... on Using
Shooting Board
Esteemed Galoots-of-the-Porch,
One could add several subcategories under
the general heading of "Shooting Boards", the one I have in
mind here is "Tips on Using a SB".
I had one of those moments when you go "aaahhhh"
and wack yourself on the forehead (fortunately this only
happens occasionally and my frontal lobes have escaped with
only moderate damage).
It was in one of Rob Cosman's DVDs, perhaps
his most recent one on building piston-fit drawers
(interesting DVD and worth watching, by-the-way, albeit it a
bit of a showcase for LN planes. Nevertheless, it did give
me reason to accept a set of LN #98 and 99 for my recent
birthday - just had to slip in that little gloat!).
So ... Rob pulls out his trusty shooting
board, hesitates as he selects between his #9, #4 1/2, #62,
and decides on his #8. .. wait for it ... he then turns the
board-to-be-shot (chuted?)over and planes a minute shallow
bevel at the end closest to himself (i.e. this will then be
at the further end of the board when he does the shooting
proper). The depth of the bevel is the same as the depth of
the planing-to-come.
The point to this exercise is that this
bevel prevents any chip out of the end grain. Simple and
very effective - I have used this technique for years when I
plane end grain with a block plane with the board clamped in
a vise.
Yet I never thought to transfer it to the
shooting board. Duh!
Regards from Perth,
Derek Cohen
01/29/2006
