I am considering buying a used Stanley no. 78 rabbet plane on ebay. For those who have gone this route, how much work was needed to dial-in an older plane like this? Was the fence square to the sole – if not what steps were taken to make it square?
Thanks for any suggestions you may have.
JT
Replies
"Work required": totally dependent on condition. Sole out-of-square can be
cured on table saw or jointer bed using sandpaper and sweat; sandpaper on
bed, fence squared and resting on edge of sandpaper. Draw witness marks
on tools bed, sand until they are gone, keeping side of tool pressed against
fence.
Thinking about it, I don't think the squareness of the fence is all that important. The edge of the blade will be the same distance as long as you are careful to keep the fence engaged with the edge of the work piece. That is most important.
I considered buying one but then I found Paul Sellers’s video ‘How to make a poor man’s rebate plane’ on YouTube. I managed to make one from scrap wood and an old chisel and it works really well. It was fun to make too.
What a truly excellent video.
I bought a cheapie from Taylor Tools (TayTools) on Amazon, it seems to work fine. But the Stanley would be nice, for the right price.
I use mine primarily for routing grooves for Federal furniture banding.
Put lie Nielsen blade in and couldn’t believe how well it worked
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