Thread: What is the right tool?

Interesting snippet about the twin-rod version wanting to bite you, Chief. As said, I rarely use mine with a fence to cut rebates from scratch, and it's a single-rod version anyway. Its most common use is for finessing tenon cheeks or cleaning up the edges of raised panels (also done with tablesaw ), so I stuck a Woden style knob on it to make it more convenient in that role. A major side-benefit is that my left hand is now safely away from that bitey left side of the blade.

There are so few times I have wanted/needed to use the left side of the 78 that when I made an infill rebate, I made it single-sided. The idea was to maximise stiffness, but it also makes it friendlier to use.

soundwave, I commend your enthusiasm, and I use hand-tools far more than machinery for most things, but cutting rebates is an exception as far as I'm concerned - I don't find any Zen in expending my diminishing energy on them, and it has been many, many, years since I had to do things quietly so as not the wake the baby. Besides, clean up the saw cuts with a few swipes of the plane, & who's ever to know you didn't do it all the Galoot way?

MA, hadn't thought about saving the offcuts from a rebate other than to use as a paint-stirrer, but I already have a box full of oversize paddle-pop sticks, so I need inspiration - where do you use 'em?

Cheers,

I enjoy cutting rebates by hand.

Start the cut with a Stanley 78, and before the blisters form , switch to a Stanley 10 to finish up.
Finesse with a shoulder plane if required.

Originally Posted by IanW

This is a rabbit warren

surely a rabbet warren,,,

anyway, one of the youtube woodworkers i watch (not sure which one, sorry, but probably one of the hand tool channels) was recently talking about how they have different preferred techniques depending on whether the rebate they're cutting is along the grain, vs across it

derekcohen's touched on grain direction a little, commenting about dados vs grooves, but that's it so far. maybe there's room for a deeper dive here? experienced woodworkers, do you also switch techniques based on the orientation of the rebate on the board?

i suspect if you're using table saws and/or routers, then maybe it doesn't matter? or maybe it does? idk!

does the type of wood you're working with affect your choice of technique?

Originally Posted by banana

surely a rabbet warren,,,

anyway, one of the youtube woodworkers i watch (not sure which one, sorry, but probably one of the hand tool channels) was recently talking about how they have different preferred techniques depending on whether the rebate they're cutting is along the grain, vs across it

derekcohen's touched on grain direction a little, commenting about dados vs grooves, but that's it so far. maybe there's room for a deeper dive here? experienced woodworkers, do you also switch techniques based on the orientation of the rebate on the board?

i suspect if you're using table saws and/or routers, then maybe it doesn't matter? or maybe it does? idk!

does the type of wood you're working with affect your choice of technique?

One of the personal concerns I have about using machines for rebates is that it is easy to screw up quickly. Hand tools are personally more controllable. For example, it may be easy enough to use the table saw to make the cut with a panel face down. I can do this either against a rip fence or on my slider. However, the adjacent cut has the board on its edge against the fence. An auxiliary/sub-fence is needed to aid with vertical, and support is needed to keep the board against the fence. It is so much easier for me to use a rebate plane.

Having chosen to do so, the timber/grain may not be a willing participant. Planing into the grain is common.

Tearout is not really the problem, since the floors of the rebate will not be seen. A high cutting angle is helpful in taming this anyway.

More important is that the edges of the rebate do not suffer spelching. To prevent this, use a cutting gauge to score cleanly and deeply. You may benefit from using a nicker as well (which is generally only used across the grain, when cutting a dado).

Spelching can occur with a router as well on interlocked grain, especially if too much is cut at once. A cutting gauge can help here as well.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Hi Ian. Most of my rebating is done when making windows and depending on the client/age of house/style of window I can use them for beading. A lot do end up in the stick basket for the fire but I hang on to more than I should (because they might come in handy!!) Hi Derek. I'm not usually cutting panels but rails and stiles. Spelching is a great word but an annoying thing to fix I remember the first time I got my #78 going properly - it was lovely. But now I use my wooden rebate planes whenever I can. My favourite is about 32mm (actually 1 1/4"). It's actually a bit clunky but works well and fits my hand nicely

SW. I recently watched some footage of a wooden hand plane maker (Matt Bickford) making rebates i the following way
- Mark the edge (width) of the rebate with a cut line
- Run a rebate plane along the the line, tilted at an angle so only corner of blade is cutting against scored line
- Keep planing to deepen the angled cut and slowly level out plane progressively with each pass
- Plane until depth required is acheived.
It is all freehand, without any fences but it works. My first couple of tries were tentative but practice makes perfect

Thanks Bruce... another thing to check!

Originally Posted by Mountain Ash

SW. I recently watched some footage of a wooden hand plane maker (Matt Bickford) making rebates i the following way
- Mark the edge (width) of the rebate with a cut line
- Run a rebate plane along the the line, tilted at an angle so only corner of blade is cutting against scored line
- Keep planing to deepen the angled cut and slowly level out plane progressively with each pass
- Plane until depth required is acheived.
It is all freehand, without any fences but it works. My first couple of tries were tentative but practice makes perfect

Yep. I described the same above. And echo your last sentence

It is a good skill to have. There are plenty of times a rebate needs to be fine tuned, and other times where only a shoulder plane can do the work ...

Bow front drawer. The curved drawer bottom is scored with a cutting gauge and then rebated with a Record #043 plough plane just short of the line ...



Scribe again and remove the remaining waste with a paring chisel ...



Fine tune with a shoulder plane ...





Finished job ...



There is no way that a table saw could do that!

Regards from Perth

Derek

Hi Derek. Spot on. Although if you spent an hour or so making a jig, test cutting mutiple samples, practising rolling the curve base through the cut..... On a more serious note, thanks for your great photos. I know how long it takes me to upload a couple but you share a lot and it is appreciated

Originally Posted by derekcohen

...There is no way that a table saw could do that! .....

Actually, a long-radiused, simple rebate like that would be perfectly feasible on the TS. Of course, you wouldn't be able to do it the way you'd normally cut a straight rebate with two passes. No jigs required, other than an accessory fence, which is attached clear of the tabesaw top by the width of the rebate. Cut the radius on the drawer bottom, set the TS blade to the width of the rebate,set fence to take the first blade-thickness off, & just roll the piece through. Re-set fence & make as many passes as required to form the full rebate. Clean up with a shoulder plane if necessary. You won't have any off-cuts, MA, just sawdust.

Just being provocative, I would most likely do it manually too.....
Cheers,

So does anyone have any experience with the Luban Plough Plane? Don't get me wrong, the Veritas and Lie Nielson look lovely but they're currently out of my budget. Plus I do like the idea of using the Luban plane as a kerfing plane

Funny I was looking at the Luban online. It looked good but I've not had one in my hand. I've got a couple of Luban planes which have proven to be good.

Cheers

Not the Luban but I do own the one it was based upon, the Record 043. This is a beautiful little plane that fits in the hand so well you can use it with one hand.

There is a “but” however; and that is its small size. You can only get one hand on the body; your other hand is pressing the small fence against the workpiece and can’t really contribute much power. The short skate and very short toe can allow the plane to gently “porpoise” through the wood. Cutting grooves up to 1/4” wide is no problem but as the blade gets wider the more force you need to apply to get it through the wood and the small size can make that a bit of a struggle. The Luban comes with a 1/2” blade; in hardwood you would have to use a very fine depth of cut.

Mine is only used for cutting grooves for panels, up to 1/4” wide. As I have a plethora of Records that can cut rebates up to 2” wide I can pick whichever one is optimally sized for the job. If however I was starting over and looking to buy new I think I’d have to carefully consider what I would use it for the most; for drawer and box making I wouldn’t hesitate to go for the Luban but for grooves bigger than 3/8” I would be saving up for the Veritas or looking for a small combination plane like a Stanley 50/Record 050.

You can cut a rebate using a chisel. It's a good exercise for honing your hand skills, but not necessarily efficient .

At the other extreme, use a spindle moulder or a CNC router.

However, among the other 373 ways to cut rebates, this would be my favorite tool

IMG_4330_540x.jpg


Moving Fillister Plane – HNT Gordon & Co. Classic Planemakers Australia