last
stroke of the plane that brings the workpiece
level with the miter shoot, and will
avoid the next pass that planes the surface
of the shoot. Used correctly, the surfaces
of the jaws do not get worn quickly."

I'm not sure I trust myself not to ruin it the first time out.
Michael

[Mark Singer]

Here are some pics of my square shooting board and my LN #9 ...the mouth is set fine ...it has a great adjuster. You can use any plane if the sole and side are at 90 degrees. The iron does not extend down through the body ...so with a fine set the shooting board remains un touched and as you pust the work piece , it is trimed square with the fence... Now some guys shoot a lot of things that are unnecessary....a good sled at the cabinet saw is plenty for drawer parts....for 90 degree joined parts it insures a tight joint...for miters you can either make a fixture that dowels into this type of board or make a seperate one... The easy way is to square a piece of mdf on the tablesaw...use the 5 cut tecnique and then cut it across the diagnol....attach with one screw and once checked carefully for 45 degress attach the others or the dowels.

[Mark Singer]

I just saw the one in FWW and I don't really like it... The plane does not have enough support and you can shoot it on a convention bench hook style shooting board as I described above. The important aspect here is accuracy....the plane needs to be running consistently in the same exact path...the one published in FWW can not maintain a true 45 since they are moving jaws...IMHO...sometines the old way is still the best

[Mike K Wenzloff]

Hi Jerry,

If I saw the same thing you did--I dropped my subscription sometime back--it is simply a miter jack.

Here's mine, albeit an 150 year old one.



You can see some scarring to the faces, but not much. The length of the plane rides on the faces one does not touch with the blade. After 150 years and my decade of use, I still have not needed to true the faces.

The back side of this miter jack is what allows the 90 degree cuts whereas this face is the 45 degree miters.

Note that these time-tested miter jacks excel at long miters say for making a box and joining at the corners with miters, not miters for say a picture frame, such as this one:



Next to the shooting board is the miter "head" which attaches with those two 3/8" steel pins. This is the one I use, with the miter head attached, for miters for picture frames and the like.

But I use the miter jack for the long miters for these types of boxes:



The box miters are most easily shot on the miter jack, while the lids for the boxes are done on the other shooting board.

Take care, Mike

[Pam Niedermayer]

Mark and Mike, couple of questions about your #9's. They both have knobs on the side. Did you guys drill a hole and mount the knobs?

Also, Mark, you say

iron does not extend down through the body ...so with a fine set the shooting board remains un touched.

Does this mean the blade does NOT extend below the sole? If so, can you explain how it cuts? And is this the reason, Mike, that you don't touch the wood on the miter jack?

Thanks,
Pam

[Mike K Wenzloff]

Hi Pam--LN only sold the #9 with a knob for sometime. Then, they made what is called the "hotdog" handle, which attaches at the top of the escapement on the side wall via set screws. Now, the hotdog is standard but they will do a knob if asked.

I have since sold my #9. It is a wonderful plane for shooting and have at times missed it greatly. But other needs arise and so it goes.

The blade extends through the sole, just not all the way to the sides. So in that respect it is like most all bench planes [as opposed to a rebate or shoulder plane]. For most shooting on a board where the plane is on its side, the blade cannot extend to the sides else it would constantly plane into the edge of the shooting board.

On the miter jack, a very small amount of wood is removed from the faces, but the plane's length in front and behind the blade "bridge" that slight wear to keep it at the angle of the untouched portion of the faces.

I can shoot a couple pictures of it in use. I have trouble articulating at times and a picture is worth...and all that.

There are many neat designs for long and short miter boards on Alf's web site which gets around the traditional miter jack's wear issues. Based upon a Robert Wearing design according to Alf's paragraph on it. There is also a PDF of the design, I belive.

http://www.cornishworkshop.co.uk/shootingboards.html

It's near the bottom and entitled, A Modern Approach to the Donkey's Ear.

Take care, Mike

[Mark Singer]

Pam,
Mike said exactly what I would have and He has a similar shooting board

[Andrew Homan]

Very nicely illustrated post, Mike. Thanks!
-Andy

[Bruce Branson]

Check out White Mountain Design. I made a large and a small one based on their design which work very well.The fence is adjustable.[IMG][/IMG]

[Pam Niedermayer]

Hi Pam--LN only sold the #9 with a knob for sometime. Then, they made what is called the "hotdog" handle, which attaches at the top of the escapement on the side wall via set screws. Now, the hotdog is standard but they will do a knob if asked....

The blade extends through the sole, just not all the way to the sides. So in that respect it is like most all bench planes [as opposed to a rebate or shoulder plane]. For most shooting on a board where the plane is on its side, the blade cannot extend to the sides else it would constantly plane into the edge of the shooting board.

On the miter jack, a very small amount of wood is removed from the faces, but the plane's length in front and behind the blade "bridge" that slight wear to keep it at the angle of the untouched portion of the faces.

...

OK, I didn't know the LN 9 used to have the knob, only that LN show the hotdog. I wonder why they don't list the knob option. Maybe they don't want to do the knob all that often? Thanks, and to you both for showing this plane in enough detail that I noticed that its mouth runs through the sides. I had thought that a shooting plane couldn't do that, but it clearly can if the blade is narrower than the mouth. Do they make it this way so the user can run the blade out to one side or the other depending?

Maybe I should have explained my context before asking. I've got shooting boards and planes up the kazoo, but have been thinking about making a miter jack. I hadn't so far because I assumed that in use the jaws would be worn away, thus causing a lot of fettling during its life. I think a lot of users cover the jaws with paper. Thanks, Mike, for adjusting my thinking on this. It's only the area on the inside jaw faces that can get planed away. Now they'd still have to be fettled to provide a sufficient stop for the piece being planed, but much less often.

Pam