Shooting board design

[Burnsy]

I have done a search without much luck and need some help with a basic shooting board design that I can knock up for the kids at school to use to square off their cuts neatly. It needs to be able to work with a number 4 or 5 plane. Has anyone got any pictures, links or ideas they can post please. I don't really want to make mistakes that someone else has already learnt from.

Cheers,
Burnsy

[sCORCH]

Gidday Burnsy,

I'm not sure if this is simple enough for what you are after, but what about:

http://www.whitemountdesign.com/ShootingBoard.htm

Best of luck,
sCORCH

[derekcohen]

Mike

I made this one (closest to camera) recently for an article I am writing. It is simply a thin layer (say 1/4") plywood glued to a thicker board (here I have a piece of formica covered kitchen benchtop - you could just use a piece of 3/4"-1" plywood).

Attach the fence by first gluing, then screwing it down.

Set the fence perfectly by aligning it with the sole of the plane, not the side of the platform.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Burnsy]

Thanks for the quick replies.

Derek, do you think it is worth my making them on on an angle like the last one in the picture - would it make it much easier for kids to use with the sloped surface or is it not really noticable? Any news on when you are wanting to borrow the Stanley 60 for the plane comparison?

[Greg_stewy]

Burnsy,

If you want to get tricky with the shooting board, work out how to create the 45 degree mitre jig using the shooting board in the whitemountdesign link pointed to above, and let me know.
In a school situation, I think the two different 45 degree jigs would be useful.

Greg.

[Burnsy]

The design does not look that tricky from the glance I had at it but it is far more complex than the Primary kids I teach need. They just need a basic 90 degree board they can clean up their cuts with using a number 4 or 5 plane. I like Derek's basic design but will go to the effort of making the sloping boards if it makes a discernable difference to the ease of use.

Cheers,
Mike

[derekcohen]

Mike

The ramped shooting board does feel different to the flat one. There is less "shock" at impact with the ramped board. The skew is not a significant angle in concrete terms, but it is enough to create a slight but sufficient slicing cut.

However ... for school I would make the flat board. It is easier to build. The differences will not be missed.

Regarding the block plane, I will contact you in a couple of weeks. I have a couple of reviews that first need to be competed.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Burnsy]

Thanks Derek, the flat ones it will be