I made a shooting plane from scrap Corian counter-top - head to your local big-box home improvement store or local cabinet/counter shop - you can probably get it for a few bucks if not "free". I added a section of T-track for clamps but I rarely use it. On my wood shooting board I used UHMW tape (3 or 4 inches wide, Amazon, eBay, Klingspor's, etc - lots of places have it) to make a very friction-free surface
I can see why you’re teaching. You’ve a lovely, easy style and a nice soft accent. This tip will save me no end of hassles trying to clamp the halves with.. well.. clamps! My main concern is the required pressure to plane those edges, as my hands and arms aren’t that strong. My other concern is that I will need a longer plane…
If people don't want to go the shooting board route, another handplane option is to clamp the boards back-to-back in a vise, aligned as they will be joined. Then, when you plane the top flat, any inconsistency in your planing angle won't matter, because the boards will still fit together just fine. Easier to do than describe, but this is something we've used for joining boards for cabinet and table panels. It's very similar to what you do, but you plane both at once instead of one at a time, and no need for a shooting board. It's a bit more forgiving in some ways. Edit: I see you mentioned this at the end. The solution I've used for that is to clamp a straight board of adequate width near the top. I do realize that starts getting more complicated and less useful at that point.
I struggled with getting perfect joints until one day I came up with a way to guarantee both edges are straight, square and parallel. I had glued up a set, only to find a tiny gap had showed up after cleaning off the excess glue. I decided to cut them apart, and try again. Well, I used my radial arm saw with a 1/8th blade, and I cut right through the joint. Guess what. Both pieces were perfect because regardless of how straight was the cut, the two were mirror images of each other. All I did was apply more glue and set them in my gluing jig. Now, I use this method every time, except I just tape the two together the first time,, make my cut and glue them up.
Shaun. On the intro to this, there’s a guitar with what looks like a tiny recess between the top and the back of the body - is there a video of that here, and if not, how did you achieve that? It’s a stunning detail!
They are indeed! I make and sell them, and I also have a video making them. I'm currently out of stock, but I should be making more in the next few weeks.
I made a shooting plane from scrap Corian counter-top - head to your local big-box home improvement store or local cabinet/counter shop - you can probably get it for a few bucks if not "free". I added a section of T-track for clamps but I rarely use it.
On my wood shooting board I used UHMW tape (3 or 4 inches wide, Amazon, eBay, Klingspor's, etc - lots of places have it) to make a very friction-free surface
I can see why you’re teaching. You’ve a lovely, easy style and a nice soft accent.
This tip will save me no end of hassles trying to clamp the halves with.. well.. clamps! My main concern is the required pressure to plane those edges, as my hands and arms aren’t that strong. My other concern is that I will need a longer plane…
Even if they have limited use in guitar building, shooting boards are incredibly useful and every hand tool workshop should have one!
Love my shooting board, now that I've discovered the pleasure of hand planing. Your choice of planes are the same 3 I choose between when I use mine 😊
Probably one of the best jigs I have. Such a joy to use!
Thank you. You are an excellent teacher.
If people don't want to go the shooting board route, another handplane option is to clamp the boards back-to-back in a vise, aligned as they will be joined. Then, when you plane the top flat, any inconsistency in your planing angle won't matter, because the boards will still fit together just fine. Easier to do than describe, but this is something we've used for joining boards for cabinet and table panels.
It's very similar to what you do, but you plane both at once instead of one at a time, and no need for a shooting board. It's a bit more forgiving in some ways.
Edit: I see you mentioned this at the end. The solution I've used for that is to clamp a straight board of adequate width near the top. I do realize that starts getting more complicated and less useful at that point.
Would love to see a making of a shooting board video, mate.
Hey thanks, I had some problems with plaining and now I know how to make it correctly, cheers 🤘
It worked, awesome, thank you very much 🍻
An excellent lesson, thank you 🙏
Thanks for this video. Great explanation!
I struggled with getting perfect joints until one day I came up with a way to guarantee both edges are straight, square and parallel. I had glued up a set, only to find a tiny gap had showed up after cleaning off the excess glue. I decided to cut them apart, and try again. Well, I used my radial arm saw with a 1/8th blade, and I cut right through the joint. Guess what. Both pieces were perfect because regardless of how straight was the cut, the two were mirror images of each other. All I did was apply more glue and set them in my gluing jig. Now, I use this method every time, except I just tape the two together the first time,, make my cut and glue them up.
Shaun.
On the intro to this, there’s a guitar with what looks like a tiny recess between the top and the back of the body - is there a video of that here, and if not, how did you achieve that? It’s a stunning detail!
Great video brother. I needed this lesson so bad. Thank you
Yes i need a shooting board .
can you show how to make one?
Are those guitar stands at 0:28?
They are indeed! I make and sell them, and I also have a video making them. I'm currently out of stock, but I should be making more in the next few weeks.