I’ve made a new shooting board, following the directions found in a recent FWW video and companion article.
I purchased a new LeeValley “Veritas” Low Angle jack plane (“bevel up”) and honed its 25 degree iron to a mirror polish on my Shapton 16,000 glasstone.
I know I’ve made the shooting board to specs, and I know the iron on the blade is razor sharp. I’ve waxed the shooting board ramp, and I’ve followed the “run-in” procedure outlined in the FWW article.
I’ve set the plane’s iron to the depth of the board’s fence, and it should be taking a very light shaving when the workpiece is laid along the board’s fence, and the plane is run up the ramp.
What’s happening is that the iron of the blade hits the edge of the board being “shot,” and stops. I’m trying to shoot a 1×4 piece of cherry, but the plane doesn’t seem to want to remove the shaving.
Either I’m trying to take too heavy a cut, or I’m not getting a sharp enough edge on the iron. I’ve re-sharpened, twice, and the edge of the iron will effortlessly shave arm hair.
If I were in the arm-hair-removal trade, I’d be “good to go,” but the plane won’t remove a shaving of cherry end-grain without a lot of chatter and ugly protests.
Any thoughts on what I’m doing wrong.
Many thanks, in advance, for your input.
Edited 5/3/2008 8:54 am ET by sasquatch55
Replies
Sounds like too heavy of a cut. What kind of shaving (thickness) do you get when planing long grain from a board in a vise?
Regards,
Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Bob,I'm taking very fine shavings, but I think it's a function of learning how to use the board. I've gotten it to work, okay, if I really nibble at it, instead of trying to take a complete shaving from one end of the cross-grain end to the other.I'm not sure, expectation-wise, that what I'm expecting is "reasonable."For instance, after trying to cut four quarter cherry, earlier this morning, I re-sharpened, and tried to square the end of a piece of old six-quarter alder. The plane really struggled, again.I tried taking the finest cut possible, to the point where I wondered if I was just "wearing" the piece with the sole of the plane, instead of cutting it with the iron.I always suspect, in cases like this, that my sharpening technique is suspect. I don't use the Veritas honing jig (though I own one) to produce a "micro-bevel." I've simply started with my coarse stone (1000 grit Shapton) and worked up to the finest: 16,000 grit. The iron will shave hair, and it will slice the edge of a piece of paper in 1/16" shavings. I left the bevel at its factory grind of 25 degrees.What I need, I think, is to read a general discussion of what sort of functions a shooting board is intended to provide, and what its inherent design limitations are. In other words, is it intended to be used on stock no thicker than 3/4" (for picture framing, squaring the ends of furniture aprons, etc.), or can it be used to square thicker stock -- as per my earlier experiment with 1 1/2" thick, old, dry alder?Is it better with soft woods than hard, and so on...Maybe there's just a trial-and-error "learning curve," and I'll become more proficient with practice.Edited 5/3/2008 10:45 am ET by sasquatch55
Edited 5/3/2008 10:47 am ET by sasquatch55
Sas,You are likely taking too heavy a cut, and certainly working with very thick stock. I don't think it is your sharpening or the plane- I use the same one myself on a shooting board.Try this- Begin by checking your plane setting by taking some shavings off a board held in a vice, if planing the edge of a board you are getting nice wispy shavings, you are good to move to the next step.Start out with 1/2" stock- maple, poplar- whatever you've got. Cut the end of the board a few degrees out of true- i.e. crosscut it with a BS or hand saw, so that you know the sides and ends of the board are not square. Now joint (by hand or machine) the side (edge)of the stock that you will place against your shooting board fence to make a datum edge. Now try shooting this 1/2" end to make it square. Place the plane in position, pull it back past the fence, stop. Advance the stock up to the sole of the plane, tap. Now take your first cut with the plane. You should have a partial thickness end shaving. As you true the end, your shavings will become longer and wider. You can charcoal the edge with a pencil to gauge your progress.You may need to adjust your depth a very small bit, as well as the lateral adjuster to make sure you are true across the width of your cut. This is normal. You will be taking shavings of 2-3 thou, so your final work will be very accurate.Test for square with a try square from the jointed edge (the one against the shooting board fence- it's your datum edge)- you should see the formerly skewed edge true-up.One final word. Shooting works best with stock 1" or less. The forces required to shoot thicker stock are considerable and the results come with effort. I have shot pieces as much as 2.5" wide in a pinch, and you can do it, but I would not start out this way.Good luck.Glaucon
If you don't think too good, then don't think too much...
It sound like your cut is too heavy. I use an L-N low angle jack or an L-N #7 that is only sharpened on a primitive hard white Arkansas oil stone and nothing more and it works fine. Just start out quite fine and sneak up on it. Also anything thicker than ¾” is tough to shoot but the #7 does a better job on the thicker stock.
that is only sharpened on a primitive hard white <!----><!----><!---->Arkansas<!----><!----> oil stone and nothing more ???
on a primitive?? hard white <!----><!----><!---->Arkansas<!----><!----> oil stone What the heck is wrong with that!
Well, when compared to the super-scary-mongo-ultra-sharp-wiz bang-Mark II, 1,800,000 grit on float glass, diamond impregnated, slow speed, multi angle adjustable, needle bearing roller, laser jig, proper sharpening methods out there. I am sure my humble and very low tech and primitive high speed grinder and old fashioned oil stone are not giving me the edge needed for “real” hand tools success. Lord knows the Townsends and Goddard’s must have had aliens really do their sharpening for them…. BTW, I set the teeth on my saws with a screwdriver, talk about primitive.
Napie,
the Townsends and Goddard’s must have had aliens really do their sharpening for them
Dang man. You let the feline out of its paper enclosure. I told the alien wife the Formula 15 wouldn't fool a stone man.
:-)
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Sounds like another native explorer encountered the dreaded shooting board "clunk".
Glad he worked through it.
I'm waiting on a "more suitable" plane before I try it again.
Mike :)
Mike,
LV Low Angle Jack. You'll love it!
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
It's next, all right. But first I have to finish three of my current projects.
Mike
One thought is that you may indeed have a sharp enough iron and be taking a thin enough shaving, but may not be building the necessary momentum with the plane on the shooting board.
The replies above are also probably correct that you're starting out with too thick of a piece of cherry. Cherry end-grain is exceptionally hard, and doesn't plane easily. That said, I fairly regularly shoot miters of honduran rosewood, and it's far harder than any domestic species. To do so, I use a very heavy plane (a L-N repro of the Stanley #9 miter plane), and the stroke I use has about an 8" run-up before the iron contacts the rosewood.
What I might suggest is that you start with the easiest possible wood and move up from there. That wood would be eastern white pine, which is just a little harder than balsa wood. It will also severely test the sharpness of your iron. If it's not sharp enough, the end grain will just crush rather than sever cleanly. Once you succeed to your satisfaction with e.w.p., move up the hardness ladder with poplar, southern yellow pine, cherry, walnut, and finally, hard maple.
I would assume that your blade is sharp enough from your description. Rule that out. Also, if you are taking a fine shaving as you say, then that is that.
What I would look out for is if your blade is skewed, such that the lower end is recessed in the mouth and an edge of the board you want to cut is wedging into the now open mouth.
Failing that, have a read through my article on shooting boards in the Blogs section. This may provide you with some clues.
Regards from Perth
Derek
Thank you all for your input.I read each comment, carefully, and I think I was taking too aggressive an approach. Part of using any new tool is "feel," and I think I've finally gotten the knack, thanks to all of your patience and advice. I am now going to make a triangle jig, so that I can shoot 45 degree angles.Thanks again, to all.
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