# Shooting Board - Finish or no?



## AmishElectricCo (Jan 3, 2018)

Hello all, newbie here. :vs_cool:

Wasn't sure if I should post this here or in the Finishing forum, so I rolled the dice. Mods, if this is in the wrong place, please move it. I made my first shop project: a shooting board. The base is 3/4" birch plywood and the cleats for the top fence and bottom bench stop are both Purpleheart. 

My shooting board is pretty much to Rob Cosman spec, and he says you can add a finish to preserve the board, but he doesn't mention what to use. Assuming I want a spray-on finish that is thin because a finish with any kind of thickness could throw the whole thing out of square. 

Thoughts? Or should I just leave it alone?


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## kentucky tom (Feb 19, 2017)

AmishElectricCompany said:


> Hello all, newbie here. :vs_cool:
> 
> Wasn't sure if I should post this here or in the Finishing forum, so I rolled the dice. Mods, if this is in the wrong place, please move it. I made my first shop project: a shooting board. The base is 3/4" birch plywood and the cleats for the top fence and bottom bench stop are both Purpleheart.
> 
> ...


Seal it with some shellac that has been diluted with alcohol , 1 part shellac 2 parts alcohol. Sand lightly between two to the coats with some 400 grit paper. If there is any buildup, the buildup will be uniform and not affecting the angles . Sealing will also prevent some wood movement due to humidity. 
Seal both front, back and sides Kentucky Tom


Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk


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## johnep (Apr 12, 2007)

Excuse my ignorance. What is a "shooting Board"?
johnep


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## AmishElectricCo (Jan 3, 2018)

johnep1934 said:


> Excuse my ignorance. What is a "shooting Board"?
> johnep


Probably easier to just show you:


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## Jim Frye (Aug 24, 2016)

Almost any finish will be too thin to affect the dimensions of the board, unless you're going to glop on several coats of varnish. In the beginning I always used my newly made jigs and fixtures as items to learn finishing on. I have a pine bench hook that has just water based aniline dye on it, while the plywood tenoning jig for my table saw is stained, oiled, and varnished with wipe on varnish.


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## Cephus (Jan 28, 2018)

I don't typically finish my shooting boards although I do wax them. A nice minimal coat of bees wax doesn't affect the accuracy but it does make things slide easier over the surface.


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## AmishElectricCo (Jan 3, 2018)

Ended up just hitting it with a couple healthy coats of spray lacquer. Sanded w/ 220 between coats.

Did some digging around and it seems this is one of those 'ask 10 people, get 10 different answers' things. Didn't really seem to matter what was used, so I just used what I had on hand. Worked like a charm.


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## johnep (Apr 12, 2007)

Thanks for the video.
johnep


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