Official Luthiers Forum!

   It seems there have been a lot of posts recently about shooting boards and planes for edge jointing, so I thought I would share mine.
   My shooting board is ramped to that I use almost the whole width of the plane blade on every stroke, instead of just dulling an 1/8" wide part of the blade as happens with a flat shooting board. It may not be worth the trouble if you only join a few pieces a year, but if you do a lot of edge jointing it saves a lot of time on sharpening. I built mine originally to edge join sawn veneers that I use in my furniture work.
   My bracing jig, (got the idea here but I can't remember who gets the credit) is also a shooting board. I clamp the brace stock, run it through the table saw and then shoot the sawn edge with a plane to prepare the glue joint.


paul harrell38863.5723842593

   Below are a few of the wooden planes I've made - from 18 to 21" jointers to the little 41/2" plane I use for brace shaping. The nice thing about wooden planes is whatever you need - any length, width or shape, you can make it in a couple of hours. I like the fact that they keep your hands closer the work than a metal plane, and I think give you a really good feel for how they're cutting.

                   Paul

paul harrell38863.5710532407

Truly beautiful, the planes the guitar the worktable even! Obviously the consummate craftsman!
Cheers
Charliewood

Wow! Nice view. Nice bench. Nice clean, well organized shop. Nice guitar. Nice planes. Nice idea to ramp the shooting board.... Nice.

Paul,

Beautiful work all around!

How long is your shooting board. It looks just right for registering the plane along the whole cut. Also, I don't see any stops or clamps on the shooting board. Do you hold the wood by hand?

Love those wooden planes
You sure have a nice looking shop Paul. I really like your shooting board too.

_________________
Anderson Guitars
Clearwater,Fl. 33755

Paul, now there is a great idea.

Run the brace wood through the table saw to the right arch using the arching jig and than shoot it with a plane before removing it. Gives a very smooth gluing surface. Great idea.

Oh Ya, what everyone else said about the shop etc... too.Rod True38863.6965856481

_________________
My Facebook Guitar Page

"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

"We have to constantly remind ourselves what we're doing....No Luthier is putting a man on the moon!" Harry Fleishman

"Generosity is always different in the eye of the person who didn't receive anything, but who wanted some." Waddy Thomson

Nice, nice, nice! So nice and neat, well crafted shooting board, and planes, and tool holder. Makes my work area look like a dumpster.

Hmmmm......dumpster guitars.........

Jeff

I should not have clicked this thread!

Now, i got NSAS and i'm just jealous of your shop, your windows, your awesome workbench, your awesome planes. your awesome shooting board, your awesome guitars....

....i'll bet you have awesome dogs too!























NSAS (New Shop Acquisition Syndrom)

Serge

Thanks everyone; The man I learned woodworking from thought every glue joint should be planed so I got in the habit with furniture and it carried over to guitar building. I use my planes for everything from jointing tops and backs to preparing neck blanks to radiusing fingerboards. I usually thickness my tops with a plane too; not because it's efficient, but because I enjoy seeing big, thin curls of redwood, cedar or spruce comming out of the plane as I work.
   Carlton, I do have stops, I took them off to make the picture clearer. But it works just as well to put some 220 sandpaper on the top surface with spray adhesive, which makes it easy to hold the pieces by hand.
   When I recover from my shoulder surgury and can work again, I would be glad to post some pictures and plans on plane making if anyone is interested. If you can make a guitar, you can easily make a plane.

                        Peace, Paul

[QUOTE=paul harrell]    Carlton, I do have stops, I took them off to make the picture clearer. But it works just as well to put some 220 sandpaper on the top surface with spray adhesive, which makes it easy to hold the pieces by hand.[/QUOTE]
D'oh! (poster slaps forehead)

[QUOTE=paul harrell]When I recover from my shoulder surgury and can work again, I would be glad to post some pictures and plans on plane making if anyone is interested.[/QUOTE]
Whoo Hoo! You bet!

Very nice looking planes Paul....

Paul,
Im in the process of working on making a couple planes based on plans from a ShopNotes magazine article, but they are nowhere as nice as those!
Id sure be interested, and very grateful for any info on making planes as I am trying to make as many handtools as I can for my shop - for fun, retro cool, and the sheer joy of working with them afterwards.
Sadly only my spool clamps are 100% completed - but I picked up some nice oak and bar steel yesterday for some klemsia style cam clamps, which are next up!
Cheers
Charliewood

Paul, The planes are works of functional art. I am impressed. I wish I had the time to learn that craft. For now, I'll have to stick with...uh... now what is it I'm doing here?

Steve

[QUOTE=sfbrown]   For now, I'll have to stick with...uh... now what is it
I'm doing here?

Steve [/QUOTE]

Youre either building guitars or building boats

Paul:

Awesome looking, um, everything come to think of it. I believe I'm catching NSAS with Serge. If you have time, when you give us the inservice on plane making, how 'bout jotting down how you made that brace radiusing jig.

_________________
Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

Yeah, I'd really appreciate a plane building class too. I've gone through the process of learning how to tune ebay Stanley's, so wooden planes should be the next horizon.

_________________
Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

All of it looks great, like the ramped idea and use of more of the plane blade, will have to try that, thanks

Mike
White Oak, Texas

That shop would make Norm Abrams jealous...