Shooting board
Also called: shoot board, mitre shooting board
One page. Other spellings and regional names stay on this URL.
A shooting board is a bench jig, a simple guide and support, that holds wood against a stop while a hand plane, a blade tool with a flat sole, trims its end or edge.
Support and stops
The board gives the plane a firm track and keeps the work from moving as you push. Set the stock against its stop, and use a second stop against the bench edge when the jig has one. This makes a controlled shaving possible without gripping the work in your hands.
Jobs for the board
After sawing, use it to true an end, or make that end accurate and square. It can also straighten a long edge or finish a mitre, a diagonal meeting cut. A mitre shooting board has a layout suited to that diagonal cut, while a suitable bench plane can handle ordinary shooting work.
Keep the reference consistent
Wear and blade grinding can leave the plane and board short of a true right angle. If you are preparing several matching edges, vary which face mark, a mark identifying the chosen reference face, rests on the board rather than repeating one orientation throughout. This prevents a small inequality from being repeated across the set.