Ramped Shooting Board

[derekcohen]

This shooting board was inspired by the one sold by HNT Gordon, with which I (and others) were so impressed at the recent Perth Woodworking Show.

I made this one with a couple of additions. Firstly, it has an add-on mitre fence, and this has a built-in bolt that allows it to clamp securely onto the straight fence. Secondly, I found there was a tendency for slippage on the fences of my other (non-ramped) shooting boards. Consequently I have glued 220 grit dry wall mesh onto the fronts of the fences.

Construction is jarrah and pine, all off-cuts. The finish is shellac, with only the plane slide waxed. With the exception of a power drill, no electrons were burned here, with all work done with hand planes, hand saws, and squared on existing shooting boards.

A note for those with newly-built shooting boards: these need to be "run in" before attaching the fence. Run your plane along the board until you have planed away the area where the blade touches the side of the ramp. You will be left with a ledge that supports the plane body. Only then is the shooting board set up.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[DarrylF]

Shouldn't a ramped shooting board slope down towards the back? Either I've got all the dynamics wrong or sloping down would reduce tearout? I guess it would also reduce the capacity a fair bit. Any thoughts?

[vsquizz]

Dazza, it is sloping to the rear. The fence is at the back.

Derek, what angle do you reckon it is? and how much of the blade do you think you will use on say a piece 3/4" thick.

BTW very nice work. I was so close to buying one but managed to convince myself that it was not about saving money but the plain simple fact that I should build one myself, just as you have done.

Thanks for further inspiration. Now its back to shed building

Cheers

[Driver]

Good work, LeCohen! You 'ave done eet again!

(I like the way you leave that magnificent Stanley #62 casually in the background, unmentioned and unremarked).

In all seriousness, that is an excellent piece of design, well executed. The combination of straight fence and mitred fence is inspired. Well done! Now I've got something to shoot for this weekend ("shoot for" - geddit? )

Col

[GCP310]

i can see a slight flaw in your design. if you use the 45 angle on the slope,will it not produce a face that is out of square to the edges?

[LineLefty]

Looks good derek, as usual.

I made one too, as my previous post shows but it's jsut two pieces of MDF slapped together with a jarrah fence. It's giving me problems too. Maybe I'll have another go and ramp it this time.

Question:

On this shootign board, when do you use the Try Plane as opposed to the #62?

[derekcohen]

if you use the 45 angle on the slope,will it not produce a face that is out of square to the edges?

Glenn

No. Actually I'm not sure what you mean. The fence is square to the table. The plane cuts downward but is still square to the fence. The result is perfectly square cuts, either end- or long grain.

when do you use the Try Plane as opposed to the #62?

Adam

My preference for end grain cuts is the #62. The low angle blade is really the plane of choice for end grain. But when I am squaring short lengths (such as tops and bottoms of drawer sides = long grain) I prefer the Try Plane.

One of the reasons I decided to build this ramped shooting board was that I was told (on another forum) that it made it easier to enter cuts than on a non-ramped board. From my use so far I think he was right.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[derekcohen]

what angle do you reckon it is? and how much of the blade do you think you will use on say a piece 3/4" thick.

Squizzy

The angle is 5 degrees.

I get a full 2" cut at the fence (on either the Try Plane or the #62). Of course, this would be for a piece of timber .0001mm long!

A 3/4" thick piece of timber would be managed for a length of about 200mm.

Regards

Derek

[GCP310]

Sorry, what i mean is if the ramp is set at 5 degrees and you have a piece of stock in the 45 degree jig,would the finished result after shooting not be a compound angle?

Im not having a go at you, it was just a thought thats all.

Kindest Regards

[BigPop]

Glenn,
I think you have missed the point - the ramp is angled at 5 degrees but the plane you use still runs at 90 degrees to the workpiece - hence you are planing a straight cut but the blade is angled to the workpiece (or vice versa).
Hope this may clear it for you.

[LineLefty]

imagine you're slicing bread on a benchtop. Rather than having the knife parallel to the benchtop it's just angle up slightly, but you'll still get a straight piece of bread.

!

[GCP310]

Supprisingly enough, you guys are correct. i did a little 3d simulation
in autocad and i was proven wrong.

heres my results. Sorry to question your knowledge ,Derek. I shall check in future before inserting foot into large orifice.

[derekcohen]

Glenn

No offence was taken at any time. We only learn by questioning and testing ideas. I took your questions in the spirit of this.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[derekcohen]

An addition to the design:

While it is possible to be accurate in ones measurements, I do believe that a better design builds into it a degree of adjustability. See below for my solution for an accurate fence. Make the "bolt side" a tight fit, while the "butterfly side" bolt hole in the fence is made a couple of mm larger than the bolt. This gives you a few mm adjustment each way.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[TassieKiwi]

Hey Derek


How would a second fence and a hole for the LHS bolt in the appropriate position for a 45 deg mitre fence work - ie use the same hole for the RHS bolt and rotate the fence?