Shooting Board Deck Thickness

[Prashun Patel]

I am making a new shooting board.

If I understand the mechanics correctly, "running in" the deck creates a little rabbet to eliminate the area of the upper deck where the blade will project. The guide ends up being a very narrow (1/8") lip at the very bottom of the upper deck.


So if the upper, removed material is removed, can I make the upper deck from 1/4" plywood? This will have the benefit of maximizing the thickness of stock I can shoot. Yet, I see no shooting boards with 1/4" decks.

Thanks for any insights.

[Patrick Chase]

I am making a new shooting board.

If I understand the mechanics correctly, "running in" the deck creates a little rabbet to eliminate the area of the upper deck where the blade will project. The guide ends up being a very narrow (1/8") lip at the very bottom of the upper deck.


So if the upper, removed material is removed, can I make the upper deck from 1/4" plywood? This will have the benefit of maximizing the thickness of stock I can shoot. Yet, I see no shooting boards with 1/4" decks.

Thanks for any insights.

The deck has to be at least as high as the distance from the plane's side to near corner of the blade. Many bench planes are about 1/2" wider overall than the blade, so a 1/4" deck would be marginal at best, with no tolerance for lateral adjustment, relief of the blade corner, etc.

[Jim Koepke]

This has come to mind many times while using my shooting board. When shooting thicker material one of my wider planes has to be used to reach across the work.

3/8" on the deck might be a better choice. Plywood may not be the best wood to run against. What may be a good solution is to use a piece of trued scrap for the deck and manipulate the ramp height.

jtk

[Prashun Patel]

I am having trouble reconciling why people don't like to use MDF or plywood for the upper deck. Assuming a flat shooting board (I decided to do a flat one because I have the veritas shooting plane with a skew blade) the blade corner that hits the deck never comes in contact with the target wood. That little corner of the blade's only purpose in life is to do that initial run-in. Right? So who cares if it's mdf, particle board, whatever. As long as it can be cleanly cut ONCE, then won't it be fine?

[Judson Green]

I did mine out of solid, but it dosent matter one bit if you use MDF or ply.

In fact the fixture would be more stable if you used MDF or Ply

[Patrick Chase]

I am having trouble reconciling why people don't like to use MDF or plywood for the upper deck. Assuming a flat shooting board (I decided to do a flat one because I have the veritas shooting plane with a skew blade) the blade corner that hits the deck never comes in contact with the target wood. That little corner of the blade's only purpose in life is to do that initial run-in. Right? So who cares if it's mdf, particle board, whatever. As long as it can be cleanly cut ONCE, then won't it be fine?

MDF is abrasive stuff, so people instinctively avoid it for any purpose that involves contact with a cutting edge.

With that said, an MDF deck would be fine as long as you make sure to overcut it when you cut it in (i.e. set blade extension for a deeper cut than you would ever use for shooting, and bias the blade all the way down towards the track with lateral adjust). The reason to do this is to make sure the blade won't repeatedly rub against it.

[Jim Koepke]

I am having trouble reconciling why people don't like to use MDF or plywood for the upper deck. Assuming a flat shooting board (I decided to do a flat one because I have the veritas shooting plane with a skew blade) the blade corner that hits the deck never comes in contact with the target wood. That little corner of the blade's only purpose in life is to do that initial run-in. Right? So who cares if it's mdf, particle board, whatever. As long as it can be cleanly cut ONCE, then won't it be fine?

My main concern is being able to get a good edge on he deck's guide edge. The surface of the workpiece will only be as good as the edge of the deck material. Some plywood has a soft core.

It may be perfectly fine. There isn't any MDF scrap and very little plywood scrap for me to have used on a shooting board.

jtk

[Patrick Chase]

I did mine out of solid, but it dosent matter one bit if you use MDF or ply.

In fact the fixture would be more stable if you used MDF or Ply

I use 3/4 MDF for bases and 1/2 MDF decks, though I also use Veritas shooting tracks, which means that my net effective deck height is about 3/8". The also means I don't have to cut the decks in, since the track flange provides an adequate gap.

They aren't the prettiest or most traditional shooting boards, but they do stay very flat.

[Judson Green]

Jim does make a good point. A hardwood rub edge might be a good idea.

[Jim Belair]

Jim does make a good point. A hardwood rub edge might be a good idea.

Mine's baltic birch with about 3/16" oak overlay for the ramp and rub edge.

[Patrick Chase]

Jim does make a good point. A hardwood rub edge might be a good idea.

Or a shooting track. I realize that's not the traditional solution, but then again they didn't have extrusions back then :-).

[Tom M King]

I made the one I'm using now out of Corian, and ran the little relief on the table saw before I glued it to the track. When I make another one, it will just be plywood with probably a Boxwood strip glued and pinned to the edge against the plane.

[Nicholas Lawrence]

This has me wondering what you are building. My shooter is usually a No. 7, with a 2 3/8 inch blade. So, with a 1/4 inch upper deck I could shoot 2" stock I guess.

But I'm having trouble thinking of something I would want to build with 2" stock that needs the precision I am usually trying to get with a shooting board.

[Derek Cohen]

Hi Prashun

I made a bunch of MDF shooting boards for a LN Tool Event one time. The sides were hardwood ...

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ShopMadeTools/ShootingBoardsfortheLNHandtoolEvent_html_mc63595b. jpg

I kept one and later modified it to include a track ..

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ToolReviews/LVShootingPlane_html_1ce5d90f.jpg

The MDF was finished in Danish Oil to avoid it turning into sandpaper, and the runway then waxed to aid the slide. It works very well.

Regards from London

Derek

[Jeff Bartley]

Prashun, I used 1/2" MDF and probably would have used 3/8" if it was available. What not maximize the thickness you can shoot?
If I could make a point in regards to the use of shooting boards: when I'm using my shooting board I'm almost always also using a bench hook. My shooting board is composed of a 3/4" base and a 1/2" deck, my bench hook is 1/2" thick. If I was building another bench hook I'd make it the same thickness as the shooting board so that the shooting board could act as a material support for the bench hook. As it is one my bench, I have to move the shooting board to the back of the bench when cross-cutting long stock. Sorry for the unsolicited advice but hopefully it'll help someone.

[Prashun Patel]

I just decided to use 3/4" ply for the deck and base, with hard wood edge banding on the upper deck. Nicholas really got me thinking: I work frequently with thicker stock like legs for tables and chairs, but now that I think about it, the ends of those pieces rarely have to be shot square. Their tenon shoulders require it, but not the end.

I wasn't seeing the forest for the trees here.

Conversely, a thicker deck just allows me more rigidity and options for screwing in the fence. I did plane down the upper deck a scosh...

Thanks.

[Brian Holcombe]

I used plywood, when I finally re-do the board I plan to put a hardwood edge on it.

The plywood edge doesnt hold up well...oddly enough.

Make the back tall enough that you can clamp pieces to it to backup the shoulder when trimming with a shoulder plane.....to reduce blow out.

[Prashun Patel]

Thanks for the tip, Brian. Can you show a pic of what you mean?

I've used a crude shooting board for a year or two now and despite having a decent and square fence, I still get blow out.

I learned a good deal from Derek's site. I was moved to think I should now score or chamfer my trailing edges to eliminate blowout. If your solution is easier, it certainly would be more efficient to go straight from the saw to the shooting plane.

[Brian Holcombe]

I would consider doing both, shoulders are super easy to chip out on the backside.

My board is a piece of junk, so I will often clamp a piece of wood between the board and the piece being cut.

[Patrick Chase]

I would consider doing both, shoulders are super easy to chip out on the backside.

My board is a piece of junk, so I will often clamp a piece of wood between the board and the piece being cut.

The fences for both of my boards (flat and donkey's ear) are 1.5" high and extend basically all the way to the blade. They register to a subfence for perpendicularity/angle, but have some play from side to side so that I can adjust clearance to match cut depth. That pretty much kills spelching dead for me, at least for workpieces that have uniform 90-degree trailing edges. If only part of the trailing edge rides on the fence then that's another matter and I have to resort to beveling or scribing.

[Prashun Patel]

I used 3/4" material (plywood) like normal people.

I used a card scraper to fit the track guide after gluing it up a tad tight.

I finally have a shooting board that works like the deli slicer I always wanted.

[Jim Koepke]

I finally have a shooting board that works like the deli slicer I always wanted.

I often think of this when cutting salami or other items for a sandwich.

It also comes to mind when making a cold drink and shaved ice would be nice.

I believe even Stanley made an ice shave at one time. A friend tells me shaved ice drinks are popular in Hawaii.

jtk