The Shooting Board

July 8, 2008

Have you ever cut a miter on saw but needed to go back several times to take basically 1/64s out to adjust and compensate for an out of square condition? Or because your saw is not precise? Or simply because piece is still slightly too long?If so you understand how time consuming and frustrating that experience can be. Back in my journeyman days I used to watch carpenters form a line to the saw for that purpose. A sad sight . I simply carried a block plane in my apron and made all the adjustments right there next to where molding went in a fraction of the time with greater accuracy.

Now, if one ads a “ shooting board “ to the plane , we now have an extraordinarily efficient and precise tool to do those tasks and much more. Essentially the shooting board is about the equivalent of a Guillotine but much more versatile and adaptable to different situations .

Although there were great commercially made units in the hand tool hey days most of the times it is just a simple homemade unit adapted to a particular plane one may have. There are numerous ingenious ideas for them. However in theory it is a simple board with a stop and an area for plane to slide on its side .It’s main function is to provide an easy accurate way to take precise controlled cuts on the end grain of a piece of wood. It will provide a perfectly squared or mitered end perfectly square on its thickness. It should hold the work securily and provide ways for the precision needed to be executed and maintained through out its use. It’s usefulness however does not stop with just that and it is unlimited. One soon finds that it is an indispensable addition to the bench.
They are always made from whatever leftover materials one has. Mine is heavy and stable allowing also my body to lean against it while in use needing no other way to hold it on bench besides the stop underneath it .
There are planes specialized for this but one can use any plane available. The ideal criteria for it is preferably a hefty jack with its sides square to the bottom. If it is a low angle one even better but not necessary.

I use two of them constantly. A small one dedicated to a block plane and a large more sophisticated one for much larger work. They can be made from any leftover material and are easy to make. Mine are a combination of many different ideas and adaptations of my own to it.

Small shooting board for block plane

Miter adapter

Full size ramped shooting board with some of its attachments.

Ramp provides better work holding ability, but more importantly allows entire width of blade to be used rather than just one small area.
Plane rides on slick hard wearing Corian surface. Unit is heavy.