Which one is more useful, a shooting board and hand plane or one of the commercial miter trimmers?
Currently I have neither. I use my disc sander or table saw for trimming miters. If the shooting board wins out do I need an adjustable fence?
[OP]
Contributor
Which one is more useful, a shooting board and hand plane or one of the commercial miter trimmers?
Currently I have neither. I use my disc sander or table saw for trimming miters. If the shooting board wins out do I need an adjustable fence?
Contributor
A shooting board wins in my world. It's just so versatile IF you have an adjustable fence and at least a fixed 45 deg bevel. I've never used a miter trimmer, but I would think it would be pretty hard to uniformly take off 0.001", which is easily possible with a shooting board and sharp, well-tuned hand plane. With a shooting board you (should) have adjustable wear bars on the fence, too, which eliminates tearout on the back of the work piece.
Lots of folks make their own shooting boards, and others buy one or more from LV, et al. I spent a lot of time last year developing a couple of shooting boards, one of which can handle any miter angle and a fixed 45 deg bevel, on either side, and another that can handle any miter angle and any bevel angle, separately or together, on both sides. I posted about them in the Neanderthal forum if you have an interest.
John
Contributor
Shooting board. Way more useful. I shoot generally 90s, and 45s. Most of the time, it's shooting to get a proper fit, which is going to be very hard to do (as mentioned) with the miter trimmer.
~mike
happy in my mud hut
Contributor
If you are, say, fitting a rooms-worth of fussy panel mouldings, a Lyon-type trimmer is a lot faster.
Contributor
Shooting board imho. I used a 62 forever and it was getting to the point I'd need to build a new board for it but I'd been eyeing the LV shooting plane for so long that I just went ahead with that and the matching board. The mechanism they use is really great, just a bit finicky to get it exactly 90° to start.
Moderator
As attractive as a fancy miter trimmer "guillotine" is, shooting boards (you can't just have one) offer nearly infinite flexibility for refining surfaces for joinery. Heck, you can use a simple piece of wood or plywood on your bench top to support a workpiece while running a hand plane with straight sides "on" the bench sideways to refine an edge. I learned that one from Brian Holcomb when we were faddling with something in my old shop one day a couple years ago.
The miter trimmer would certainly be the choice if one was making something like picture frames day-in, day-out, however. It's the right tool for the job.
--
The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...
Contributor
The Lion trimmer knockoffs are ok for small section mouldings but the ones I have used need to take a minimum depth of cut of close to .010" and the pieces need to be roughed out with another tool for efficient work. A shooting board is better for sneaking up on a fit in smaller increments or on larger sections. An accurate miter saw like an OMGA or an accurately set up tablesaw sled or sliding table saw with a good stop system will make accurate joints more quickly. Picture frame shops seem to rely on heavy guillotine choppers like the Morso line.https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q...2B7A&FORM=VIRE
image.jpg
I bought the trimmer you linked to from Rockler. It appears a number of people carry the exact same one. Maybe there really is only one. I’m not sure. I did have to calibrate it which was relatively easy. I’m very happy with it and it does work well. It is definitely quick and easy. Whether it’s a shooting board or miter trimmer, you’ll have to pre-cut your piece to close the final dimension.
While I do have the Veritas low angle Jack plane which should make a very good shooting board plane (one reason I bought the plane), I haven’t made a shooting board for it. I do think the shooting board can do some things my trimmer can’t. But I think having the miter trimmer that works well has put my shooting board in the back burner.
I wish I had both setup so I could comment on which I think is better from experience. All I do know is the miter trimmer has worked well enough that I’ve not made a shooting board yet while having a high end plane for it. But I still want to make a shooting board one day.
Contributor
Actually, Jim, you can, and it's unlike anything else available. https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread....Shooting-BoardOriginally Posted by Jim Becker
John
Contributor
I don't think I mentioned in the thread but that's probably the best thought out design I've seen. Really nice man, really nice.
Member
It really depends on what you want to do.
I'm not criticizing a shooting board at all.. it can do some stuff that a miter trimmer can't
But if you have a lot of 45 degree angles to cut, the miter trimmer is faster.. Yes, it cuts bigger pieces off than a shooting board.
It's nice when doing trim to cut it slightly oversize and then have the lion trimmer in the room you are installing to sneak up on the f it
You could do the same with a shooting board but it would take longer, IMO.. Again, not casting shade on the lion trimmer.. the shooting board is more versatile.
Both have their strengths.. depends on what you are going to do with it.
Contributor
What is it you want to do?
If picture frames, a mitre trimmer rules. For all else, a shooting board has the greater range. If you now decide a shooting is what you are after, we can discuss what works best.
Regards from Perth
Derek
Contributor
I had both. I say had, because I sold the Lion Miter Trimmer. I made a whole stack of shooting boards, including dedicated ones with 45 fences going both ways. With those, it's not faster to deal with the miter trimmer. I used the miter trimmer for a couple of decades building houses, but once I bought the LV Shooting Plane I never used it again.
It's a lot easier to sharpen the plane iron than the trimmer cutters. The main reason I sold it, one of the few tools I've ever sold, is that it always scared me to think about other people handling the trimmer.
Contributor
I do quite a few picture frames and found a use Lion Trimmer for a very good price. It does an excellent job, no doubt, but I find it very difficult to get the opposing frame pieces to the same length. Likely something I am doing wrong.
Grant
Ottawa ON
Moderator
The level of creativity "out there" is pretty amazing-that's a kewel setup that should cover most situations! But don't forget there's sometimes a need for one that's inclined at an angle to shave end grain, potentially with a compound angle. We are both correct, in other words. LOL
--
The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote