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I was at the WIA show last week end. I saw and tried several of the shooting planes out.
Up to this point I haven't been to much of a fan. Haven't seen a reason for one. Just a note: I do have a Lion trimmer. But I did see a lot of uses for one and am considering one. The size equivalent to a #6 is what was being used. What size planes are the most popular here for a shooting board.
Please do not respond with bevel up and LN 62s and so on. It will only muddy the water. I am just asking about size.
Also most of the shooting boards had the plane traped so that the cutting pressure couldn't push the plane away during the cut. Would a bedrock flat side work? It can be trapped fairly easy and I can make the top of the side parrellel with the bottom very easily. Actually I have seen a couple of baileys with flat sides and I can do that also.
Thanks in advance.
Tom
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I use my LN 5½ with a hot dog. I don't do much shooting, but if I were to buy a shooting plane I'd get the LV. A friend has one and the size and weight seem just right.
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To me the #6 size and weight is perfect for shooting. I like to have some more registration area in front of the blade however. Here a pic of a #6 and a shop made wooden plane. Both have the same length and weight (the woodie is loaded up with some lead to get it heavy).
Both are very good shooters, the woodie will win the contest though because of the skew blade and the larger registration area. It just gives more pleasure.
Klaus
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Tom, 6 is a popular size, so is a 7. 8 gets pretty long. Most want the 6 or 7 not for the length, but for the weight. I have used a 6 and it works fine, but bought the LV, and that gets you a different layout for the blade ( skewed plus low angle ), and an angled handle, together with a lot of mass. The LV is only 16 inches long, which puts it a few inches short of the #6.
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I have a Bedrock 606 that is my dedicated shooting plane.
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I played with the LV plane and I know it works beautifully. But I have been woodworking for 40 years. I have built most of our furnature and 3 kitchens and this is the first time I have considered a shooting board and plane. So it is hard for me to conceive of me spending $340 to $350 for a plane that I might use every once in a while. And for the fact that its only perpose is for shooting.
I know a lot of us here on the forum are on fixed incomes or living paycheck to paycheck. I can afford a #6. I can't spend $340 for a plane when my 20 year old truck needs tires, or for some, my kid needs braces.
Tom
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Unless you're using it to routinely flatten boards, the #6 is pretty long.
Fully half the time, a chute plane is just pulled back to engage
the end of a molding - few of mine being wider than 3".
I don't need to have so much registration, to stay straight.
I would say that the blade quality and tuning of the sole are more important that the overall length.
It might be obvious, but the registered side of the plane body needs to be perpendicular to the cutting edge of the plane - or you've got to make some rather fiddly adjustments.
I want that done once, so I needn't apply shims.
I like the equivalent of a number 5 length for moldings and chutes
less than 10 inches long. If I'm jointing long boards on edge, I use my jointer.
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Is the bedrock a flat sided one or a round side? Do you have it backed up so it can't push away in the cut. And to all is a flat bottom the prefered type or are some using a C.
I can't see much of a difference on whether one uses a flat bottom or a C, but I could be missing something and my mind could be easily changed.
Another said a home made angled woody that was leaded up is superior to a regular plane. but there was at lease one at the WIA show that was selling an angled shooting boards. So skewing the blade needs to come under consideration also.
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I don't see way the sides of a plane need to be perpendicular to the bottom as much as the cutting edge needs make the cut perpendicular on the piece being cut. I am just playing the devil's advocate here. I am on unformilar ground.
It does seem that the six size is more about weight being used to help make the cut rather than lenght.
Tom
