Shooting endgrain -- not getting perfectly square results.

[Luke Dupont]

I usually trim endgrain to knife lines or plane and pare it to exact length after assembly. But sometimes, I try shooting it on a bench hook which I use as a shooting board.

I generally have the following problem: I never get a perfectly square end when I do this. The end is usually bellied or slanted a tiny bit, and if I flip it, I'll take shavings off from the top or bottom, which weren't being taken off before. Often the face also gets out of square by 1mm or so. I contribute this to two possible factors:

1: I usually have a slight camber on my iron. Do you guys use a perfectly flat iron when shooting? Or do you ensure that the piece is raised so that it is exactly in the center of the plane iron?

2: The plane seems to take just enough off of my benchhook / shooting board to take it out of square (lengthwise, if not also thickness wise). Usually no thicker than the blade itself protrudes, but still...

[Simon MacGowen]

I usually trim endgrain to knife lines or plane and pare it to exact length after assembly. But sometimes, I try shooting it on a bench hook which I use as a shooting board.

I generally have the following problem: I never get a perfectly square end when I do this. The end is usually bellied or slanted a tiny bit, and if I flip it, I'll take shavings off from the top or bottom, which weren't being taken off before. Often the face also gets out of square by 1mm or so. I contribute this to two possible factors:

1: I usually have a slight camber on my iron. Do you guys use a perfectly flat iron when shooting? Or do you ensure that the piece is raised so that it is exactly in the center of the plane iron?
..

No camber on your blade when you shoot.

Simon

[Phil Mueller]

I would remove the camber. There should be some wood shaving initially from the shooting board, but once the edge of plane next to the mouth hits the wood, it should stop taking shavings.

Without a work piece on the shooting board, run the plane along the edge until you are no longer taking shavings. Be sure the end of the fence is also being shaved even with the sole of the plane. You may want to make a slight chamfer on the back edge of the fence to keep it from splitting out. If the end of the fence is not even with the sole of the plane, it may be causing the plane to move out slightly during the cut.

Then check that the fence is perfectly square with the sole of the plane. If not, you need to adjust the fence.

If every thing is square, then the only reason I can think of that might not result in a square edge is that either the plane is moving away from the wood during the cut (not enough lateral pressure), or the work piece is moving away from the plane during the cut (not holding the piece firm enough).

Are you checking square against the edge of the work piece that was against the fence? If the two work piece edges are not coplaner, then it might not be square to the edge that was not against the fence. This could also explain why you get different angles when you flip the board (the two sides are not the same).

[Robert Engel]

[QUOTE=Luke Dupont;2842281] Do you guys use a perfectly flat iron when shooting? Or do you ensure that the piece is raised so that it is exactly in the center of the plane iron?

Flat iron

2: The plane seems to take just enough off of my benchhook / shooting board to take it out of square (lengthwise, if not also thickness wise). Usually no thicker than the blade itself protrudes, but still...

Re-evaluate your set up. The fence should remain square.

Pics would be a great help.

[Robert Hazelwood]

Check the straightness of the edge of the bench hook (that the plane rides against). If it has any belly or hollow along its length you will get unpredictable results. Check the surface of the bench hook for flatness. Same for the fence itself, and for any workpieces you are going to shoot (the reference edge needs to be straight). IF you are a millimeter off on one side when checking across the width I'll bet there is something wonky with your bench hook or possibly the workbench.

If all of that is settled you should be able to get a square edge across the width, but you need to be fairly careful and deliberate with your planing strokes- set the plane along the chute such that the toe will contact the near edge of the workpiece, then slide the workpiece up to the plane sole. Holding the workpiece firmly in place with your left hand, take a deliberate stroke (no running start), hopefully producing a full width end-grain shaving. It can take a lot of force to do this, so its easy for things to move, which will cause inaccuracy. If you keep the workpiece in place and return the plane to the beginning for another stroke, you should not be able to remove any more material without advancing the workpiece again until it touches the toe of the plane. That's how it should work if everything is copacetic.

There is no need for a camber when shooting, but a mild camber like you'd have on a smoother or jointer will not be a problem, either. If you don't have a dedicated shooting plane and are just using one of your bench planes, I wouldn't bother removing the camber just to do some shooting. But you do need to center the camber to the workpiece, if it is not centered on the plane sole. This can be done with the lateral adjuster, just like you'd do with a straight-edged iron.

It can be tricky to keep the plane firmly against the side of the chute while simultaneously cutting a shaving and attempting to keep the plane from tipping. All of this is made easier when the force of the cut is less, so make sure you are as sharp as possible and do not set a heavy shaving.

[Luke Dupont]

Thanks guys - great information!

I think one of the main reasons is that I didn't run my plane the length of the entire benchhook. That, combined with the camber in my iron was probably leaving me out of square in both directions.

One other difficulty is that I'm using a Japanese block plane. I don't currently own a heavy western (or otherwise) plane yet since moving here. It seems the shape and the lightness of the plane also make it very hard to keep vertical and pressed against the wood.

[Jim Koepke]

Thanks guys - great information!

I think one of the main reasons is that I didn't run my plane the length of the entire benchhook. That, combined with the camber in my iron was probably leaving me out of square in both directions.

One other difficulty is that I'm using a Japanese block plane. I don't currently own a heavy western (or otherwise) plane yet since moving here. It seems the shape and the lightness of the plane also make it very hard to keep vertical and pressed against the wood.

One of my most used planes on the shooting board is a Stanley #65 low angle block plane.

Others seem to have explained the ramp your plane rides against needs to be planed over the full length. At the bottom will be a small area that isn't touched by the blade due to the edge of the mouth.

If your work piece isn't checking square by a small amount this can usually be remedied with an application of masking tape. If the angle checks under 90º, place a piece of tape on the fence near the planing action. If the angle is over 90º, place a piece of tape on the fence at the far side.

Old Shooting Board.jpg

My old shooting board would go through light changes with changes in the weather.

Depending on the degree of out of square it may take a little trial and error for placement and how many layers.

The same can be done to correct the bedding. Though this it is better to work on a more permanent solution.

jtk