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Thread: Shooting Boards Do I really Need Them?

  1. #31
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    Another approach for shooting in a vise is to work from one side and only go in half way. Then turn the piece to work from the other end.

    Something seen many years ago described a method of squaring the end of a piece with a chisel. It was called 'blocking in.' The author thought this might be the origin of the name for a block plane.

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

  2. #32
    What interests me is WHY didn't shootinghboards have the same prominence in pre industrial handtool woodworking as they seem to have today. They are not mentioned in Roubo, while every current hands-on manual on woodworking describes them.

    I think there are several reasons.
    - Like Warren describes, it is actually easier to plane the endgrain of a board when it is in the vise. You just have to keep your plane level, something every workman would have been familiar with. They didn't have trouble doing it on long grain! Even I can get decent results this way.
    - Endgrain is abusive for a sharp edge. So, endgrain planing would have been avoided as much as possible. The first and last tool the endgrain saw was a saw. Again, no problem for a full time joiner or cabinet maker. They could saw to a line, and keep the cut perpendicular.
    - I see many describe how the shootingboard allows the utmost precision in creating an exact length of wood. But to be honest, how often do you really need such exactness? If you can saw accurately to a line?
    - Visible endgrain was avoided. Everything covered in veneers and mouldings. So a little roughness was no problem.
    - Joints were a means to an end. They were made to construct a piece, but the joints had no esthetic value. They were buried as much as possible and when visible you shouldn't be shocked to find bit of gappy baseline for example. Today the joints need to perfect and often are part of the estetic appeal.

    These things automatically lead to less importance for shooting boards, while they are still very usefull for exact miters and for very thin stuff.
    Last edited by Kees Heiden; 08-02-2018 at 3:38 PM.

  3. #33
    Quote Originally Posted by Kees Heiden View Post

    These things automatically lead to less importance for shooting boards, while they are still very usefull for exact miters and for very thin stuff.
    In a thread about a book on hand tools that has now been "moved" -- not "deleted" or "removed", just moved (to where?) -- some pointed out context was important. In your case, it is audience.

    Less importance to whom? To those who don't use shooting boards a lot? Or those who don't realize their full potentials?

    I was once given a trial pass to Rob Cosman's online videos, and for the first time came to know he used a shooting board for almost every hand tool project he presented (the ones I browsed). Does he have the planing skills or sawing skills to true or square up his stock? The answer is obvious to anyone who knows about his work. Can't remember if he had a DVD on making a shooting board...Paul Sellers has done a video or two, for sure.

    There are a few who make and sell shooting boards, and there are classes on making shooting boards. To these people, more not less the shooting boards are getting important.

    You point out two good uses of a shooting board: miters and thin stock. Anyone who masters a shooting board can point out a lot more...including where a shooting board is so good at that freehand skills can't match.

    Simon
    Last edited by Simon MacGowen; 08-02-2018 at 3:31 PM.

  4. #34
    I was writing about the time when Roubo, or Nicholson lived. Quite a few years earlier then Paul Sellers. Like I described in that old thread about the history of shootingboards (mentioned in one of the previous posts in this thread). Shootingboards, or similar contraptions like miter jacks, were only documented for miters (mostly in German books) and for various kinds of veneer and very thin panel work, like in Roubo and Nicholson.

    I see now my post was not entirely clear about the period and I have now added the word pre industrial.
    Last edited by Kees Heiden; 08-02-2018 at 3:39 PM.

  5. #35
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    Great discussion/input thanks to all those who have responded!

  6. #36
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    This be my "Shooting Board" in action, today...
    IMG_5293 (640x480).jpg
    Much easier...aslways set up for what I need..
    IMG_5294 (640x480).jpg
    Miters?
    IMG_4555 (640x480).jpg
    What angle to you need?
    mitersaw.jpg
    Repeatable, too......

  7. #37
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    Looks like a nice setup!

  8. #38
    Quote Originally Posted by steven c newman View Post
    This be my "Shooting Board" in action, today...
    .
    Ya know you are admissible only as an Associate Member of the SB Club, right?

    Ya can upgrade to a Full Member via various ways, including buying a shooting board track from any club-sanctioned vendors, even if you choose not to build a SB.

    Simon

  9. #39
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    Seems I have outgrown the need for such a crutch....mine sits unused...
    chute board.jpg
    Just sits on a shelf....takes too much space to set up, and use....
    Jumbo Jack.jpg
    I prefer the mitre box....quicker, and they are both always set up....and can do any angle...

  10. #40
    With such supplementary information received, you are now granted the right to use these initials behind your name, if you choose to: MSBC (which is not to be confused with the Master of Science in Business Communication degree)! But I am sure the Club is proud to have you help promote its mission in a world where more and more people are interested in shooting targets than shooting wood.

    Simon

  11. #41
    Unknown to 99.99% of active shooting board users is that a shooting board can do what a train horn does when hickery is shaved:

    https://www.instagram.com/p/BeNm4_8l...=shootingboard

    Simon

  12. #42
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    Will a shooting board "shoot" a Crown Molding joint? Or, would it shoot a 22.5 degree mitre joint..for an 8 sided clock?



    Shooting a thin part? Go and get a Lion....that is what was made for such tasks....

  13. #43
    Quote Originally Posted by steven c newman View Post
    Will a shooting board "shoot" a Crown Molding joint? Or, would it shoot a 22.5 degree mitre joint..for an 8 sided clock?
    .
    Steven,

    Your shooting skill (on a SB) has gone rusty!

    Shooting a 22.5 angle is easy peasy if you know cradling.

    Cradles, may be another crutch in your dictionary, empower your SB to the next level, and they are another path to get you to the Honorary Member level (this kidding of course).

    Simon

  14. #44
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    If your current method is working (accurately), then stick with it...I am a bad source as i do not have a shooting board.
    Jerry

  15. #45
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    Hmmm...I'll pass....

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