# shooting board help



## Jeff82780 (Mar 15, 2010)

so i just made my first shooting board and i love it. I wish i would've built one sooner. But anyway, I am having one problem. 1. I shoot one side of long grain. 2. register that side on fence and shoot the end grani.3. i repeat and do the same sreps for the other side. the board comes out square except for end grain i shot in the first step to the long grain in the last step. ? Can anyone help. I checked the shooting board to make sure all is sqaure and it all is. Is a shooting only supposed to square 1 side?


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## waho6o9 (May 6, 2011)

What are your diagonal measurements?


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## jumbojack (Mar 20, 2011)

How are you registering the long grain on the second side? If you were to lay a framing square against the stop on the shooting board and register your good side to the square, you might be better off. Trying to register the long grain from the end grain against the stop would be nearly impossible. Normally shooting boards are used to square end grain.


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## Kreegan (Jul 10, 2012)

I believe you might need another shooting board for your edge grain. Something like this:

http://www.lie-nielsen.com/pdf/Shooting_Board_And_Fixtures.pdf

Rich


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## Jeff82780 (Mar 15, 2010)

when measuring diagonals everything is perfect, but when i take a square to the board onlly 3/4 sides are square. when registering the long grain on the second side i use the end grain that i just shot.


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## paratrooper34 (Apr 27, 2010)

Jeff, I use a shooting board ALOT. I never get the first long grain squared up on the shooting board (SB). I get it squared with a jointer plane and a long straight edge to make sure that edge is good to go. Once I have that done, I use the shooting board to square both end grain sides (using a square to ensure everything is correct. Once those are square, I will square up the other long grain side.

Also, you must ensure your fence on the SB is square. ABSOLUTELY square. If not, it will cause an awful lot of aggravation (been there, done that!)

Here is a pic of mine, it is a workhorse in my shop.


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## Rutager (Feb 4, 2012)

Jeff,

You can't have perfect diagonals and one corner out of square. I'm wondering if maybe you're getting a rocking effect while planing that makes your sides not flat, try setting an straight edge on each side to see if everything is flat. If your end grain sections are short and the long grain sections longer, it will be hard to keep the end grain flat against the stop causing rocking and a less than flat surface. I would try long side, end, end, and then the last long side, possibly clamping or screwing a stop parallel to the plane direction to keep the board from pivoting.

Good luck,
Rutager


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## Jeff82780 (Mar 15, 2010)

OK, I checked the checked the diagonals again an found out that i am a 32nd off square.

This is so frustrating! I think i've tried everythiung. I tried jointing one edge first, then suaring both ends on the shooting board and shooting long grain., I checked everything, fence is square to the plane. I also made sure the board was absolutely flat so i would get no rocking motion . I even built another shooting board . Nothing has worked .


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## derekcohen (Jul 15, 2007)

All you ever wanted to know about shooting boards …

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ShopMadeTools/Setting%20Up%20and%20Using%20a%20Shooting%20Board4.html

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ShopMadeTools/Advances%20in%20a%20ramped%20shooting%20board.html

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ShopMadeTools/ShootingforPerfection.html

Rather than making a fixed fence, build a little fine adjustability into it. On a shooting board fence such as here ..










Make the far end bolt hole capable of a little movement back-and-forth.










Regards from Perth

Derek


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## corpmule (Jun 9, 2012)

Paul Sellers shows how to make a Shooting Board


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## defrosted (Jun 19, 2021)

there are a number of videos and such about table saw sleds that talk about the 5 cut test. The gist is that you cut one side, then rotate that side to the back of the sled and make cut 2. then 3 and 4. and then recut the first side again. Then measure the corners. By rotating the stock all the way around like this the last corner will have magnified the error of the sled, making it easier to quantify the error and fix it.

You have accidentally recreated this effect and your last corner has 4 or 5 times the error of the others making it easier to see, while the others look pretty dead on to the eye. If we had the dimensions of the board, and we knew if the odd angle out was more or less acute than 90 we could calculate the angle error of the shooting board fence and/or the distance of error of one end of the fence. If you happened to wobble or pivot on the narrow endgrain while shooting either of the sides it may have made it even worse. Or covered up part of the error. odds are 50-50 or so.

I would think jointing one side, then the opposite side and making sure they are parallel with callipers or such, then shooting the ends would give more consistant usable results even with this shooting board, which guessing from the age of the post has either been fixed or trashed years since.


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