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Thread: A Gigantic Shooting Board!
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5th May 2020, 03:48 AM #1
A Gigantic Shooting Board!
The hall table for my niece was completed and delivered, but the wedding was postponed owing to Covid-19. Australia locked down early, and we have suffered less than other countries.
I realised early on that I would have to change the way I ran my psychology practice, and began to research and gear up for Telehealth using video. I found this quite stressful as I intensely dislike using the telephone (and cannot avoid doing so through the day), fearing that video may have the same impersonal feel. It has been reassuring that it has turned out quite a decent experience, and it will usher in changes in the future for consultations. Distance and mobility may become barriers of the past.
Still, the past 6 weeks have been exhausting. Working in front of a screen is intense. I've probably put in 15 hour days owing to the extra admin needed.
What has this got to do with woodworking? Well, I really haven't made it into the workshop until about two weekends ago. It is a refuge from the stresses of the world, and I can chill out just tinkering. I managed to tune up all my machines. Do you know that bicycle lights are the best lights for drill presses and bandsaws? Got a couple of them. Attached a spare Wixey to the bandsaw. Love it! Made a rack for router bits. This is sounding desperate. My energy levels are too low to tackle the painting Lynndy wants me to do. I really just want to push a plane around.
Blame Rod Cosman. He has a daily video on building drawers. If you can ignore the constant sales pitches, Rob is one of the good guys, and there is always something to pick up. I would watch one episode after the last patient was done, with a coffee and my feet up. <sigh>
Well, Rob was using this large shooting board. He likes to shoot with a #5 1/2. The board was nothing special, but it reminded me of a project I had thought about some time back - a shooting board for tuning the long edges of drawer sides. Keep in mind that the drawers I build tend to have sides 6-8mm thick. You cannot plane this accurately in a vise (well, only Warren can). I must say that Rob demonstrated wonderfully precise work, and this rubbed off on me. Hence the interest in creating a shooting board for long edges.
Numbers: the runway to the fence is 750mm. The total length is about 880mm. The total width is 450mm. This is a large shooting board. Yet I can reach down it. It is not cumbersome to use. Its principal use is long side edges, but it can shoot ends as well (not to forget that I have a shooting board and plane dedicated to shooting ends).
Solid wood? Well, sort of. The choices are MDF and ply. MDF is really not a great choice as it had a hard exterior (good) but soft interior which does its best to imitate a sponge when water is nearby (very bad). It is also very heavy. The plywood in Oz is .. well .. cr@p. There really is no other word to describe it. It is light, since full of voids, and generally looks like a pretzel. It is possible to purchase marine ply, but it is very expensive. My local Bunnings had these laminated panels on special, and they were cheaper than the unspeakable ply. The thicker panels are Merbau, which is heavy and hard. The lighter stuff is unknown and softer. The laminations will minimise movement.
The panels were all 300mm wide (12" for those who have not yet entered the modern era). One-and-a half panels made up the base. These were planed down on the jointer and thicknesser, and then joined level with the aid of biscuits (yes, I have one .. damn useful they remain, when most traded theirs in for a Domino. So silly of you .... I have a Domino as well. These machines do different things). I digress. Glued up ...
I use mild steel section (covered in tape) for cauls.
As good as the results may be out of the thickness/planer, the surface is not going to be flat. I have not used this Marcou in yonks. Traversing to flatten across the grain ...
Winding sticks are used to check for twist ...
The high spots are marked and planed off ...
For fun, I decided to enter the 21st century. Behold, the new winding sticks ...
Then it was the turn of the runway. What are the chances that it runs parallel to the platform?
Here are two squares on the platform. There is no gap between them as the panel is flat and level ...
Now when I take them over to the runway, it can be seen that this is not parallel ...
The next task is to plane the runway, checking along its length ... until you get this ...
Next step: remove the fence from a Small Plow (plough!) and run a 1/4" groove along the side of the runway/base of the platform ...
This is for dust, to keep the corner of the runway clear.
Next step: shoot the rebate for the blade. I use a Veritas LA Jack. It does not matter much as I have three planes I could use, and the other two (seen shortly) have similar dimensions (the blade is about 6mm above the sole) ...
This electrified router plane was used to create mortices for T-slots ..
Now the fence could be attached. It is aligned with the blade rebate, and squared to a plane. I use a little glue to set it, then screw it on from above and below ...
Here is the side fence being morticed ...
Finally ... ! Here is the shooting board ...
Shooting the sides of a drawer with a Veritas Custom #7 (the advantage of this plane is that it has a 40 degree frog, so can shoot end grain, plus with the chipbreaker it will plane sides very cleanly) ...
Remove the side fence, close up the outer runner, and use the LN #51 to shoot ends ...
The underside of the board is covered in rubber underlay ...
This is as the long shooting board with live under the table saw and be used on the outboard ...
I am not sure if this build was just a way of having some fun, or whether it will get serious use. Either way, it was time well spent.
Stay safe.
Regards from Perth
DerekVisit www.inthewoodshop.com for tutorials on constructing handtools, handtool reviews, and my trials and tribulations with furniture builds.
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5th May 2020 03:48 AM # ADSGoogle Adsense Advertisement
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5th May 2020, 07:30 AM #2
Any time that allows one to escape from the pressures of daily life in the present COVID environment is time well spent! Even if it does not get much work it is a worthwhile project in itself.
Stay safe & look after yourself and your own mental health as you can't help others if you aren't, as in the D in DRABC or the now expanded DRSABCDMobyturns
In An Instant Your Life CanChange Forever
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5th May 2020, 03:48 PM #3
There were a number of photos and comments I might have added, but thought that I had probably said too much already. One of the photos omitted was with clamps.
I decided against the T-track style clamps here (as some may know, I have used them elsewhere) as they are too directional, which limits their range of cover.
The side fence does not just travel parallel to the runway, but can be angled so, for example, one can hold an out-of-square board or deliberately plane a taper. As the end of the board will not sit flush against the far fence, clamps are helpful to prevent movement (this is unnecessary when the side fence is parallel).
The clamps can be moved along the side fence, as needed. That is the reason for the many holes you see ...
Regards from Perth
DerekVisit www.inthewoodshop.com for tutorials on constructing handtools, handtool reviews, and my trials and tribulations with furniture builds.
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6th May 2020, 12:26 AM #4GOLD MEMBER
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Hi Derek. I think I might have just the shooting plane for your jig
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6th May 2020, 09:04 AM #5GOLD MEMBER
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Derek, off topic, but I cannot see any of your pics - here or in previous threads. I suspect that this is due to my new and improved anti-dodgybloke internet filters identifying you (quite rightly) as nefarious. How are you hosting/posting images? I need to alter my whitelist...
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6th May 2020, 09:37 AM #6SENIOR MEMBER
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6th May 2020, 10:49 AM #7Visit www.inthewoodshop.com for tutorials on constructing handtools, handtool reviews, and my trials and tribulations with furniture builds.
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6th May 2020, 10:54 AM #8Visit www.inthewoodshop.com for tutorials on constructing handtools, handtool reviews, and my trials and tribulations with furniture builds.
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6th May 2020, 11:45 AM #9GOLD MEMBER
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I have a ring light on my drill press hooked up to a plug pack for convenience. It does have one unexpected benefit, it throws a concentric shadow onto the table and helps in placing the piece on centre for drilling. I also bought a couple of the orb LED lights from Lee Valley, one which is on the bandsaw and they work well but are a bit exy these days by the time they get landed in Oz though they do have the advantage of being a battery pack as well which might be handy for some people.
Battery-Powered Magnetic LED Orb Light - Lee Valley ToolsCHRIS
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6th May 2020, 04:07 PM #10
That certainly is a very real issue, Derek. It is hard for those who have not used video-conferencing in a professional or business setting to appreciate just how stressful it can be. I still avoid where possible.
My experience is that there is a strong learning curve for all participants - me, especially, my colleagues and clients - you simultaneously have to remember to stay in frame (of the camera) yet not be an "actor". That colleague who repeatedly jiggles in and out of frame and also in and out of focus gets rather annoying quite quickly. And the feeedback that you get is restricted by seeing only a limitted amount of body language through the screen and the restrictions on voice tones through the audio frequency limitations .......
It must be even more important to a profession that is so perceptile based. My guess is that, frustrating as it is is the short term, it will actually enhance your sensitivities.
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6th May 2020, 04:13 PM #11
I made something vaguely similar five or six years ago to shoot straight edges on veneers. Mine included a caul to hold the veneers flat near the shooting edge. It was later used for general shooting including adjusting edges of cupboard doors.
It simply never occured to me that something so utilitarian could be made so pretty.
Delightful!
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6th May 2020, 04:43 PM #12SENIOR MEMBER
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When not sneaking off to woodwork, I work as a barrister. It has been very interesting seeing the concerns and the reality of everyone having to do court hearings by video.
As with Derek's comment, who knows what will stay in the past even when circumstances change.
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6th May 2020, 06:26 PM #13
Chris
I have that Orb Light from Lee Valley. It's an excellent concept, with good light. But poor for the drill press or bandsaw. The issue is that the light may be directed wheree you want it to go, but the base holds the light with a magnet, and this is not powerful enough to prevent the light/ball from flying off if bumped (which I inevitably did!).
The bike likes really rule (the only issue to watch is that they generally have three settings: strong beam, medium beam - both good - and flashing light ... no so good if you are susceptible to epilepsy ... but fun if you miss the disco)
Regards from Perth
DerekVisit www.inthewoodshop.com for tutorials on constructing handtools, handtool reviews, and my trials and tribulations with furniture builds.
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6th May 2020, 06:31 PM #14
Graeme and Cgcc
You have captured it perfectly. The intensity of focus to extract more information, as well as the extra administration (4 emails plus text, and then the added documentation ... for each patient, and this does not include notes taken at the end of each day because there is no time at the end of each appointment) ..... aaaahhh!
Regards from Perth
DerekVisit www.inthewoodshop.com for tutorials on constructing handtools, handtool reviews, and my trials and tribulations with furniture builds.
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6th May 2020, 08:40 PM #15
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