JIGS &

FIXTURES

SHOOTING BOARD
With a sharp plane and this simple jig, you’ll be on your way to perfect-fitting miters.
#/8"-dia. steel
rod, 3" long
8" 5!/4"

P
#/8"-dia.
holes
a. erfect miters. They seem simple
CROSS SECTION
F 1 enough. Just make a 45° cut on
MITER F FILLER MITER
FENCE STRIP FENCE two pieces and you’re done. But if
FILLER D
C 2" you’ve ever tried fitting a picture frame
STRIP
FENCE C FENCE together, you know it’s not that easy.
D 2#/8"
No matter how carefully you set up
8"
your saw, there’s always some “tweak-
BASE A ing” that needs to be done. That’s
17"
Ends of steel rod Sandpaper where this shooting board comes in.
are chamfered placed in front When used with a hand plane, the
of miter fence
shooting board allows you to take
A
B paper-thin shavings off the end of a
BASE
GUIDE PLATE mitered workpiece. So you end up
with a perfect-fitting joint.
8"
NOTE: Each layer The great thing about this shoot-
of MDF is #/4".
Hardboard is !/4" ing board is that it doesn’t require
much in the way of time or materials
2" to build. In fact, I built mine from
b. Steel rods 20" some scrap MDF and hardboard I
1" 3#/8"
12" had laying around the shop. It’s just
a small platform that hooks over the
C F
1!/2"
edge of a workbench. A couple of
FENCE MITER
D FENCE 45° fences support and back up the
B
workpiece — one for straight joints
1!/2" 3#/4" E and the other for mitered joints.
A
1!/4"
BASE CLEAT TABLE. To build the shooting board,
TOP VIEW I began by cutting the base (A) from
#8 x 2"
2" Fh sheet
metal screws
28 Woodsmith No. 147
3/ " Push plane forward
4 MDF. It’s then covered with a
1/ "
2 in continuous motion
piece of 4 hardboard (Fig. 1). In
the center of the base, I glued a nar-
row hardboard guide plate (B) to Sandpaper
keeps work-
create a two-sided straightedge for piece from
the plane to ride against. slipping
Hold workpiece
Next the fence (C) is cut from two tight against
layers of 3/4" MDF and attached a. TOP SECTION fence
VIEW
behind the guide plate. Then a filler Shaving
strip (D) can be glued on as well
(Fig. 1a.). An MDF cleat (E) keeps
the jig in place on the workbench. Butt work- Clamp
Blade
MITER FENCE . The last part of the piece against shooting
toe of plane board in
shooting board to make is the miter bench vise
fence (F). Here again it’s nothing
more than two layers of 3/4" MDF { For best results,
with two angled sides that are cut at 3 the sides of the
45° to form a triangle. plane should be
To hold the miter fence in place, I square to the sole.
drilled a pair of holes through the
fence and into the table. A pair of
steel rods are then cut to length
(Fig. 1b). Finally I stuck a couple
strips of self-adhesive sandpaper to
the guide plate to keep the work-
piece from shifting, as in Fig. 2.
SETUP . That’s really all there is to NOTE: Remove the miter
fence to trim straight
building the shooting board. But end-grain joints
there are a few things to do before Workpiece should
just overhang the
you start “shooting” miters. First, edge of fence
choose a plane. I like to use a No. 5
(or jack) plane because its large size { Dampen the end
will help it cut through end grain Take a pass (without a workpiece) To prevent tearout, it helps to grain with a wet
(Fig. 3). You’ll also want to make to create clearance for the blade. dampen the end grain, as shown in cloth to help pre-
sure the sole is square to the sides, Now you can set the workpiece the lower photo at right. Check the vent tearout.
as in the upper right photo. on the jig. It should barely overhang fit of the joint after each pass. You
With the plane set to take a thin the end of the fence. Hold it tight may need to take several strokes
shaving, there’s one thing left to do. against the fence and take a cut. before the joint fits tight. W

CLASSIC HAND TOOLS: MITER PLANES

Although any plane can be used on the shoot-

ing board, miter planes (like the ones shown
at left) are designed to be used on their sides.
The wide, flat sides make them very stable
during a cut. They’re heavier than standard
bench planes to help plow through end grain.
The miter plane on the right is more than
100 years old. The body is made of cast iron
and is “filled” with rosewood and
mahogany. Its thick, tapered blade is held in
place by a wood wedge.
The plane on the left is made by Lie-
Nielsen. It features a screw-type adjuster
and a front knob that mounts on either the
left or right side. For sources, see page 35.

No. 147 Woodsmith 29