I need to build a new shooting board. And I need to go 'big.'

[Scott Winners]

My benchtop measures 24 inches front to rear. For my next project I have a plank of American Beech 14 1/8 inches wide, but I am going to have to joint both edges. I do not want to rip the board, run it through my electric planer and then glue it back together, I want to use it full width.

My current shooting board can handle stock up to about 6 inches wide max.

The biggest piece I will need to shoot should be around 14 inches wide by 51 inches long. So some kind of bench hook to help hold the board level on the shooting board?

I do also have some glued up panels of similar size on my build list for future projects, so I just want to go big and be done.

Is there a shooting board design online you particularly like? How many clamps is enough? I am done trying to hold a piece of stock down with one hand while shooting with the other hand. I am going to be using some clamps.

Thanks

20231127_211835.jpg

[George Yetka]

Once you get to that size it may be easier to attach a jig to the board itself, referencing the flat edge and shooting from there. Instead of making a big stationary shooting board and having to find support for the board itself. Kind of like the circular saw and large square trick

[Eric Brown]

Once you get to that size it may be easier to attach a jig to the board itself, referencing the flat edge and shooting from there. Instead of making a big stationary shooting board and having to find support for the board itself. Kind of like the circular saw and large square trick

You can also raise the slab off the bench with some plywood strips and use the bench itself as the board. It's probably not worth the effort building a very large shooting board unless you plan on using it a lot.

[Derek Cohen]

Jointing 1/4" thick panels ....



Use the bench as the shooting board ..

A second piece of MDF was layed on top, and then weighted down with bricks (to ensure the edge was flat and parallel to the bench top ..





A jointer plane was now about to shoot the edge square ..







Or .... a Giant Shooting Board





Shooting case mitres ...







Regards from Perth

Derek

[Kent A Bathurst]

6' [or bigger] x 24" 1/2" ply - I'd go BB to ensure flatness - and 1/4" BB 6' x 20". Screw and/or glue together to make base of the "shooting board", with "ledge" for plane. Its actually a jointing board, if you want to be picky.

Imbed T-track spaced every so often - 16"? - in main field

Make a square stick out of oak, hard maple, something tough. Say 1" x 1" x 60", or maybe 1-1/2" square. Drill thru-holes for T-track bolts and add threaded knobs. Add an end stop at one end.

Now you have a 72" x 18" shooting board with an adjustable rear fence for alignment. You need to measure the work piece to keep width consistent as you joint the edges. I use shims to make minor adjsutments as needed, rather than dink around with the stop knobs.


I use mine to joint for glue-up, and also to get parallel edges. The LV shooting plane is marvelous at this task - the skewed blade and sheer mass make it easy. I have 2 blades for my plane - The factory primary grind is 23*. I have one plane with 25* 2dary for end grain, and one at 40* for edge/long grain. 37* & 52* included angle, respectively

Stand it up in some out-of-the-way corner when not in use.

[Jim Koepke]

Here is an old post with information on shooting boards > https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?92355

The third post is by Harry Strasil (RIP). One of his boards is for shooting long pieces. It can be made to be disassembled if it is only needed a few times.

The tricky part will be putting a good straight edge on the platform piece. That isn't hard with a good jointer and a bit of care.

jtk

[Eric Brown]

Here is an old post with information on shooting boards > https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?92355

The third post is by Harry Strasil (RIP). One of his boards is for shooting long pieces. It can be made to be disassembled if it is only needed a few times.

The tricky part will be putting a good straight edge on the platform piece. That isn't hard with a good jointer and a bit of care.

jtk

I miss Jr. Still use his holdfasts before any others.

[Reed Gray]

Derek, talk about "Deja Vu all over again", I have envisioned building some thing like you show here for a while. Dangerous to plant ideas in my mind....

robo hippy

[Scott Winners]

Appreciate the responses. I think I have the shooting board for wide stock figured out, thanks to you guys.

I have been looking at various new planes to be dedicated for shooting.

I see one fundamental problem with R or L handed shooting plane. The vast majority of my shooting is going to be on 4/4 stock, which pretty well commits me to leaving half of a 2 inch iron on my sharpening stones as swarf. Plus they are back ordered.

The Veritas Low Angle Jack looks like a more economical choice to me. I would be giving up some mass, and the blade in the LAJ is not skewed, but I should be able to use it ambidextrously someday if I can teach my body to do it; so I could, in theory, use both halves of the iron. And it is in stock.

Curious to know if the Veritas bevel up irons can be sharpened in Eclipse style jigs.

Am I overlooking anything major among shooting plane options? I have never yet seen a vintage shooting plane local, but the local stuff runs about 50/50 on usable irons anyway.

Thanks again.

[Warren Mickley]

I think that in the time it takes you to make a big shooting board you could learn to shoot edges in a vise.

[Dan Kraakenes]

Make a Skottbenk.
Mostly used to make floor tounge and Groove.. but Edge jointing is certainly possible.
77DDF57D-4694-4344-A748-7F485FD2C2EC.jpg

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uhX5DgjSOnQ

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=N97nZLCNhG4

[Robert Hazelwood]

I guess if this plank is very thin then it makes sense to rig up something to plane it on the side. But if it has any thickness at all it seems way more efficient to just plane the edge normally.

[Reed Gray]

Okay, I am still fairly new to hand planes. They do not have infeed and out feed tables like the mechanical jointers do. I thought this always resulted in a slight crown to the 'straight' edge, and to get it perfect, after taking your passes down to one continuous shaving, you then start in the middle and take that crown down a bit and work your way to the ends. Correct? Probably not an issue on short boards, but for sure an issue on longer boards like those flooring boards Dan linked to.

robo hippy

[Jim Koepke]

Okay, I am still fairly new to hand planes. They do not have infeed and out feed tables like the mechanical jointers do. I thought this always resulted in a slight crown to the 'straight' edge, and to get it perfect, after taking your passes down to one continuous shaving, you then start in the middle and take that crown down a bit and work your way to the ends. Correct? Probably not an issue on short boards, but for sure an issue on longer boards like those flooring boards Dan linked to.

robo hippy

The "slight crown" is a result of pressing down on the toe too hard at the beginning and to hard on the heel at the end of the stroke. Let the weight of the plane do the work and with a little care (and experience) it is not difficult to plane an edge straight.

jtk

[Derek Cohen]

The late, much missed, David Charlesworth emphasised first planing a hollow before planing the board flat (or with a fine hollow). There is always a hump in the centre if the ends do not close, and a plane will follow the curve ... the shorter the plane and the longer the board, the greater the chance of this occuring. This is the rationale behind long jointers - they are less likely to follow a curve.

Thee is a limit to the comfort factor when it comes to large jointers. This one gets little use, but when needed there is nothing to touch it ...

Alongside a #7 ...



For edges, best used with a fence as it is difficult to balance on its own ...



It was originally designed as a Cooper's Jointer ...



Regards from Perth

Derek