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Here's a long overdue project: a plain, old shooting board (or, as some would insist, a planing board).









I have always just cobbled together something with scraps and clamps to shoot center seams, but I was about to work on some bound fingerboards and I said to myself: Self, you really need to get these fingerboard edges fastidiously square, so it's time to join the real woodworkers of the world and build a shooting board.

This one is all Baltic Birch. The bench stop would probably hold it fine, but the clamp on the other end guarantees no scooching around at all. No glue on this; just drywall screws. I want to be able to take it apart as things might wear out. Instead of building a complicated fence on the left, I just screwed it down, and plan on screwing it down wherever is best for the workpiece at the moment. For instance, for the fingerboards, I will screw the fence down a lot closer to the edge. Eventually the bed will be riddled with holes, but as I said, no glue, so it is easily replaced a few years down the road.

The hold down is just thinner Baltic Birch with a homemade handle. Put the plate halves into the crook made by the fence and the stop, cover with the hold down, press with the left hand, shoot with the right. Easy peasy. Again, no glue, in case a smaller hold down is needed. For thicker wood like fingerboards, a hold down is probably not needed; just tops and backs will benefit.

Anyhow, just thought I would share. Pretty worthwhile use of a few hours on a Saturday morning. If you don't have one yet, don't wait as long as I did. I should have done this years ago.

I like it. I need to redo mine. The one you built is a good example to follow. Well done!!!

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

You're lucky, usually my self doesn't hear what I tell him.

Good job!

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member of the guild of professional dilettantes

I used screws on mine too but instead of moving the fence I remove a bed or foot piece for lack of a better name. I basically have two sizes one for backs and tops and then I remove that foot and have a size for sides. I just use MDF blanks if I need to shim out further. One of the first jigs I ever built was a shooting board and that was about 25 years ago and so far nothing has worn out. IT doesn't get a whole lot of use at an average of 2-3 guitars a year but when it's needed it does the job better then anything.

Nice one. Mine is set up for my Veritas "Shooting Plane" its a two handed affair, you lightly pull the piece into the plane, the results are perfection........

Adding a slope transform a regular block plane into a shear cutter

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Ken Cierp

http://www.kennethmichaelguitars.com/

Ken

Not sure that is a shear cut when you ramp the board a small amount so the blade is approaching the wood a couple of degrees of of square. It would have to be 15%-20% before I would consider it a shear cut. I, too, have a ramped board and I feel the advantage is that you are using a wider section of the blade and therefore getting it to last longer between honing.

Also, for those of use that don't have one of these nice dedicated shoot board planes, here is a simple handle made of 3 thicknesses of wood about 1/4" thick. The center one is the thickness of the cheek plus a bit and is in the negative shape of the cheek. The inner one fits the spaces around the frog. The outer one holds the other two together. It sort of "snaps" into place and has about no play as you draw the plane backwards. The handle is your choice - this one works fine. It fits all of my #4's and #5's, and is acceptable on my 606 (the devil's plane):

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ruby1638/9672841854/in/album-72157635379996680/

Ed

I made one of these once. (Tried to follow Todd Stock's instructions) I really liked the idea of using more of the blade between sharpenings. But, it seemed like there was a very minute amount of twist in the angle or something. Maybe I didn't do it right...

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Pat

Good to know I'm not the only one who finds this jig a bit troublesome. I used it this past weekend and was reminded (again) of why I want to try something different.

Might follow your lead, Don. I like the adjustable/replaceable nature of your design and that hold down is pretty slick!

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George :-)

I did use my new shooting board on the fingerboard edges I mentioned above, and it worked great. Yeah, just screwing down the fence wherever you need it is pretty liberating. A downside is that the holes, once vacated, need to be smoothed out with a chisel or a plane before the bed can be considered smooth enough for use. But that only takes a few seconds.

I read conflicting reports about the ramp before I settled on a simple design for this shooting board. Weighing the goods and bads of the ramp, along with the extra work to build it, pushed me toward the super simple design I went with.

Surprised to hear of folks having trouble with the jig. I used to use a Record size 4 but recently moved to a Veritas size 6. I was able to learn to do a good join with the size 4 (and have done many) but I find that it is a lot easier to do a good join with the size 6.
Maybe this will be useful - there were some things that caused me trouble early on such as:
- Plane too dull - needs to be really, no kidding sharp.
- Shavings too thick. Taking very thin shavings works a lot better for me.
- Planing technique. Plane bed must remain in full contact with the work throughout the stroke, this requires more care near the ends. Pressure on the plane is varied through the stroke, light on the ends with more pressure on the middle. Usually I take enough passes to get shavings from the full length of both pieces then check them against a light. Most often the pieces are a bit convex. So I just plane the middle for a few strokes then come back and take one or two full-length strokes. Like many luthiery techniques practice is the key.
- Not holding the work down well enough. I hold the shooting board to the bench with a clamp but I hold the work by hand.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I should clarify that I believe my issues with the Todd Stock-inspired jig could be rectified with minor adaptations that fit my particular kinesiology, shop/bench layout, and clamping methods. A few simple changes (which I always ponder while using the jig, but forget about once I put it away) would likely increase my satisfaction.

Totally agree that a sharp blade and effective technique are must haves for any chance at success, no matter how you jig things up.

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George :-)

Ha, I know what you mean. I haven't built a jig yet that I don't think could be better if I changed a thing or two. I rarely get around to it though.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Just started first ukulele build and made a shooting board to help prepare plates for joining. Couldn't get the hang of it and went back to "ez-joiner" that I copied from Kathy Mashusita's page. I think the shooting board is a refined technique that takes practice. Trying again soon on guitar project.

Sent from my SM-T230NU using Tapatalk

I had some frustrations with my ramped shooting board. I think I wasn't taking thin enough shavings. But what really helped was switching from my 4 1/2 to a 6 or 7 -- made a world of difference.

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Mike Lindstrom

A few suggestions from a real hack at this hand plane business:

A shooting board is a very good aid for keeping the edges of the workpiece square to the faces. It excels at that, and allows you to do it with modest hand plane skills and tools.

If the goal is to also shoot a completely straight edge as well as one that is square to the faces, that takes stepping up your game, either in terms of the tool or your skill or both. If you assume that the plane is set up really well and has a sharp blade, straight edges can be shot with planes of different lengths, but it is easier with longer planes. For the average guitar, a number 4 is OK, but you chase perfection a bit longer, with more spot planing, than if you use something longer.

I currently use a number 4, but I am considering buying something bigger than that so that the job goes faster. I think something less than a number 7 is my target.

Lots of great points here Steve. Your last one about holding the work down well enough is often over looked. I was struggling with just that issue on the back of my current challenge project. I don't have a dedicated shooting board. I always just set something up on the fly. I have a laminate counter top for my bench top, I grab a peice of MDF or other flat sheet good when I want to shoot a joint. I raise the work up on the sheet good and run the plane along my bench top. I usually clamp some stop blocks to register the back or side when I am clamping the MDF down. I hold the work down with my left and plane with my right. The way I had everything clamped and positioned this last time was not allowing me to hold it down well enough with my left hand. It took me a long time to figure out what was not quite right with the set-up. Luckily, I figured it out before my size 1 challenge parlor became a size 2. . .

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

.... Luckily, I figured it out before my size 1 challenge parlor became a size 2. . .

I have had the same experience.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Bryan wrote, "Your last one about holding the work down well enough is often overlooked."

Absolutely true! One of the unexpected things lutherie has taught me is that how the workpiece is held is as important as any other tool or technique.

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Tim Allen
"Never hurry, never rest."