How to Make a Shooting Board with Tom McLaughlin

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⚙️ SHOW NOTES — EPISODE #93: A shooting board can make you a joinery Jedi. Straight off the saw, the quality of the cut surface is usually good enough for most things. But there are times you wish you could have more control, to get that perfectly square or miter cut. A shooting board makes it happen, and in this episode Tom shows you how to make one. You’ll be skimming polished end grain surfaces with precision in no time! (Closed captioned)

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LIVE EVENTS are filmed in the shop of Tom McLaughlin, host of TV's Classic Woodworking and Shop Night Live. Tom loves to pass on the craft of woodworking by creating projects to present in live video form backed by his over 30-years of experience making fine custom furniture.

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[jerrystark]

Great shooting board design. Using the complementary sides of the miter guide guarantees that the resulting joint will be "dead-nuts" square. In the woodworking shop, Euclidean geometry RULES! 😎

BTW: I just received my first piece of Epic merch -- an insulated cup. Mine has a stainless steel finish. With the Epic Woodworking logo engraved on it, the cup is really, really nice. I am very glad I ordered it.

Thanks!

[dirkhansen]

Hey Tom, I used to watch a guy on PBS on Saturdays or Sundays, is that you?

[rkalle]

Sometimes you want to miter not with a 45° but along the diagonals of a rectangle. Then a similar triangle jig will allways give the two complentary angles that sum up to 90°. That's the beauty of your solution.
I'm not sure whether you mentioned it. Your solution is allways balancing out any blade settings of the plane by using both the left and right side of the shooting board.

[ytgee]

Just watched, and listened to your comments about needing to buy 2 shooting planes for Left and Right hand miters. Check out the "MS158 Langdon Miter Box Co. shoot-board and plane" (Miller's Falls). It has both the angled Left and Right hand cuts set-up on one plane, plus it uses the same technique to get right angle cuts that you used, when you made your table saw miter sled. It's also less than the two L & R shooting planes (buying both) from Lee Valley.

Larry

[bijan]

Hi. Very well presented. Would you please tell me what kind of a plain I should get.

[johnbies]

Hi Tom, I very much enjoy you videos. Today, I watched in horror when you cut more than an 1/8 “ into 1/2” material for a place to insert the spline … at that moment, it looked like the blade passed directly under your right index finger.. that is what it looked like …. I was concerned, because it looked like your right index was dangerously close to the table saw blade. Please review the video footage and I think you will see what I mean … I was concerned for you safety… I might have just been the camera angle.. I’’m your alright, , , kindest Regards, John Bies, US Army retired, Huntsville Alabama..

[Mike-prhx]

Tom's grace under pressure is impressive. There's no second takes when filmed live.

[peterbernardthompson]

Thank you!!! That was the explanation I was looking for!! The edge of the plane acts as the stop so you don't cut into the shooting board itself!!! Thank You!!

[DsHardWoodCreations]

Appreciate your knowledge tom. You and rob cosman are my go to for all my learning and skill sharpening.

[jelmo]

Nicely done Tom. I missed the live viewing (weakly Thurs. night par 3 tournaments) but caught the video after. I’ve used a large and small shooting board for years, but like the flexibility of your miter add-on, plan to add that to mine, I’ll be able to eliminate a dedicated miter shooting board and save space. How about an episode on making bench (saw) hooks? You always have some unique features you’ve incorporated from your experience that I’m sure I could learn from.

[steveskope]

Hello Tom, great design with the removable miter fence, I need to build one for myself thank you for sharing this shooting board design.

I heard about this method when squaring the end of a work piece on a shooting board. I never tried this, I hope I explained it right, what do you think?
First set the board at a slight angle, then plane, creating a slight chamfer at one end. Then place the board straight, as you plane watch the chamber until it has been removed, then you will know the board is square.
See you Saturday morning for session 4.

[jeffguenther]

So you have to specifically use the mitre plane with the shooting board?

[kerryschoolfield]

Where did you buy hardwood while In Wilson NC? I live in Clayton Nc nearby and have only been woodworking here for 2 years or so since moving here. thanks

[larry]

Tom
In the past i enjoyed watching your show until you butchered " tommy mac" that wasnt kind or warranted .