Shooting Board Mk2

This is my upgraded shooting board. The shooting board is made out of plywood, with an oak fence and a 3D printed insert that runs in a groove to make sure the plane cannot be pushed to the right during the cut.

The fence is a large block of oak. There are threaded inserts in the plywood base and the holes for the cap screws are oversize to allow easy adjustment of the position of the fence (to ensure it is parallel). By offering an engineer's square up to the base of the plane and pushing it against the fence while the screws are loose, it's very quick to adjust the fence to ensure it is perfectly square.

This photo shows the groove in which the insert runs. All faces of the grooved area are covered in HDPE tape, which is very smooth and allows the plane to run freely along the track (without having to regularly wax the surfaces). The plywood piece on the right-hand side of the track is adjustable to ensure that the insert runs smoothly but cannot drift to the right. The leading edge of the right-hand side piece is slightly chamfered to make it easier to insert the 3D-printed insert.

These photos show the 3D-printed inserts I made for two different planes (I've since made another one for a low angle block plane). They were designed by drawing around a plane on a piece of paper and then scanning the drawing and using it as a basis for a 3D CAD model. Surprisingly, both inserts fitted perfectly first time.

This photo shows the shooting board being used with a Stanley 5½ jack plane. This is useful when shooting long grain without having to change the blade in the low angle jack plane.

I also made a mitre shooting attachment for the shooting board. This is also made out of some pieces of plywood. One end of the attachment presses against the fence; the other end is adjustable for angle with an M6 hex-head set screw and nut, inserted into a threaded insert in the mitre attachment. The mitre attachment is held in place with an M6 cap screw into a threaded insert in the base.

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