Shooting hard maple

[Richard Hutchings]

I think I have this Craftsman jointer doing a great job of shooting now. After doing a lot of experiments, the blade fully against the plane body, chipbreaker 1/32 back, added a Wadsworth back bevel and turned my shooting board to be aligned with the bench lengthwise for more stability. This plane is perfectly square so it's perfect for shooting, once I found a good grip that didn't hurt my hands.

Can't figure out how to delete the unwanted photos.

I obviously need to rethink the front vise, don't know what I was thinking many years ago.

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[Rob Young]

Clean! And yeah, that's not a vice chop, that's a VICE CHOP!

Add a dash of alcohol to the end grain to soften it just a bit while shooting. I've found it really does help.

[Richard Hutchings]

I can't wait to try that! Thanks

[Tom Trees]

That back bevel seems quite problematic if you ask me, not that I've ever dared, but seen as many failures as wins regarding them.
Cosman made a video on tearout or something along the lines of that, can't be over 2 years since it was made, fairly recent anyway.

A bit of grit was found, and things certainly showed some real world events for me, as I do as much metalwork as woodworking.
Don't recall him resharpening the iron, and we all know how how efficient Rob is at sharpening.
I'm guessing either grit damaged the edge, or the geometry or sharpeness is an issue, and seemingly more difficult to make note of.

One could speculate that too heavy cut could also mangle an edge, and should you have been shooting softwood or doing rough shooting previously,
it might have thrown the shooting board outta whack, and thus making one need to advance the cutter too much afterwards,
which quickly finds the heaviest spot to take a cut from, and is like hitting a wall, and the edge gets dulled near straight away.

Sometimes even the end grain favours being worked in a certain direction.

All the best
Tom

[Jim Koepke]

For shooting a back bevel may be the last thing you want on your blade.

In my experience shooting end grain, the lower the angle the easier it is to push a plane through the work and the cleaner the cut. A sharp blade will make fragile shavings on end grain. They will crumble in your fingers.

My low angle jack plane was nice for shooting end grain. My even lower working angle Veritas Shooting Plane is even nicer.

OMG! Here comes Mr. Newman to get all upset about someone mentioning well made modern equipment. BTW, the LA Jack is an LN #62.

jtk

[Richard Hutchings]

Jim, that's a pretty glowing review for the LV Shooting plane. A left hand Veritas shooting plane is now in my cart awaiting the finances. Thank you.

[Jim Koepke]

Jim, that's a pretty glowing review for the LV Shooting plane. A left hand Veritas shooting plane is now in my cart awaiting the finances. Thank you.

Hopefully you will like it as much as mine is. Mine is also the left hand version. My right shoulder was injured about 50 years ago. Fortunately I'm somewhat ambidextrous.

Here is an old post on my Veritas LH Shooting Plane > https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?282509 < A lot of others shared their shooting boards and comments.

jtk

[Richard Hutchings]

Now I'm even more sold. I wish I could pull the trigger on it today but I have to wait until the cash comes in next month. I got a surprise bonus at work and I told my wife I'm taking Chinook it for tools and wood. She said I have too many tools now. Boy did I laugh. Took a while to stop.

[Stephen Rosenthal]

Although I have a few LV planes, I’m primarily an LN guy. Two of my three LV planes are the Small Plow and Rabbet. LN doesn’t make a version of either of those. The one LV plane I chose that LN makes is the RH Shooting Plane. I elected to buy it (with PMV11 blade) at the time because of the almost $150 price difference. At first I was somewhat disappointed, almost kicking myself for not spending the extra money for the LN. However, with time I have come to appreciate it after learning about some of its nuances. One of the main things I discovered is that the side adjusting screws that hold the blade are meant to be tightened just enough to allow the blade depth to be easily adjusted. I had them too tight initially, thinking it was necessary to hold the blade in place laterally. The other thing I have come to appreciate is the adjustable mouth. I built a small shooting board for end grain and a 4 foot long monster with adjustable fence for long grain. The adjustable mouth and sharp blade allows me to take almost transparent long grain shavings. I still prefer the Bailey style adjuster on LNs, but that’s not enough to make me switch.

[Jim Koepke]

She said I have too many tools now. Boy did I laugh. Took a while to stop.

Making a few nice personal items for the lady of the house tends to make them ignore your tool purchases for a while.

Book shelves are easy. A china cabinet is a challenge. Blanket chests are nice if you have the room.

jtk

[Assaf Oppenheimer]

Add a dash of alcohol to the end grain to soften it just a bit while shooting. I've found it really does help.

that’s a good tip. I usually found that plying me with alcohol was necessary when I had to start working maple end grain. Never thought of using it on the wood…:rolleyes:

[Derek Cohen]

Although I have a few LV planes, I’m primarily an LN guy. Two of my three LV planes are the Small Plow and Rabbet. LN doesn’t make a version of either of those. The one LV plane I chose that LN makes is the RH Shooting Plane. I elected to buy it (with PMV11 blade) at the time because of the almost $150 price difference. At first I was somewhat disappointed, almost kicking myself for not spending the extra money for the LN. However, with time I have come to appreciate it after learning about some of its nuances. One of the main things I discovered is that the side adjusting screws that hold the blade are meant to be tightened just enough to allow the blade depth to be easily adjusted. I had them too tight initially, thinking it was necessary to hold the blade in place laterally. The other thing I have come to appreciate is the adjustable mouth. I built a small shooting board for end grain and a 4 foot long monster with adjustable fence for long grain. The adjustable mouth and sharp blade allows me to take almost transparent long grain shavings. I still prefer the Bailey style adjuster on LNs, but that’s not enough to make me switch.

Stephen, both Veritas and LN shooting planes are just the best out there. I purchased the LN early on, and the Veritas came to me for road testing for the factory. On balance of pros and cons, they are really equally good. In the tests (http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ToolReviews/LVShootingPlane.html) I did, the Veritas blade (either A2 or PM-V11) holds an edge significantly longer than the (A2 blade of the) LN. The Stanley adjuster on the LN is my preference to the Norris adjuster on the Veritas, but the fact is that one rarely needs to adjust this (not like on a bench plane). I actually prefer the looks of the LN, simply because I grew up with the Stanley #51 on the #52 shooting board. The LN looks "right" there. But the Veritas has other features, such as side screws, that add to it being the better plane overall. At the end of the day, both are wonderful.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Richard Hutchings]

I would like to support LN being a local company but just based on the price difference, I can't justify it. Have to go with my pocket this time and it bugs me to do it.

[Matthew Laurence]

This is all you need: https://youtu.be/aur0KxgfqWs

[Richard Hutchings]

I can do that with any plane, many not quite as easy. It's the end grain that's killer and actually, my #7 is doing a pretty good job on it now that I have everything tuned. I still haven't tried the alcohol trick yet, though I did have some last night. I should have run to my shop and spit on the board and tried it.

[Richard Hutchings]

Well, after using the alcohol trick and I can only imagine it will be even better when I find my stropping compound, I really don't have a reason to purchase a specialty shooting plane. This is working really well. So with that money still in my pocket and the money I save on #5 and 5 1/2, thanks again Steve, they are in my town, I'll just buy some wood and steel to make some molding planes. I have plenty of thick rosewood to make handles or bottoms out of.

[Keegan Shields]

Thanks for your shooting plane review on your blog Derek. It helped me make an informed decision. I've done a bunch of end grain shooting on hard maple lately and the LV shooting plane and the PM-V11 blade performed nicely. I did notice that when the sharp edge failed, it started to leave tracks in the end grain. I probably should have re-sharpened before that :)

[John C Cox]

If you're just looking for a cleanup cut on a show face, then your goal is one nice, smooth shaving all the way down...

If you're shooting edges for jointing, mind your support locations. Hand and tool pressure tends to create hollows under the supports. You'll drive yourself insane chasing the hollow, and never realize it is just where you clamp... So.... Take a finely set pass or two, then check the fit. Move your clamps to wherever is hitting proud and take another pass or two... Repeat.

You'll often see shooting boards with only an end support because of this, but I couldn't get the work to stay put without some clamping.

A really good plane makes the setup easier, but doesn't eliminate this. If I was spending more money here, it would be more on the workbench and less on the plane. I still do most of my jointing with a #4 blue painted Stanley Handyman with the original iron and a Hock chipbreaker. Jointing, for me, seems easiest on on a massively stout bench that allows me a ton of room and easy access for jockeying clamps and holdfasts.

Last, some people want an ever so slight hollow in the middle of a joint so the ends don't separate after gluing:.. If that's your thing, clamp in the middle and take a good pass or two. Viola.