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Long Stock, Short Fence
Routing long, stiff pieces such as handrails, presents a
couple of problems. First, it’s very hard to get (or make)
stock that’s extremely straight and 12' to 14' long. Sec-
ond, a piece that thick won’t fl ex, so a featherboard isn’t
going to keep it tight against your fence.
The solution? Use two short fences, each about 5" long.
If your workpiece is slightly curved, the bend won’t aff ect
the shape of the profi le very much.
I also use short fences on my tablesaw in some situa-
tions. When ripping a board, internal forces may cause
it to spread apart as it is cut. The right-hand side of the
board then binds against the fence and the blade. Di-
mensional softwood lum- ber is much more prone to this
problem than kiln-dried hard- wood, but you never know.
You should always use a splitter or riving knife on
your saw to prevent kickback from this kind of binding,
but you’ll probably get burn marks on the board’s edges.
The binding may get so bad that you can’t push the
board the rest of the way through the cut.
A short fence solves both problems. If I’m ripping
cedar for an outdoor project, for example, I clamp a
Universal Shooting Board
I used to have three shooting boards for planing end
grain: one for 90° cuts, one for 45° horizontal miters
and one for 45° vertical miters. Now I’ve combined
them all into one.
The jig’s main body is a typical shooting board for
trimming pieces at 90°, except that it has long wedges
to tilt the bed. (As a part is planed, the bed’s tilt creates
a shearing action that makes the plane easier to push.
Tilting the bed also results in a cleaner cut.) A cleat
fastened under the shooting board’s front edge allows
me to clamp the device in my face vise. Slotted screw
holes in the stop block allow me to move the block
over when it gets worn. PSA- backed sandpaper helps
hold the stock in place. A PSA-backed strip of UHMW
plastic creates a slick surface for sliding the plane.
Two 45° attachments go on top of the shooting board,
up against the stop block. The horizontal mitering attach-
ment is simply a 45° triangle. The vertical mitering at-
tachment is a 45° ramp with a fence. Each attachment has
a small tab that engages in a^1 / 8 " x^1 / 4 " slot in the middle of
the stop block. The tabs lock the attach- ments in place,
so they won’t slide.—Doug PerlickSource: Woodcraft, woodcraft.com, 1-800-535-1153,
WoodRiver Slick Strips, 0.020"T x 3"W x 10'L,
Item #16L65, $23.short sub-fence to the saw
that stops right at the point
where the workpiece clears
the blade. If the board starts
to warp, it has nothing to push
against.—Cliff ThorntonAuxiliary
short fencesIndexing keyUHMW strip SandpaperWedge45°
triangle45°
ramp