"Shooting" history & shooting boards.

**GRadice** · 24th January 2024, 01:45 PM

I suppose this is as a good a place as any to show my version of a La Forge Royale mitre/miter jack. I took it to our local woodworker group meeting last night so I was thinking about it.

I made it three or four years ago following the plans still posted online by Benchcrafted as well as using their hardware kit (which I think is no longer available).

benchcrafted-small

They based their plans on a mitre jack made probably in the late 1800's. Mine is made of American black walnut. The original base was fixed to a bench by a hold fast. I modified the base to accept the bench dogs at my shoulder vise.

This mitre jack is able to trim 90 degrees, 45 degrees, and optionally 22.5 degrees. The last by way of a clever inset block that one can use or not.

I use this often. It excels at trimming tenon shoulders and is great for trimming picture frames.

One advantage of a mitre jack over a shooting board for 90's and 45's is that one can use any plane in its normal orientation. A disadvantage is that one does tend to ding the references surfaces occasionally. At least I do. You all probably would not, eh? So it needs to be re-trued from time to time. Not a big deal.
FEEF88A3-60D0-426A-B95D-F8B418A6DEEC_1_201_a.jpg 941A2AB9-2267-49C3-B7E6-1D357A2CFABD.jpg A0952A59-73DA-4110-B109-D10A34217D68_1_201_a.jpg CCB454BB-8BDD-4875-8F12-6E25B3C828CC.jpeg 1E4A36E0-3696-49CA-BE30-AD88AFDC9F09.jpeg 09F93F4B-BA68-4F28-9892-017807989952.jpg 71E7A9E0-A6AC-48D3-92B2-6FFBE8AE72EE.jpg

**auscab** · 24th January 2024, 03:15 PM

[QUOTE=GRadice;2327174] A disadvantage is that one does tend to ding the references surfaces occasionally. At least I do. You all probably would not, eh? So it needs to be re-trued from time to time. Not a big deal.
QUOTE]

Nice job you did on that.
Have you heard of people gluing paper on the working surfaces? Replace it when needed.

I have a Australian Blackwood mitre jack. It had a finish on it when I got it and I just tidied that up. The finish reminds me to be extra careful I suppose. Finish with a bit of wax applied on it later has planes slipping good . It'd be good to finish and wax the paper once its glued on. Shellac was what I used.

My one also has been bored to take screws for fixing it to the work table.
IMG_2299.JPG

And I played with using spacers for sawing and was impressed with the accuracy I got doing that.
They are a fantastic tool to have.

IMG_2292.JPG IMG_2296a.jpg

Rob

**GRadice** · 24th January 2024, 03:26 PM

No, I had not known of gluing a sacrificial paper on top until I read your comment up thread. I see how that is a good idea so thanks for the suggestion!

**delbs** · 25th January 2024, 07:03 AM

Originally Posted by raffo

Nicholson trained as a cabinetmaker in the 1780s. We could use his 1812 book as reference. Even contrast it with Moxon's. I've heard Ian's argument before. These authors should not be taken as gospel, but neither should the guesses of people who just imagine what the working methods of the past were. There are many surviving pieces of furniture that can inform us.

Mechanical Exercises; or the Elements and Practice of Carpentry, &c : Peter Nicholson : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Page 158, the link above, starts a series of definitions on common tasks related to stock preparation. Shooting is mentioned there, but the term is not applied to planing ends of boards.

Just a word to the wise wishing to download this reference as i did, this turned out to be a 3.8GB Pdf document

literally scanned in pages of the book not re-written as an ebook

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