CLICK HERE to download the drawing & build your own shooting board!
I needed to knock up a new shooting board so we turned it into a video!
There’s loads of designs and approaches to building a shooting board, but as you might expect from us this one is super simple.
The finished thing is small and light, which suits my work really well as I can just chuck it under the bench when it’s not needed. And even more important to me is it doubles up as my bench hook, which helps to keep things extremely minimal.
It’s built from solid wood, and I’d recommend softwood for this as it’s elasticity will actually help it to last.
I’ve used this design over many years and those tapered housings really do keep the whole thing stable and cup free. (The only reason this one was needed is because I left the old one on the back of a truck, in a bucket… in the rain. The water caused twist which made the thing a right hassle to use. But if you keep them out the rain they do last incredibly well!)
We hope you enjoy the video and if you’d like to knock up your own you can download the drawing through the link directly below the video – feel free to tweak the dimensions to the materials that you have to hand.
If you’re new to hand tools then check out our post about your minimal tool kit for getting started.
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Very nice indeed. I feel a bit stupid now with my 40kg MDF shooting board, with donkey’s ear and 45 degree attachments (both attached by threaded insert). The overkill was totally unnecessary (unlike those necessary overkills….). I think I might throw it out and build one like this!
What’s the new project Richard?
Looks a lot like Mr Seller’s planing board, but without the 2 removable 45 degree fences. This one’s a lot quicker to build, and I like the idea of bench hook in one. Plus sometimes I chop mortises on my bench hook.
Today started out lousy which I thought might be a warning for the rest of the week. Then I checked my email and, low and behold, an email from The English Woodworker. Now I know there is something to build and have some fun at the same time. And, after examining my old shooting board I realized it is time for a new one.
Thank you for coming to my rescue.
Great video, camera shoots, and explanations as usual. I purchased the how-to build a workbench a few years back and built mine. Going to build my shooting board next. Thanks for the content.
Thanks! As always…a pleasure to watch 🙂 Kindest regards.
Thanks for this lesson in simplicity, really inspiring! But why so picky about the fences being equally thick? As you say – they could as well be roughsawn
I watched a number of shooting board builds. Each one seemed to get more complicated than the previous so this was a breath of fresh air.
I don’t have a board yet. The few times I have decided to use one I set one up with loose boards and clamps however this looks like it will be worth the effort.
Thanks Richard.
This video come at an appropriate time for me, so thank you.
The technique of doing the housing was an interesting variation of the approach you mentioned here and showed in the “Chisel or Saw” video previously. I appreciated the reasoning behind the difference.
While I see you have transitioned to the wheel gauge, were you to ever to a video on building the English Pattern gauge, it would have at least 1 viewer.
So eh, how did you break your #8?
Great video, as always and thanks to your work I can learn something new and useful no matter how “small” the project might be. I can’t wait for the new series!
Thank you guys!
Greetings from Mexico.
I realized after watching this again, I better make mine out of some ugly old scrap. Otherwise my wife is gonna mistake it for a charcuterie board and steal it for the kitchen. If it was made of walnut it would be gone in 30 seconds.
Hi Richard – cool; next in line after build-my-own-wooden-plane, and thank-you!
Would embedding some magnets in the vertical cutting face (right-hand edge) of the board:
(a) assist with keeping handsaw / plane square for cutting / trimming, or
(b) violate KISS principle for marginal/no benefit?
phil
There will be no benefit at all, only a complication with no purpose. You will apply pressure to the plane in such a way that it will ride along the board automatically.
As for assisting a hand saw: that one boils down to experience. Don’t rely on training wheels here. Practice, it’ll come pretty quick. Mark your lines, make a knife wall (On top and especially on the exit side to avoid tearout) and start the cut. As soon as the teeth of the saw is “inside” the wood, start dropping the heel of the saw, following the line (no need for a knife wall, but it won’t hurt). This will make you saw straight and true to the line by default. Drop the heel, but not too far – it should be comfortable. When you approaches the bottom of the cut, start dropping the nose so that you are sawing “level” when you breach trough (all of this is with the accuracy of “-ish”,).
Practice this, and you’ll be able to saw dead square following a line – no matter what angle you’re holding the board.
The magnet trick is great for the bridle guides, though (small side table series).
Hello Richard,
New ” orange ” level , new ” yellow” square ( is it accurate? ) and new shooting board……no doubt you starting a new life.
Regards
Cyrille
you are starting…..sorry
I just stumbled upon your Youtube channel. You have some great videos and they are a pleasure to watch. You actually remind me of a young Paul Sellers with your pacing and general attitude.
I know that unrequested advice is usually considered as a criticism, but I feel like the world would benefit from more of you, so I’ll proffer it anyway. Having comments turned off on your videos removes a huge chance to get your channel recommended to people. Youtube’s algorithm loves videos which get interaction. Comments are a great way (maybe the best?) to indicate to the algorithm that your videos are “worth” putting on the recommendations pages for people.
I would suggest turning on your comments for a period of time and comparing the channel growth. I strongly suspect you’ll see a noticeable uptick in your views.
The job certainly is a good’un – thanks Richard. That’s a mighty chisel you have there!
Your usual no-nonsense approach is much-appreciated.
Might have missed it in the video, but what length do you usually go for?
Thanks for sharing. Can’t wait for your next series!
Thank you Richard great video, an good learning to be found.
I also like the new tune.
A question. I sometimes need to lock the hook of my shooting board in the vice which will be difficult with the hook here.
Is there any reason why the hook piece could not be a piece with parallel sides?
You can always cut the protruding part of it square / parallell afterwards.
Fantastic video and explanation. Learned so much from building this. I didn’t have softwood so I built mine out of red oak for the main piece and used walnut for the fence and the hook. Also made it a bit smaller. It works wonderfully! Thank you, Richard and Helen
I made one of these today. The glue is still drying so I haven’t tried it out yet but I like the design. I don’t have a router plane so I just used a chisel for the joints. I think I managed to do a reasonable job with it.
Hey Richard. Thanks for this great video, you have given here. waiting for your next post with amazing woodworking videos.
Kex Krueger suggested this video. Great. I like this design better then the one I built out of plywood. I built a MORAVIAN WORKBENCH before he presented the simple portable workbench. Share the shop with two cars and a lot of storage. So little room for machines and need break down stuff.
I saw the glue bottle you used. I modified my identical closing feature with a washer that makes it an order of magnitude to open if the glue dries. The ID of the washer I added is smaller then the lip of the movable closing/opening tip. This give a large item to lift up to open.