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Thread: Shooting Boards Do I really Need Them?

  1. #61
    I use veneers a lot and make a lot of small boxes which demand absolute precision. Only my shooting board can trim stuff like that.

  2. #62
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    My personal experience tells me I do not need a shooting board if you can machine the parts at precision. Woodworking does not require the precision I found in microelectronics!

    I think shooting boards are a God sent when you do not have ways to get precision at your cuts either for not so precise power tools or by hand cut parts.

    Anyway I made in the last year my first shooting board after 30 years of woodworking... and I used it a couple of times since then.

  3. #63
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    If I use my table saw for crosscuts, a shooting board is optional. I tend however to hand cut with a crosscut saw and a bench hook, so the shooting board offers a means to improve precision. If end grain will be exposed, shooting is a must for aesthetic considerations.
    Sharp solves all manner of problems.

  4. #64
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rob Luter View Post
    If I use my table saw for crosscuts, a shooting board is optional. I tend however to hand cut with a crosscut saw and a bench hook, so the shooting board offers a means to improve precision. If end grain will be exposed, shooting is a must for aesthetic considerations.
    Even on my bandsaw cuts a shooting board tends to be used since it looks better than how sawn end grain appears.

    It is especially helpful for marking and cutting dovetails.

    Most often my shooting board is used to bring multiple pieces to the exact same length.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  5. #65
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    Everyone to their own method. I use a shooting board every time a drawer front, back are sides are sized and fitted. Similarly, in situations where pieces need to be planed with precision, it is handy - not essential .. nothing is - to use a shooting board. I do not own a chop saw, and likely never will, and even a crosscut table on a slider will not achieve the precision that a shooting board can.

    I was reading through this thread, noticing it went back a year, and Kees commented that the shooting board was a 20th century invention. Well, my shooting board is dated 1896, manufactured by Stanley, and there is another by Chaplin made in 1888. There was another cast version by Towers and Lyon in 1884. So late 18th century - perhaps even mid 18th century may turn up if we looked hard enough - would be more accurate.

    Regards from Perth

    Derek

  6. #66
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    [QUOTE=Derek Cohen;2926246

    I was reading through this thread, noticing it went back a year, and Kees commented that the shooting board was a 20th century invention.

    Derek[/QUOTE]
    Derek, I like shooting boards also. I do not have a table saw. If you look at comment #21 by Kees, he cites some research that shooting boards have been around for centuries.

  7. #67
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    So late 18th century - perhaps even mid 18th century may turn up if we looked hard enough - would be more accurate.
    Probably a little younger than the bench hook. How far do those go back?

    My guess is a shooting board is such a simple item it likely went into the wood stove as it got worn. Old wooden spoons likely held more sentimental value and not a lot of those are still around.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  8. #68
    Quote Originally Posted by Derek Cohen View Post

    I was reading through this thread, noticing it went back a year, and Kees commented that the shooting board was a 20th century invention. Well, my shooting board is dated 1896, manufactured by Stanley, and there is another by Chaplin made in 1888. There was another cast version by Towers and Lyon in 1884. So late 18th century - perhaps even mid 18th century may turn up if we looked hard enough - would be more accurate.

    Derek
    1888 is the 19th century, not the 18th century. A generation ago woodworkers used shooting boards for small pieces or for very thin pieces. In both cases it was because there was such a small surface that it was difficult to balance a plane on it. I was taught to shoot end grain in the vise in 1962; it is a much more comfortable method. The first I ever heard of larger pieces on a shooting board was in the 1990s when a fellow was shooting a board that was six feet long, which would be too tall to shoot comfortably in the vise. Shooting end grain on a board this long is rare in historic cabinetry.

    Peter Nicholson (1812) mentions shooting thin stuff and small miters on a "shooting block". And Andre Roubo mentions appliances similar to shooting boards trimming small inlay pieces for marquetry. The use of a shooting board as thought of in this thread is a recent phenomenon.

  9. #69
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    1888 is the 19th century, not the 18th century.
    Quite right, Warren! I can count on you for the correction.

    Regards from Perth

    Derek

  10. #70
    Jezo Derek the nerve of you,

    I’d think being down under you’d be at least a day ahead of us on all this

    That’s supposed to be good natured humor..

    Quote Originally Posted by Derek Cohen View Post
    Quite right, Warren! I can count on you for the correction.

    Regards from Perth

    Derek

  11. #71
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    Since the houses I work on are from the 18th, and 19th Centuries, you probably wouldn't be surprised at how many times I have to deal with, and explain that.

  12. #72
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    Shooting Boards Do I really Need Them?
    The answer is in the question. If you do not wish you had one -or- as in your case, have them but do not use them, the answer is that you do not really need them. I bought a compound miter saw because everyone had one; use it about once every 3 or 4 years when I need to trim out a room.
    "A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg".


    – Samuel Butler

  13. #73
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    Made a chuting board a few years ago, as everyone said "You HAVE to have and use one" sort of thing.....have actually used it...twice? Too much time to set the blasted thing up, as I wind up having to clear away a space on the bench, first. Yet, even while doing a test cut on the latest Mitre box I just cleaned up...
    Russyltucky sales, result 1.JPG
    Just a test on the 45 degree setting...
    Russyltucky Sales, rehab 1.JPG
    On a piece of treated spindle stock...after I had tried out the 90 degree setting....saw will need a swipe with the candle....makes the saw slide a bit better..

    YMMV.

    corner blocks.JPG
    I used these corner blocks all the time, to attach tops to a case....Quickest way is to just swing the Langdon #75 to 45 degrees, and make a few cuts....
    ganged up.jpg
    Parts needing cut to the same length...and square...
    shoulder cuts.jpg
    Set up the depth stops, and make shoulder cuts...all the same....small backsaw to make the cheek cuts....wide chisel to clean up..
    tenons.jpg
    Simple as can be...YMMV

  14. #74
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    Quote Originally Posted by steven c newman View Post
    Made a chuting board a few years ago, as everyone said "You HAVE to have and use one" sort of thing.....have actually used it...twice? Too much time to set the blasted thing up, as I wind up having to clear away a space on the bench, first. Yet, even while doing a test cut on the latest Mitre box I just cleaned up...
    [images removed to save space]
    Just a test on the 45 degree setting...

    On a piece of treated spindle stock...after I had tried out the 90 degree setting....saw will need a swipe with the candle....makes the saw slide a bit better..

    YMMV.

    I used these corner blocks all the time, to attach tops to a case....Quickest way is to just swing the Langdon #75 to 45 degrees, and make a few cuts....

    Parts needing cut to the same length...and square...

    Set up the depth stops, and make shoulder cuts...all the same....small backsaw to make the cheek cuts....wide chisel to clean up..

    Simple as can be...YMMV
    Interesting idea of not using a shooting board because setting it up it is too much work. For me it is just as much if not more work to set up the miter box.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  15. #75
    My shooting board takes 1 minute to set up, and most of that is to double-check for square. I use it regularly for parts that require precision. Otherwise, my chop saw or (really cheapo) miter box is used. But there are lots of ways to accomplish the same results in woodworking. The shooting board is what works for me. YMMV.
    "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."

    “If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.”

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