How does a shooting board work?

[Phillip Ngan]

Sorry about the naive sounding question. Actually, I want to know something specific about how a shooting board works.

My question is how thick is the height of the baseboard, shown in the sketchup diagram, and in the photo.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_hh0uhac1VlQ/TJBVD48ToqI/AAAAAAAAAfs/wcYjiY4Itck/shootingboard.png

In my mind this height should be the distance between the side of the plane and the edge of the blade. This is so that the sole of the plane can run along the lip while the blade edge (just) clears the lip, which is important because you don't want to plane the lip and wear it down over time. I think it is important for the sole of the plane to run along the lip because that is how the 90 deg (to the fence) is achieved.

But, most of the shooting boards I've seen online have a thick baseboard. E.g. http://www.fineboxes.com/Shooting_Board_Complete1_-PSD.JPG

So how does that shooting board work. Won't the plane blade shave the edge of the baseboard? Or if the plane does not run against the edge of the baseboard, how is the 90 deg (to the fence) achieved?

[Matt Evans]

I have a dedicated plane to use with my shooting board. That is all I use it for. It has worn that edge a little, like you mention, but I have never had a problem because of it.


The main goal is that the side of the sole rides on that small amount of baseboard surface. Since the blade will never touch that, I see no reason to worry about it personally. If anything, I like the extra "dust chute" that it gives me. I cut one into the runway when I made mine, but having the part that the blade would contact (and there fore possibly the sole, if enough dust/chips build up) set back from the runway a bit seems to make the whole thing easier to use, since I don't have to brush it off as often to make sure the plane is running true to the runway, not the shaving buildup.

[Jim Koepke]

Hi Phillip,

I too used to wonder about this. Then I found the first few passes with a plane cuts away a little bit of the guide board and the part of the sole of the plane that has not blade rides what is left.

The trick I have found is to make the top fence adjustable. That way if there is any movement of the wood over time due to humidity changes the fence can be tweaked a bit.

Derek Cohen has a great site:

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/

where there is a lot of interesting information awaiting your perusal, including information on shooting boards.

jtk

[Eric Brown]

If you allow the blade to cut into the upper board when its initially used, then your board will have the maximum amount of support.

I the upper board is too short, then your board may not be cut at the bottom most edge due to a gap between the blade and the side of the plane.

Also consider this: If you set up the shooting board to perfectly match the edge of the blade, there will be a lot of pressure on that corner which may cause it to flex or wear more.

It's best to avoid all the alignment issues and just let the plane remove that little bit of wood.

Also, normally the blade should be sharpened straight across.

When doing end grain a little denatured alcohol helps.

Eric

[Gary Daniel]

Tico Vogt has put together a different design for a shooting board that addresses some of the normal issues folks run into when using a standard shooting board. It's called the Super Chute. More info and some videos can be found here:

http://www.ticovogt.com/?page_id=311

[Derek Cohen]

In my mind this height should be the distance between the side of the plane and the edge of the blade. This is so that the sole of the plane can run along the lip while the blade edge (just) clears the lip, which is important because you don't want to plane the lip and wear it down over time. I think it is important for the sole of the plane to run along the lip because that is how the 90 deg (to the fence) is achieved.

But, most of the shooting boards I've seen online have a thick baseboard.

Hi Phillip

You almost have it. The plane will take a shaving off the side of the baseboard. This leaves a little lip at the lower most part of the edge where the blade does not reach. This lip now becomes a fence for the plane. The blade will always run above the lip/fence while the sole of the plane is guided by it.

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ShopMadeTools/Setting%20Up%20and%20Using%20a%20Shooting%20Board4 _html_4d3485e8.gif

I have more diagrams and details in this article: http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ShopMadeTools/Setting%20Up%20and%20Using%20a%20Shooting%20Board4 .html

Here is the original ..

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ShopMadeTools/ShootingforPerfection_html_m3f021a61.jpg

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ShopMadeTools/ShootingforPerfection.html

Regards from Perth

Derek

[tico vogt]

Gary,
Please notice the very important differences: the Super Chute design has a bearing strip of acetal that sits proud of the side: the iron doesn't carve into the board. There is a surface of UHMW for the runway. The angle is steeper. It is made of a much more stable material.

[Tony Shea]

Derek seemed to explain the reason the best as the illustrated version makes it easier. The blade will only shave the baseboard the amount the blade is set at its' maximum depth of cut. Typically when shooting you will only be taking very fine endgrain shavings (for an end grain shooting board) therefore the baseboard will only be shaved very little by the blade. The trouble I've found with this flat style shooting board is the concentrated wear on the blade. Depending on the thickness of material being used to shoot you will be constantly taking cuts with that one side of the blade. The solution to this problem is an inclined shooting board. Derek is a shooting master and also has one of these types of shooting boards on his site. The inclined baseboard causes the plane to use more blade surface area to shoot the intended board. Like others have stated, just go over to Derek's great website and learn all about it as well as other great projects, tools, and jigs he comes up with.

[Phillip Ngan]

Thanks everybody for your replies. I understand now about how the initial shaves of the baseboard creates an accommodation for the blade, while leaving the unshaved part to act as the guide on which the sole of the plane rides.

Thanks Derek for pointers to the treatment you gave about the fence, this was going to be my next question. In particular that if the fence is offset from the sole, wouldn't this create break-out on the work piece. Your suggestion of chamfering the trailing edge of the work piece to address this issue makes sense.

I also see the advantage of a sloped baseboard to distribute the wear over the width of the blade.

Thanks again everyone.