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 ...
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 ...
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
Derek
May 2020