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Thread: A New Style Shooting Board

  1. #1
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    A New Style Shooting Board

    Though primarily a power tool user I do use a shooting board sometimes and have built and used two or three over the years. They are fine for what they do, but if you want to shoot some angle besides 90 or 45° you had to make a new fence, or add a shim. After I bought a CNC a few months ago I figured out how make a shooting board that allows you to easily shoot any miter angle from 90 to less than 45°, on either side of the board. It looks similar to most shooting boards at 90°.


    But there is a unique pivot system and bearing that allow the pivot stop to rotate to any angle, and when it does the edge of stop remains exactly at the edge of that side of the shooting board.





    There are replaceable and adjustable stops on the front of the pivot stop so you can adjust them for wear and replace when necessary.

    An add-on bevel kit provides an additional pivot stop and 45° bevel ramp that allows you to shoot bevels from any miter angle from 90 to less than 45°.








    The board can be adapted for use with LV's shooting plane guides, and also outfitted with a fixed 45° fence.



    This shooting board satisfies the needs of most folks, unless you need to create bevels at angles other than 45°. Yes, you could make additional bevel ramps for other angles, but what if there were a board that could adjust to any bevel angle? Well, there now is.




    Any miter angle, any bevel angle, on either side, all on one shooting board.




    You can learn more about both shooting boards in the Classifieds section.

    John

  2. #2
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    Easily the best design for one I've ever seen!!

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    Not bad at all John.
    It’s has a ring of the late David Charlesworth precision. Hopefully it works as good as it looks
    Aj

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Andrew Hughes View Post
    Not bad at all John.
    It’s has a ring of the late David Charlesworth precision. Hopefully it works as good as it looks
    Thanks Andrew. Yes, they do indeed work as good as they look. With a scary sharp blade in my plane they are a pleasure to use. Using the CNC to cut the critical parts assures accuracy and precision that's hard to replicate by hand, though I freely admit that checking and adjusting parts by hand, when needed, assures everything works as it should. Customer feedback so far has been very positive.

    John

  5. #5
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    Ok, please help me out folks. I thought these shooting boards would raise a lot of enthusiasm but clearly I was wrong. What is it you all see as deficient, missing, or unnecessary?

    John

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by John TenEyck View Post
    Ok, please help me out folks. I thought these shooting boards would raise a lot of enthusiasm but clearly I was wrong. What is it you all see as deficient, missing, or unnecessary?

    John
    John, your design is a useful and interesting concept. There are likely many who will use (or steal) some of your design concepts.

    Most folks make their own shop accessories like shooting boards and such. This design is more intricate than many folks have the equipment, ability or desire to make.

    The majority of shooting board use is for cleaning up 90º cuts. Some will use shop made attachments for shooting miters.

    Your shooting board is possibly the only ambidextrous shooting board, beside one of mine, that has been displayed on SMC. To me it seems odd when people are so one handed dominate they find it darn near impossible to perform a task with their non-dominant hand.

    Having a shooting board for cutting compound angles has crossed my mind but has yet to come to fruition. It isn't something the average woodworker needs or even wants for their everyday projects.

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

  7. #7
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    Really neat design that may not address a problem. I made my shooting board out of some scrap MDF and scrap hardwood. No way I could justify paying $300-$500 for this (as a hobbiest) - as cool as it is. The added features are cool, but angle functionality is easy to add to most shooting boards. If I need to shoot 45s, I have a angled piece I tack to my shooting board with pin nails. Boom - 45 deg zero clearance fence.

    Its a brilliant execution. Maybe if I made jewelry boxes or other small items for a living I would buy this. Shelling out $400 for a LV shooting plane is already a stretch for me.

    Keep grinding man. It takes awhile to find a good problem to solve. How about a $50 bandsaw tension gauge based on your design. Theres a big hole in the market for a reasonably priced bandsaw tension gauge that works. The design on your website is genius. Sell a kit where I can add my own dial indicator maybe?
    Last edited by Keegan Shields; 06-12-2022 at 2:09 PM.

  8. #8
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    Thanks for the comments, Jim and Keegan. The simpler of the two shooting boards sells for $175, including shipping. That seems like a very fair price compared to what I see being offered commercially where you mostly get a once sided, fixed angle unit. With mine you get all angles on both sides. Those making picture frames and boxes for example, with the addition of the bevel kit, should appreciate the benefits. For people making boxes and trays with compound miters the higher end unit makes trimming those pieces extremely easy and precise. Clearly, I misjudged the value people would place in them.

    John

  9. #9
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    The simpler of the two shooting boards sells for $175, including shipping. That seems like a very fair price compared to what I see being offered commercially where you mostly get a once sided, fixed angle unit.
    Yes John, you may have "built a better mousetrap." How many people are actually wanting to buy a better mousetrap?

    Another take on this; let's say a person is making $35/hr. This would be five hours of pretax work to buy a shooting board. It isn't too far fetched for a person to be able to put together a simple shooting board in an hour or two.

    It is fairly easy to build angled fences or make an adjustable fence to shoot different angles.There are various attachments for my shooting board to cut angles of 3º, 10º, 22-1/2º & 45º.

    When it comes to shop fixtures, building them builds experience, knowledge and techniques. Spending money to have someone else build shop fixtures and appliances may deny a person of what they can learn from building it them self.

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

  10. #10
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    John,

    Maybe its the wrong audience here. Have you thought about giving a few units to some Youtuber types for free? That might hit the Woodpeckers crowd.

    Getting the word out to the general public about consumer products is tough without a big marketing budget. Another strategy is finding a niche market that would find your shooting board's functionality particularly useful. For example jewelry box makers or perhaps some type of instrument maker? Then find those online communities where they gather.

    As an example, Facebook didn't start out targeting everyone - they started with Ivy League college students. (a group that is tech savvy and passionate about expanding their social network) Pick a small market with passionate members as your beachhead.

    Its a really nice shooting board. I just don't do enough variable angle shooting board work for the price. But I bet someone does.

  11. #11
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    For example jewelry box makers or perhaps some type of instrument maker? Then find those online communities where they gather.
    Another market might be among custom picture framing shops. Though a lot of those already have miter trimmers. You might have to do some salesmanship and demonstrations.

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

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Koepke View Post
    Another market might be among custom picture framing shops. Though a lot of those already have miter trimmers. You might have to do some salesmanship and demonstrations.

    jtk
    Custom frame shops do not cut frames anymore, not one I've been in anyway. The frame maker provides them with samples and a phone call places an order from the manufacturer. Finished frame shows up the next day if they want to pay the rush price.

  13. #13
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    I suggest you lower that fence on the flat 45 degree cut so you can get a hand on the handle of the plane. There is no contact with the plane body for at least half the width of the fence. Maybe I missed something, but what are those half circle cuts up by the fence. I can't see them being used?

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by John TenEyck View Post
    Clearly, I misjudged the value people would place in them.

    John
    It may just be bad timing John. I know my discretionary spending has been cut way back by the economy in a tailspin.

    It does look like great work and a useful product.

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Clifford McGuire View Post
    It may just be bad timing John. I know my discretionary spending has been cut way back by the economy in a tailspin.

    It does look like great work and a useful product.
    That, and it's a tough time of year to sell to hobby woodworkers. Everyone is outside and enjoying summer activities. I've found the best times to sell tools and such is between Labor Day and Thanksgiving or February through April (folks getting tax returns).

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