I’m looking to cut a tongue and groove joint using my new plow plane, but I keep tearing apart the wood with each stroke. The plane chisel is brand new and works great on face sides, but the ends are a bit of a problem. I don’t know how to cut the tongue without such heavy force and splintering. Using a second board to prevent chip-out ends up knocking the entire board out of place.
I’m reasonably new to wood working and have a very tiny bench set up with no large power tools (I don’t have the space for them, and I’m in a condo so I won’t be using loud saws).
If it makes any difference, my plane is a veritas plow plane, and the wood is pine.
I’m open to other ideas too, I’m just not sure how to go about this one.
Thanks!
Replies
I've ended up using the plane with the next size up in tongue chisel, and clamping two boards in a row for a better shaving experience. It still is a lot more work than working on a face and there are some things that I end up cleaning with a Japanese saw. I think I'm going to have to resharpen my blade before I'm done the project.
Tongue in end grain
You call it a "tongue in end grain", but it sounds like it could also be called a stub tenon, in which case I would start by using your saw to define the shoulders (after marking the tenon outline). To reduce tearout you also could start a cheek cut at 45 degrees to the end. (4 cuts). Then you use your plow plane on the face to cut away the waste on each side of the tenon in turn, watching your marks to avoid cutting too deep. Align your plow blade edge with the shoulder cut and use a blade just a bit wider than the tenon length. Cutting end grain with a blade bedded at 45 degrees is alwaya going to be tough.
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