Being young and poor I am trying to acquire and learn to use hand tools before filling the garage I don’t have yet with machinery. I’ve enjoyed tuning up and learning to use the old planes and new scrapers I’ve purchased in the last year. Making shavings is a lost more fun than making dust.
What should I look for in a rabbet plane? Are rabbet planes and shoulder planes the same? Is there anything I should steer clear of? There are plenty of Stanley #78’s on ebay. But in all of my reading of magazines and discussions there isn’t a lot of discussion on rabbet planes. Hack’s book doesn’t offer very much on this either. The places I have seen them mentioned was to fine tune tenons and rabbet joints.
Jase–Is there a better way?
Replies
Well I've got a Stanley #93 and it does everything I need for truing up tenons and shoulders. I bought this model for the heft and it fit my hand better than the #90 or the #91. I like the fact that the blade is 1" wide and I can offset the iron just a hair to the outside of the body and use it for cleaning up the tenon cheeks. This model has a large screw on the top and about in the middle that will allow you to do two different things- remove the front section of the body and use the rest of the plane as a chisel plane to get into the corners and the other is that you can set the mouth for a very small opening and use the plane for end grain work. I bought a #78 quite some time ago but have'nt found it very usefull for joinery work but it does work nice for rabbits and shash jobs.
Good luck
Robert
Terminology is a bit confusing. A shoulder plane has a blade that is as wide as the plane body, letting you cut right up to an edge. Useful for trimming tenons. You can cut rabbets with a shoulder plane. Mark the depth of the rabbet on the edge of the workpiece. Clamp a true piece of wood to the workpiece to define the width of the rabbet and guide the plane. Plane along the guide until to reach the depth mark. I like to start at the end of the cut and work my way backwards. If you're going across the grain, score the workpiece with a knife first. The Stanley No 92 is a nice shoulder plane. A much heftier shoulder plane is the Record No 73.
An actual rabbet plane has a fence to control the width of the cut, a depth stop to limit the depth of the cut, and a retractable spur for scoring on cross-grain cuts. I prefer the Record No 778 to the Stanley, because it has a screw feed to advance the blade rather than a lever, and the fence is supported in two places. Works great, even on plywood. Nick
Bert and Nick, thanks for your replies.
What about wooden planes? something like this?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=717995399
Jase--Is there a better way?
Jase- there's a good article on rabbet and shoulder planes in the new issue of Woodwork magazine.John E. Nanasy
The ebay item is not a shoulder or rabbet plane. It is an old wooden moulding plane which, judging from the shape of the sole, cuts a half-round profile. There are some wooden shoulder/rabbet planes available. The Primus is very nice. I still prefer the Record because I like the low angle for this kind of work. Nick
jase if you want a wooden plane, you might try to find a moving fillester.I have one and it is far better than my Stanley #78. Jerry
Jerry-thanks for pointing out the molding plane. I'm still learning what all these hand tools are. Not having used or seen very many I make a lot of incorrect assumptions. Luckily I've only bought one.
Fillisters seems to be scarce. I haven't tried making a wooden plane yet, but the idea is starting to look better. SWMBO-most-of-time keeps bringing up my "numerous" ebay purchases. The thought crossed my mind that making my own planes could be another alternative for a flea-sized budget.
A brand new fillister runs from $75 and up. There's a lot of other tools I need that cost less. I am perfectly willing to mess up some poplar to learn how to build a plane. Does anyone have a source for specs/plans and blades?
Jase--Is there a better way?
Edited 10/1/2002 4:03:25 PM ET by jase
jase I bought my fillester on E-bay for $10.00. You just have to be patient. Jerry
Are a fillister and a plough plane the same? If not what's the diff?Jase--Is there a better way?
jase a plow plane cut groves of different width's depending on the width of the iron you use.It makes the grove in from the edge. A fillester or rebate planes cut on the edge of the board.Hope that helps Jerry
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