Improving the Veritas Bevel-Up Jointer Plane | Jointer to Shooting Plane Conversion

Like Alan Peters, I am a big fan of the jointer plane. It is usually the first plane I think of using for any particular task. My only criticism of the Veritas bevel-up jointer plane is mounting plate on the side of the plane body. It sits proud of the body by about a 1/16" and this prevents you from having a stable reference surface when the plane is placed on its side to shoot the edges of boards.To rectify this, I decided to make a scale that could mount to the side of the jointer in order to provide a flat reference surface for shooting operations. The scale is made from HDPE plastic and mounts with two set screws utilizing the existing mounting plate. I started out by making a few routing templates (a first for me) from poplar with a band saw and then refining them with hand tools. Blue tape worked wonders allowing me to transfer the outline of the mounting plate and the hole spacing to the templates. I then used a router and pattern bits to cut out the plastic. The weight of the plane, the low friction surface provided by the HDPE, and the ability to use a low angle blade now makes this a fantastic tool for shooting edges square.