Ramped shooting board?

[Aaron Rosenthal]

My shooting sux!
Let me be honest and start with that.
I made a shooting board a few years ago, and either my sharpening wasn't up to snuff (no, please no more sharpening threads yet) or I didn't have the correct geometry, or something. I used bevel down, bevel up, 25 deg, micro bevel - no matter what, it just wasn't happening.
In fact I'm now building a pair of cabinets, and the design plan was to band the tops including 45 deg mitres, but alas, I ended up saying "furgedabouid" until I could make a better plan.
Yesterday I birthdayed myself a R-H shooting plane during the "seconds" sale, and now I'm going to build not only a shooting board to house the plane, but also a few attachments.
Since the plane is wider than my current board allows anyway, building a new shooting board is needed.
Question 1: Because I was unhappy with the planes I was using staying on track, I had already bought but not installed a 16" shooting board track. My old board is 24" in length. Since I have very little extra space for jigs and stuff, should my shooting board be made for a 24" track - opinions, please.
Question 2: I'm as lazy as the next person. A ramped shooting board uses more of the blade per cut, which to me translates to less time sharpening. I've seen the ramped shooting boards on YouTube, and in fact on Derek's site. Since really, I only want to make one, if possible, is it more worth my while to make the ramped board, as my all-around-er?
Yes, I do plan to have a design which will let me shoot 45 deg. mitres.
Thanks for the input, folks.

[Phil Mueller]

Aaron, the Veritas shooting plane has a skewed iron (20 degrees IIRC), which creates a shearing cut. No need for a ramped board. You’re going to love that plane.

[Derek Cohen]

Aaron, my rule of thumb is a ramped shooting board for a plane with a square blade, and a flat board for a plane with a skewed blade.

The ramp offers progressive entry, which reduces the jarring impact. A skewed blade does this as a well.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[George Yetka]

Im in the same boat. Ordered the veritas shooting plane last month

I thought the ramp was also good for using more of the blade on thinner stock(1/2 x 5 x x Lets say). The first impact on the board will be higher up on the blade, leading to less time sharpening.

Ramped
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcVK5wLSPOw&t=866s

I like the idea of long miters(box building etc) so I wasnt sure which way to go. Adding donkey ear to ramped may be tricky. I may just make 2. One for straight/45s and 1 for donkey ear

[Derek Cohen]

I thought the ramp was also good for using more of the blade on thinner stock

Nah .. the amount of spread over the blade is negligible.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[George Yetka]

Well than I only need to make 1 then. Thank you

[Derek Cohen]

Adding donkey ear to ramped may be tricky.

There are a number of examples on my website: http://www.inthewoodshop.com/Furnitu...tingBoard.html





The donkey ear is attached to the fence, which has fine adjustments via the left side bolt ...





Regards from Perth

Derek

[Jim Koepke]

Aaron, Building a shooting board should be a simple project not something over which one tears out their hair.

I made a shooting board a few years ago, and either my sharpening wasn't up to snuff (no, please no more sharpening threads yet) or I didn't have the correct geometry, or something. I used bevel down, bevel up, 25 deg, micro bevel - no matter what, it just wasn't happening.

A shooting board doesn't care what plane is being used. Many folks even get by with a blade that isn't sharpened to the ultimate degree.

By mentioning, "I didn't have the correct geometry, or something," it leads me to believe you were not getting square results.

Is there some way you could post images of your board and the results. It would be helpful for those trying to help you.

jtk

[Jim Matthews]

I bought mine from Tico Vogt.

It's expensive.
It works perfectly.

I didn't need expensive machines to make the only one I'll ever use.

https://ticovogt.com/?page_id=1605

[steven c newman]

Have used mine exactly.....twice, in almost 10 years...
IMAG0101.JPG
And this is from when I rehabbed it, after about 5 years of neglect...
IMAG0108.JPG
test drive with a jack plane....then stashed it away, to sit on a shelf...somewhere....haven't used it since....

[Jim Koepke]

I bought mine from Tico Vogt.

It's expensive.
It works perfectly.

I didn't need expensive machines to make the only one I'll ever use.

https://ticovogt.com/?page_id=1605

While stiffling my urge to post an image from the linked page here it brings up a trifle that grabs me every time a ramped shooting board, tilted toward the fence, is posted.

First the plane is attacking the work by hitting it on the bottom first. Couldn't this cause a lifting effect?

Second on the linked page the skew of the plane's blade appears to be counter acted by the tilt of the ramp.

Do my eyes deceive me?

jtk

[Aaron Rosenthal]

Jim, because I needed to change the sizing of the board to take advantage of the Veritas shooting board track, I’ve already taken the board apart to modify it.
You’re right, things weren’t square as I did the shooting.
The first issue I self-diagnosed was the although the 2 boards were perfectly perpendicular, running a regular plane felt like it was out of register so my hand “corrected” the angle and nothing was straight. The fence was perfectly square.
My hand was uncomfortable (age and arthritis ) so that didn’t help.
In my latest project I was planning on banding a border around a quarter sawn oak top; cut the basic mitres on the chop saw, started trying to shoot to fit and the speed square I used to hold the board was not fixed in place. Compounding errors.
With the new plane on the way, I’m building a new board; I’m going to probably use the 16” track, and build both a perfectly angled 45 deg. stop for mitres and a donkeys ear.
I was thinking of a ramped board because it would utilize more of the blade per shot, but after the replies here, I’ve become convinced 2 boards may be of an advantage.

[Jim Koepke]

My hand was uncomfortable (age and arthritis ) so that didn’t help.

Derek Cohen has a post on his website > http://www.inthewoodshop.com < about building a 'hot dog' handle for one of his planes.

My version is here > https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?130114 < at first it took the form of a vertical handle. This gave me concerns about possibly fracturing the cast iron. It was slotted on the side to fit on the side and push more against the frog:

Hot Dog on #6.jpg

Shortly after this an LN #62 Low Angle Jack with a hot dog was purchased. This was before either LN or LV were making shooting planes. More recently a Veritas Left Hand Shooting plane has been purchased.

My shooting board was also made to be ambidextrous:

Fence Trimming.jpg

Shortly after receiving the Veritas Shooting Plane a guide rail was added:

Shooting Board Guide Rail.jpg

The blue tape is a minor angular adjustment.

After a recent blood draw at the local clinic the phlebotomist was asked if the elastic bands they use on the arms were reused. She indicated they were tossed. She let me have a couple that were used on my. These are great for adding friction to my fingertips for holding the work steady on a shooting board. Just drape it over the workpiece so my thumb is pushing on the edge and the other fingers are pressing on the top.

jtk