[OP]
Member
I have been wanting to build me a shooting board for 45dehree cuts..I have watched alot of you tube videos and the planes they use are way too expensive...I guess it's not if you use them but a shooting board would be my only use for one... Can anyone tell me of a good plane to use fairy inexpensive for just using on the shooting board
Friend of the Creek
Jeff, I’ve seen virtually every plane used as a shooting plane…from block plane to jointer. Arguably, a bevel up, low angle plane is best for end grain shooting, but any decent, well sharpened hand plane will work. Even if the plane is not a true 90 degrees from side to sole, you can always make slight adjustments to the iron angle to compensate. Don’t let the plane keep you from using a shooting board.
Last edited by Phil Mueller; 11-17-2021 at 8:31 AM.
What Phil said. But if you want a plane that will serve other purposes, this one is a great place to start.
https://www.lie-nielsen.com/products...anes&node=4167
You can buy a "hot dog" that attaches to the body of the plane to facilitate it's use as a shooting plane. It also works without the hot dog...
Mike
Contributor
The plane matters less at 45 degrees-sharpen one you have and go for it: adding a track can help but also not necessary.
Contributor
When it comes to shooting end grain, a blade in a BU plane (typically 12 degree bed with 25 degree bevel) will hold its edge many times as long as a blade in a BD plane (45 degree bed with a 30 degree bevel).
http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ToolRev...tingPlane.html
I would recommend buying a Veritas BU Jack. Use this on a ramped shooting board. Here it is with a hotdog handle ...
Regards from Perth
Derek
Last edited by Derek Cohen; 11-17-2021 at 10:01 AM.
Contributor
It sounds like this is the only thing he's interested in using a plane for. So while I agree with the BU jack recommendations.. the cost is probably going to be a factor. I'd just get a vintage jack and learn to sharpen. Which, is pretty much what I did for years anyway.
~mike
happy in my mud hut
Contributor
My main reason for getting a bevel up plane for shooting was to ease the pain from an old shoulder injury.Originally Posted by jeff oldham
Before that my shooting planes were: a #65 block plane, a #5 bench plane and a #6 block plane. A hot dog was made for the bench planes.
As a member you can't see images on SMC. You might try > inthewoodshop.com < for Derek Cohen's project on making a hot dog for one of his planes.
There are many shooting board posts on SMC. Some of them have attachments for shooting 45º angles. It would only cost $6 to see the images, a worthwhile investment.
jtk
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
Member
I agree that for any 45 degree cut almost any plane will work. If the OP doesn't have one there are many cheap planes on ebay. I made Paul Sellers shooting board that does 90 Deg and 45 deg. It's cheap and can be made out of scrap which is good because I made my fist one for a lefty by mistake.
Contributor
Shooting boards are simple tools made complicated. I do have a shooting board I made. Fancy white oak, adjustable, miter fence, donkeys ear ambidextrous . I’ve used different planes, #6, #4, block plane and for the most part a BU jack now. That being said a flat bench top, a 45* bench hook and something to shim with does the job just fine. You can learn the in and outs of shooting board use so you will know what you want and why.
Jim
PS: I still use a bench hook many times just so I don’t have to get the board out, set it up, and check it after it’s been sitting for a while.
Contributor
Shooting boards can be very simple, mine does 45 and 90 degrees. Yes another vote for the bevel up jack. I do have a hot dog with a magnet (not shown), it requires considerable effort to remove!
DE646A2F-C8C5-4E6D-978B-98F841D0A338.jpg
C9DBFE0F-7379-4AF9-AB84-FB2DFA7C583B.jpg
You can do a lot with very little! You can do a little more with a lot!
Member
Jeff, do you have any hand tool woodworking experience? Do you have a plane already?
I agree with others who say just use whatever plane you have. Shooting boards have been around long before low angle bevel up planes have.
If you don't have a plane already, I suggest simply buying a vintage Number 4 Stanley and learning to sharpen and tune it up, and how to use it on the surface and edges of boards first before attempting to plane end grain.
Planing end grain on a shooting board is something that requires a bit of knowledge, skill, and experience, and if you are not experienced in sharpening plane irons and adjusting your plane to take fine shavings, you will have a very difficult time of it.
If you do have that experience, though, any plane will work. Some planes will work better. Bevel up block planes are another inexpensive option and may have some advantage to standard bevel down planes, but I've never used a bevel up plane myself (besides a few block planes), and have done plenty of shooting end grain with my standard bevel down planes.
Note that depending on the design, though, standard smoothing and jack planes can be easier to adjust than some block planes, at least in my limited experience. Hence, my recommendation is still to go for a Stanley No. 4 first, and a low angle bevel up plane only if you have the budget. Bevel up planes are quite nice and great for shooting from what I hear (no experience personally), but are several hundred dollars compared to say, $20-$50 for a good vintage Stanley. So, make your decision based on your budget.
Restoring a handplane will certainly help you with learning to set up and use it, though. I almost think buying a new high end plane as a beginner robs you of very valuable experience.
Note: Also, shooting at 45 degrees is much easier than straight across end grain, so again, it's hard to argue that there is a "need" for a high end bevel up plane unless that's simply what you want.
Last edited by Luke Dupont; 11-18-2021 at 12:22 AM.
Contributor
+1 on most of what Luke posted.
My one contention is a #5 makes more sense to me for a couple of reasons:
1) They tend to be more common than a #4 (at least in my experience) thus cheaper.
2) They have a longer bit of metal ahead of the mouth allowing a little more build up of momentum before hitting the work.
Congratulations Jeff for becoming a contributor. Here are a few old posts of mine on shooting boards and planes:
https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?130114 < This was mostly about the evolution of a hot dog for use on a plane for shooting.
https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?244777 < This is converting my old right hand shooting board to being ambidextrous. It also has some information about shooting angles. Another member shows a donkey ear they made for their board to shoot 45º angles.
https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?157217 < This is a post about a donkey ear for shooting 22-1/2º on the edge of a piece. This is for making octagon boxes (or birdhouses).
https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?282509 < This was from when a new shooting plane was received. There are a lot of replies with other thoughts and ideas about shooting boards.
https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?103805 < This is an archive of Neanderthal wisdom/FAQs, an interesting place to visit.
Also try pasting < shooting boards site:sawmillcreek.org > into your favorite search engine.
jtk
Last edited by Jim Koepke; 11-18-2021 at 1:31 AM.
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
Member
Nice links! I may have to try making one of your hot dog things.
Good point on the No. #5, too. My impression was that the #4 was more commonly found on ebay and the most common starter plane, hence my suggestion, but I may be wrong about availability, and the No #5 is certainly a better plane for shooting and may be better for all kinds of other work such as jointing and flattening too -- a good "jack of all trades," as the name implies.
Member
Thanks for your collection of links, Jim. You are clearly a pretty good librarian!
Contributor
Thanks for the kind words Howard. When the SMC software was upgraded years ago the search function did not perform as well as it did before. My solution was to make a file with posts of interest with descriptions to make them easy to find.
Now it seems the flaw within the search function on SMC has been corrected, thanks to who ever resolved the issue.
Someone else pointed out the flaw and how to correct it when searching.
Another option is at the bottom of each page is a feature allowing people to create their own tags on a post to make them easier to find again.
jtk
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
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