Thread: Shooting boards for the LN Handtool Event

Lie-Nielsen are holding a Handtool event in Perth this coming weekend.



Having been invited along as one of the presenters, I decided to concentrate on dovetailing (demonstrating the Knew Concepts fretsaw, which LN Australia will be selling, and dovetailing techniques), and shooting boards and shooting technique.

The latter area was partly inspired by the recent arrival of the LN #51 shooting plane (review: http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ToolRev...tingPlane.html). I thought I could take it along with the Stanley #52 shooting board, and provide a comparison with the LN #9 shooting plane, which LN will loan me for the event. Later I could write this up as many are interested in that. I also plan to take along a variety of shooting boards for all to try out and experience. It is the latter that bring me to the point of this post.

I'm not sure if many are aware that LN offer plans for a shooting board. They are here: http://www.lie-nielsen.com/pdf/Shoot...d_Fixtures.pdf

I decided to build a couple. Well, sort of. I kept to the layout of the LN version, but did add a little here-and-there to make it more durable (and nicer to look at ... there I had to say it - the LN is somewhat bland! )

There boards are built out of MDF. Horrible stuff - dusty and cardboard sponges. But cheap. I edged all the important areas in Jarrah and soaked the surface and edges in Danish Oil.

The LN board is double-sided, that is, it can be used right- and left handed. I think that this is for the mitre fence accessory - it really is a demanding build to set up a shooting board so that the two opposing sides are perfectly parallel ... and that the mitre fence is set up to trim perfect 45 degree mitres at each side. I had fun doing this ...

The basic board is 1 1/2" thick, 18" long and wide.



There are dust grooves alongside the runway ..



.. and if you look at the centre you will see a metal threaded insert.



This is for the mitre fence ...



The fence has non-slip added. This is a fine powder sprinkled over a layer of poly varnish). The non-slip is necessary for shooting mitres.



I built 4 of these shooting boards for the event ...



Wait .. there is more!

A ramped board, in Jarrah and Tasmanian Oak ..



This board is a little different to past ramped boards I have built.

If the bolt on the left is loosened, then the fence can slide back-and-forth ...



The reason for this is that the square fence then converts into a mitre fence ...