Shooting board woes

[paulrbarnard]

After a few weeks busy with other things, I finally got a few hours to see if I can dial in perfect 90.

Still not having much luck, not sure what I'm doing wrong, so I'll seek an alternative to a perfect shooting board.

I'll try my hand at planing to a scribed line or maybe even the Paul Sellers vice-held end grain shooting jig.

Since I'm only making stuff for myself & family, I've decided perfection can wait - I'd much rather spend the few hours I get woodworking making something, even if imperfect, than getting frustrated over one part of the process. I'm sure I'll figure out what's wrong eventually

Don’t give up. It all comes with practice

 

[Adam W.]

After a few weeks busy with other things, I finally got a few hours to see if I can dial in perfect 90.

Still not having much luck, not sure what I'm doing wrong, so I'll seek an alternative to a perfect shooting board.

I'll try my hand at planing to a scribed line or maybe even the Paul Sellers vice-held end grain shooting jig.

Since I'm only making stuff for myself & family, I've decided perfection can wait - I'd much rather spend the few hours I get woodworking making something, even if imperfect, than getting frustrated over one part of the process. I'm sure I'll figure out what's wrong eventually

Good luck, it can be very frustrating trying to get perfection with hand tools, as it takes a lot of practice.

I gave up trying modern work and went back in time to a period where wonky work was acceptable, I find it much more relaxing and enjoyable.

Flat enough is good enough. Although, producing an authentic wobble comes with its own challenges.

 

[paulrbarnard]

Good luck, it can be very frustrating trying to get perfection with hand tools, as it takes a lot of practice.

I gave up trying modern work and went back in time to a period where wonky work was acceptable, I find it much more relaxing and enjoyable.

Flat enough is good enough. Although, producing an authentic wobble comes with its own challenges.

I now have an image of you deliberately shortening one table leg…

 

[Adam W.]

It comes naturally.

 

[RobNichols]

Since I'm only making stuff for myself & family, I've decided perfection can wait - I'd much rather spend the few hours I get woodworking making something, even if imperfect, than getting frustrated over one part of the process.

I'm sure this is the right attitude. The more I've moved away from treating wood like a homogeneous lump of stuff, the more satisfying I've found woodwork. Learning to work with grain and the irregularities of wood due to it being a naturally grown substance is essential.

It's key to understand that what's important is that thing looks straight rather than them being absolutely straight.

Joints can fit perfectly without having to be perfectly square. For example having an undercut in the throat of a dovetail and concentrating on getting just the showing edge square results in a better fit.

Jointing boards by planing them in pairs, back to back, results in any out of square cancelling out. That makes jointing much quicker and produces excellent results without wasting time checking for square.

I'm sure that working this way is essential to woodworking be a satisfying hobby. Especially if you embrace the pleasure of using hand tools and getting the best out of them

 

[Jacob]

....

I'll try my hand at planing to a scribed line ....

Yes you've got it! Doesn't have to be scribed though - pencil is good for most purposes, and regular checking your progress with a square.
Shooting boards are just a fashion amongst amateur woodworkers which amount to a mirage of possible perfection.
That's why they features so often on woodwork forums, year after year!
They do have their uses for some repetitive jobs but on the whole you will probably do better without one.

 

[Cabinetman]

Yes I wouldn’t worry, I’ve been making furniture for 50 years and never had one.

 

[gold_bantam]

I’m planning on making the English Woodworker’s shooting board. It is a bench hook anyhow and has some good skills I need to develop. If it is out of square then he mentions you can plane the edge back into square but I would probably just use it as a bench hook by that point. I made the Paul Sellers shooting board a few years ago and had similar issues to the OP. I don’t want to get that neurosis again, horrible!

https://www.theenglishwoodworker.com/how-to-make-a-shooting-board-video/

 

[Keith Cocker]

Don’t give up. It all comes with practice

If it’s any consolation to the OP I bough a Veritas shooting board and one of their fancy shooting planes (big ouch to wallet) and I still don’t get perfection!!!

 

[bentontool]

Have you considered shooting to a scribed line rather than relying on the fence to give you the 90degs. Use the fence to help handle the blowout (with a sacrificial piece between fence and work-piece if necessary) and hold steady the board being squared.

If you mark a good 90deg line with a marking knife and plane to that on the shooting board, you'll find it is the line that controls the squareness rather than the fence. If you can master this technique, the absolute squareness of the fence becomes less important (a nice to have but not essential), and making shooting boards becomes a lot simpler.

This is worth a watch:

Yes, "shooting to a scribed line rather than relying on the fence to give you the 90degs." is absolutely the best advice and the best technique IMO...

 

[JSW]

Why does nobody ever use the 5 cut method for setting a Shooting board?

Use a couple of M6 bolts to fasten the fence with a slightly oversize hole furthest from the shooting edge, adjust the fence to suit. Then permanently fix the fence with screws.

 

[Dr Al]

Why does nobody ever use the 5 cut method for setting a Shooting board?

Use a couple of M6 bolts to fasten the fence with a slightly oversize hole furthest from the shooting edge, adjust the fence to suit. Then permanently fix the fence with screws.

I used the 5-cut method on mine (after I got a comment from a member on another forum questioning whether it would be accurate enough). The 5-cut method showed it was more accurate than I could measure. I didn't permanently fix the fence with wood screws though, I just use three M6 cap screws to hold it in place. If it shifts, it's easy to adjust and if the fence wears down, it's also easy to adjust (the latter would be more awkward with wood screws holding the fence in place permanently).

 

[gyuunyuu]

By shooting board I thought you meant the board that shoots out from table saw because of kickback. Stumpy Nubs made a video on this "CAUGHT ON TAPE: Table saw bevel kickback goes through wall- WHAT HAPPENED??"

 

[Daniel2]

If all else fails, maybe put the work on a milling machine.
Remember, this is wood we're talking about.
One piece needs to be fitted to another. It's not about micron
accuracy to square, as such. It is about creating a tight, and
pleasing, liason between one piece of wood and another.

ETA : I have been making furniture, etc for 30 years, and I have
never posessed a shooting board.

 

[Jacob]

Deleted. Just repeating myself again, again.