There should be a warning ...

[derekcohen]

... on the side of all rebate planes, especially skew rebate planes.

I cannot recall a time that I have finished a planing session without cutting all my fingers. This is near the end of today ...

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Dovetail%20Cabinet/raised%20panel%20doors/Fingers1.jpg

The problem is that I prefer to push the fence against the edge of the board rather than hold the knob (which is safely out of harm's way). My fingers are close to the blade. When it comes to skew blades, I forget that they extend further back (than in line with where I think they end), and so I inevitably slice a finger tip! This is not confined to skew rebates, however. I do it all!

Here are a few illustrations. I was making rebates and raised panels.

No, I am not left handed - the grain just went that way ...

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Dovetail%20Cabinet/raised%20panel%20doors/Holdingtheside2.jpg

See here ..

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Dovetail%20Cabinet/raised%20panel%20doors/Holdingtheside3.jpg

So how do you hold a rebate plane?

Here is an update of the wardrobe I am building. The doors are a dry fit. Tomorrow I will drawbore the mortice and tenons, fit the hinges, set the inlay, and fix the face frame. Then it's the drawer, top and base.

It's good to have a week's grace before my wife's family descend on us. This piece is needed for a guest room.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Dovetail%20Cabinet/raised%20panel%20doors/WIP1.jpg

Regards from Perth

Derek

[glenn k]

Use a router it might be safer.

[wheelinround]

Just goes to show speed isn't always involved, at least you have smething to show the relies when they arrive as well as the cabinet.

[jmk89]

I call it putting myself into my work!
Also it's the latest all natural stain!

[Scribbly Gum]

Nice woodwork as usual Derek.
I am a bit like you in the finger department.
A very long time ago I learned that one of the most useful additions to the drawer of my workbench was a plastic jar full of band-aids.
Invariably at the end of a day when I was getting tired/careless, there would be blood. For some reason known only to the woodworking gods, the nicer the piece of wood being worked on, the more likely it was to attract the drops from a cut. Furthermore, blood always seems to know which wood is the most visible in the finished piece and it makes a special effort to soak into it quickly.
You do have one up on me however, I can't remember doing three fingers in a day.
:2tsup::2tsup::2tsup::2tsup::2tsup::2tsup::2tsup::2tsup::2tsup::2tsup::2tsup:

Cheers
SG

[The Bleeder]

Made with BLOOD, SWEAT & TEARS :U:U instead of Made in Australia

[IanW]

Yep - we have to suffer for our craft! :U
Blood stains are a rightl b*gg*r to get off freshly planed surfaces, aren't they?

I haven't managed to damage quite as many pinkies in one session as you have Derek (& I'm not going to set out to beat your record), but a lot of shed sessions include a bit of blood spilt along the way, so the top drawer under my bench contains a packet of bandaids, too. My best effort lately was to take a goodly chunk off my left middle finger with a LV BU I was using to plane end grain. It was choking a bit, so I opened the mouth good & wide (ya don't need a fine mouth for end-grain, after all) then on the next stroke, my left hand contacted the vise & it pushed the finger into the mouth as the plane went on its way. I'd just sharpened it, too. That was a couple of months ago, & I've still got a tender divot in the top of that finger! :C

Funny how I frequently nick myself with hand tools, but so far (touch wood) have avoided any serious contact with the 'lectron burning kind - I think I'm much more careful when serious maiming is likely. :o

Looks like that cupboard is almost done?
Cheers,

[Basilg]

Derek

Maybe the problem is you are not hitting your fingers often enough, and hard enough, with a hammer, to toughen the skin :rolleyes::U

Regards

[jmk89]

You could put those rubber "fingers" that you get from stationery shops for turning paper to protect the fingers that get nicked

[mike48]

Ouch!

I find that using my 78 and 778 is almost certain to give me "nicked fingers".
It is that exposed blade corner that gets me all the time.

And for some inexplicable reason, it gets worse the older I get!

Oddly, I dont get nicked with a 042, 076 or 073 (I get sore arms with this one)..

cheerio

[issatree]

Hi Derek,
Not sure what you will think of this, but some Carvers buy Kevlar Gloves, very light & not too expensive. Of course you can't beat the Hand to do the work, so you get a couple of cuts.
I also get a few & I use Loctite 401 Super Glue. Have used this for many years, & don't have a problem. I just run a small line of Glue on the cut, & squeeze the cut together with a piece of Plastic Shopping Bag, as the Glue will not stick to the Bag. Give it a couple of blows of air from my mouth, Beautiful.
The Glue will come off, as your body oils will remove it after a day or so.
Yes, there are a lot of Skeptics out there, but I'm still here at 73, & it suits me.
Regards,
issatree.

[Woodwould]

If I'm in danger of being knicked (and I too am, with rebate and some dado planes), then I take precautionary steps by first wrapping the likely affected areas with masking tape. If/when the tape shows signs of injury, I replace it.


Hi Derek,
I also get a few & I use Loctite 401 Super Glue. Have used this for many years, & don't have a problem. I just run a small line of Glue on the cut, & squeeze the cut together with a piece of Plastic Shopping Bag, as the Glue will not stick to the Bag. Give it a couple of blows of air from my mouth, Beautiful.
The Glue will come off, as your body oils will remove it after a day or so.

Super Glue came to prominence as a substitute for sutures in the field during the Vietnam War. It's still used in operating theatres to this day. During a prolonged operation, part of my back was glued together with CA glue (albeit a sterilised medical grade).

Like most manual workers, I suffer hacks in my fingers, especially during colder weather and I always keep a bottle of CA handy for gluing them closed.

[Scribbly Gum]

Just out of interest and because we are discussing rebate planes, here is one that is a little different.
It is the first bench-type rebate plane that I have seen with an adjustable mouth.
It is a Keen Kutter and was apparently made for them by Union. I wonder if Union also produced one under their own name?
It looks to be about the size of a Stanley 10 1/2.
Very nice looking plane.
Enjoy
SG

[jimbur]

The old standby was supposed to be spiders webs over the cut. I tried it once when I couldn't pause to get a bandaid. It worked fine but I'm loathe to try it across here as the redbacks might get upset.
Jim

[Frank&Earnest]

Thanks Derek, given that Santa just brought a rebate plane, your experience might save me a few problems.

This one seems to have protection, though: brass guides both sides. I tried it only once but I did not see any possibility to cut myself with it. Any reason why this solution was abandoned in later planes? (or was it?)

The body itself looks more like a furniture piece than a tool: all the recesses for the nuts for the guide bolts are covered by wood inserts and the edge is a strip of boxwood (about 15x5 mm) inserted at a 45 degrees angle in the beech body.

[derekcohen]

That rebate plane is enclosed on the far side. It is the far side - the side where the blade projects out of the body ... where one is not keeping an eye on the edge of the blade - that is the dangerous side. :o Yours is fairly safe. :)

Nice plane! I have an ECE like that. One of my favourites.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Frank&Earnest]

Well, one thing leads to another... I looked at the site in your signature and found out that you are an expert in fixing tools ( and fixing kids, but it's too late for me to ask your help in that capacity :D). Then, googling ECE to see what you were talking about, I saw that they sell a replacement blade for their jointer. Which brings me to the full story of Santa's gift.

The Santa in question is my daughter, who went around country "antique" shops to find me a present, and in one such place not far South of Adelaide found two. They asked $10 each for them and she happily bought both.

The funny part is that, she being mechanically minded as her gender generally is :) and the shopkeeper being probably a bit devious :wink:, she did not even realise that the second one did not have a blade, so for all intents and purposes she bought 3 pounds of firewood, not a plane. Which is still fine, because I would happily have paid $20 for the good one, which is all complete and in working order.

So here is my question (and my apologies if it drifts away a bit from pitying your fingers :D): would it be worth buying the ECE replacement blade, grinding off 2 mm each side to fit the old body? Given that all the old planes I have seen had prices under $20, I wonder about the wisdom of doing so instead of just dumping it and finding another one. Do you have an explanation for this apparent paradox?