hand plane selection

I'm about to route tenons to attach a breadboard end on a table top. I obviously don't want to screw this up, as I have spent a lot of time on gluing up the top (with fair results), and don't want to spoil the whole thing. I'm also looking to expand my tool collection with the addition of some hand planes. Since this project is on the front burner, I might as well buy the correct hand plane for fine tuning tenons to match the mortise. What type of plane works best here?

I was thinking of a rabbet plane Do the blades on these run the full width of the iron? so as not to leave a lip on the inside corner of the tenon? If so, wouldn't such a plane work well for this? Do they work well on cross grain work?

Reply to
Doug
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Doug wrote: : burner, I might as well buy the correct hand plane for fine tuning : tenons to match the mortise. What type of plane works best here?

A shoulder plane. It's like a rabbet plane, but with an extremely fine mouth that allows for extremely thin shavings.

: I was thinking of a rabbet plane Do the blades on these run the full : width of the iron?

Yes.

so as not to leave a lip on the inside corner of : the tenon? If so, wouldn't such a plane work well for this? Do they : work well on cross grain work?

If you can get one, a skewed-blade rabbet (or shoulder) plane works great cross grain. This has the blade non-perpendicular to the main axis of the plane.

You'll have to dip into the old tools domain for this -- there is AFAIK no skewed shoulder or rabbet plane currently being made.

-- Andy Barss

Reply to
Andrew Barss

Veritas medium shoulder plane is superb.

Bob

Reply to
Bob

I've been pleased with the performance of my old Stanley #140 in this type of application.

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Tom Veatch Wichita, KS USA

Reply to
Tom Veatch

Ditto that! I have all three Veritas shoulder plane, and they all are excellent tools at a fair price. Mine needed a wipe with K1 to remove the cosmolene, a quick swipe at the 8000 grit waterstone and they were off to work.

Clifton shoulder planes are also excellent, but I don't see why they should cost as much more than Veritas as they do. Lie Nielsen shoulder planes are typical works of art, but they don't make a comparable medium sized model, and you pay for what you get.

Barry

Reply to
Ba r r y

As others have suggested, a skewed rabbet plane (#140) is good for this, and a shoulder plane can also do it well. In this particular case (breadboard end), I'd say the #140 would be better. In addition to the skewed iron, it is a fenced plane, so it will be easier to control the width of the cut and it's easier to register for verticality.

Chuck Vance

Reply to
Conan the Librarian

Yes, and for the "normal" methods of making tenons, like nibbling, with dado or running over a router bit, there's seldom a problem with the shoulder being straight. There is often a problem of thickness, however, and I heartily recommend LN's rabbet block for that task. It'll shoulder, too, but not as well as a shoulder plane like the LV ones being mentioned. I own the medium sized one of those, too. It works worse on cheeks than the rabbet block on shoulders, in my experience, so I'd first get the rabbet block.

Damn nice block plane, too.

Reply to
George

You guys are pushing all my "wants" button. That one is high on the list of what I don't have but want.

Bob

Reply to
Bob

"Bob" wrote in news:31Lmd.1322$ snipped-for-privacy@newsread3.news.pas.earthlink.net:

Yeah - ideal for the stated purpose (adjusting tenons) too. Unfortunately they're hard to find. L-N makes one (which is even cooler than the original), but it costs a chunk of change.

L-N also makes a "rabbet block plane" which would serve well, altho it's not exactly cheap either.

John

Reply to
John McCoy

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