We just got the final files from Matt Bickford for a new book on making side escapement moulding planes – so I’ll be diving into the editing and design of that soon. No word just yet on when it will be published, but it’s in the batter’s circle. So I thought, “Why not take a look back at Matt’s first book, ‘Mouldings in Practice,’” which shows you how to turn a set of complicated mouldings into a series of predictable rabbets and chamfers that guide your hollow and round planes to make any moulding.
Because we get a fair number of questions about buying and using old moulding planes, below are Matt’s circa-2012 thoughts on the subject, from Appendix 1, “Antique Planes.”
– Fitz
I have neighbors who live in the oldest house in Haddam Neck, Conn. The house was built in the early 18th century. I love visiting their home because I am infatuated with the idea that the American Revolution, the Civil War and Beanie Babies were all discussed in front of their fireplace. When we gather in front of that fireplace and the talk turns to our kids, my mind wanders, and I imagine the house’s previous occupants’ conversations about, “What are we going to do?” in several different historical contexts.
One of the subjects I wrestled with when writing this book was whether to include a chapter on antique planes. I started with these tools. You likely will do the same. Antique planes are available, plentiful, cheap and have a great patina. These planes, like that house, have history. These tools have contributed to the pieces that we ogle, much like that house played a part in our country’s history. They have a lineage of which we are only a part. They have been used by hands more adept than our own. It’s awe-inspiring, intimidating and romantic.
I struggled with writing the chapter, though, because I am simply not the man to do it. I have restored a bunch of antique planes in my woodworking life. It is often difficult, tedious and blind work for the beginner. The knowledge that these vintage planes did work was often the only thing that kept me trying to transform them into workable tools. The idea that they did work and now, with the current wedge, iron or body, cannot wasn’t apparent until I had made several moulding planes for myself.
In short, my experience with antique planes led me to jump at the opportunity to make my own when Lie-Nielsen and Clark & Williams collaborated to begin producing the necessary tools and instruction. The only source I had when I set out to produce my own tools, outside of my blind experience, was Larry Williams’s DVD “Making Traditional Side Escapement Planes” (Lie-Nielsen Toolworks). I watched the entire thing once (with my mother, who loved it! I was two weeks out of major back surgery, and I love her so leave me alone) and a few select chapters of that DVD a couple times more.
There are a few things that I do now when making my planes that differ from the methods Larry shows, but there were none when I made my first planes. That DVD and my limited experience led me to creating functioning planes that hold an edge. The journey is well worth it. I recommend it highly. There is so much information that is superbly presented in that DVD that you could practically start your own business… .
I am not the man to write this chapter because my conclusion was ultimately that, given the time commitment, I would rather make my own. Should you choose to make this antique tool trek on your own, with the help of only books, videos or the Internet, keep the following 10 points in mind when dealing with antique planes:
Assume that the sole needs to be addressed, and know that you will need a way to address it. A No. 8 hollow is easy to fix if you have the matching No. 8 round that works. A 1/8″ side bead will likely need a matching router bit in order to repair its sole. For a cove and astragal you will need either a mother plane, or a matching hollow, a router bit and a method for holding the plane at the spring angle across a router table. You are on your own for anything with a Grecian shape.
Assume that the iron will need to be reground and resharpened. This often will lead to annealing and re-hardening the steel. Again, I am no authority regarding either of these subjects, and I chose not to write about them. The DVD “Sharpening Profiled Hand Tools” (Lie-Nielsen Toolworks) by Larry Williams of Old Street Tool addresses these both. There are certainly other sources.
Warped planes can often be fixed. This will involve planing the chamfer and face flat and, ideally, parallel. It will also require re-establishing the profile upon the sole and getting it centered. The iron will then likely need significant work.
The plane’s mouth will never need to be opened because it is simply too tight. It might need to be opened because even a small amount of damage has occurred there and even the slightest shaving will not eject. Which leads me to…
There are a wide range of reasons why a plane clogs. I will limit myself to what I can think of in the next five minutes. a. The mouth is damaged. b. The wedge is damaged. c. The blind side of the mouth is damaged. d. The iron is not sharp. e. The iron does not match the sole. f. The iron’s sides have been misground. g. The sole is not flat. h. The sole is warped. i. The ramp is damaged. j. Etc. (The list really does continue.)
Making an old plane functional will destroy its resale value to anybody but people who make furniture using these tools.
“User” grade does not mean ready to “use.”
“Fine” does not mean “fine” to go.
“Ready to go” does not mean “ready to go.”
These planes were often used for several successful working generations. They then sat, were mishandled or, most likely, a combination of both for more than 100 years.
Bottom line: There is much that can be wrong with antique planes. If you have limited experience with troubleshooting these matters it is often frustrating and, in my experience five years ago, sometimes futile. I could economically fight this fight now, but I do not want to. Sometimes I look at my old planes and want to finish what I once set out to do. There is a failure that literally stands above my bench. We mock each other daily. Then I think about the other things I like.
When these planes are made functional there is no question that they can perform the same way that a new plane will. On top of that function you will also be included in a noble lineage that new planes do not have. The owners’ name stamps will inspire you. Buy a name stamp of your own and add it. You might hold the plane and think about the time when these curved embellishments were a living art. Imagine the conversation that begins with, “What’s next?”
When I stand in front of a high-style Philadelphia highboy at the Philadelphia Art Museum I imagine the same question being posed. It might have happened at that case’s foot before it was shaped. “What’s next?” This history in wood cannot be replaced. It cannot be trumped. And a lack of this historical lineage is a major shortfall of the most sublime reproductions. Even a reproductionist extraordinaire such as Charles Bender cannot replicate that true history – though his appreciation, coupled with his skill and execution, does challenge it.
The following is excerpted from Matthew Bickford’s “Mouldings in Practice.” In this book, Bickford shows you how to turn a set of complicated mouldings into a series of predictable rabbets and chamfers that guide your hollow and round planes to make any moulding that has been made in the past or that you can envision for your future projects.
The first half of the book is focused on how to make the tools function, including the tools that help the hollow and round planes – such as the plow and the rabbet. Bickford also covers snipes bills and side rounds so you know their role in making mouldings. Once you understand how rabbets and chamfers guide the rounds and chamfers, he shows you how to execute the mouldings for eight very sweet Connecticut River Valley period projects using photos and step-by-step illustrations and instruction.
The term “moulding plane” is an inclusive one. Dedicated moulding planes (also called “complex moulders”) have soles that consist of multiple curves, flats, quirks, steeples and anything else centuries of art have imagined. Dedicated planes create one profile and do it well.
Fig. 2-1. Ovolo with two fillets. The profile this plane creates is similar to that of a window sash.Fig. 2-2. Cove with two fillets. Take note of the angle at which these planes are held relative to the wood. These planes are sprung; the angle at which they are held is the “spring angle.”Fig. 2-3. Ogee with fillet. Like the other planes, this ogee plane creates this single profile at a single location relative to the edges of the board, at a single angle.
These planes, when small, are easy to push and are often much quicker to produce a profile than any router bit, if only because the router surface needs to be sanded. A 1/8″ side-bead plane creates a bead along an edge that is ready for finish after 10 quick strokes. A thumbnail plane creates a convex ovular shape and adjoining vertical fillet, and can consistently and quickly cut profiles along 20 edges of five drawers in a dressing table. A 4″-wide crown moulder, with help from a few friends (and perhaps a horse), creates a complex cornice that is completely uniform from piece to piece across splices and from wall to wall and through mitered corners.
The profiles these planes create are precise, uniform and consistent. Therefore, any time a uniform profile is needed, but the mouldings cannot be cut from a single long piece, a dedicated plane is desirable. A drawer, after all, has four sides – and the lips of individual drawers may sit a mere 1/2″ apart – so efficient consistency is required.
There are dedicated planes that execute just about any moulding, including all those already mentioned. Many of these dedicated planes are also desirable for the craftsman who produces the same edge many times, such as a harpsichord maker who adds a small quirked ogee to the bridge of multiple harpsichords made months apart.
Fig. 2-4. Dedicated harpsichord bridge. This common profile in Italian and German harpsichord bridges will always be 5 minutes away from completion for the user – less if the tool remains set up.
These dedicated, single-profile planes, however, serve little purpose to the craftsman who produces numerous small lengths of moulding in an ever-changing portfolio. These single-profile planes are dedicated to one profile and, like most router bits, they do only one thing. Though the profile these create can often be manipulated to some degree (by removing a fillet, for example) specialty planes are without value if you need to control the details of a profile, or create something with major or even minor differences.
To fresh eyes, the complex profiles integrated into these planes’ soles are apparent; the integral fences and depth stops the planes often include, however, are not. The fences require the plane to contact the edge of a board as a reference, limiting the plane’s angle, spring and location. The depth stop ensures a consistent depth of profile, but often makes it impossible to use the plane to create part of a larger, more complex moulding.
Fig. 2-5. A complex moulder. The width of the iron is the same as the cutting edge illustrated above. No portion of the iron is present at the fence and depth stop. When the plane has progressed to the extent that the depth stop registers against the face of the stock, the iron will stop contacting the wood.
Most dedicated planes also demand proper setup steps to be performed prior to their use.
Without the minimal rabbeting setup in the example in Fig. 2-6, significant edge maintenance will be required because the edge closest to the fence takes dozens of passes more than the edge closest to the depth stop. When the edge nearest the fence deteriorates, the entire blade profile will need to be sharpened in order to keep the iron matching the sole.
Fig. 2-6. The rabbets required. The minimum number of rabbets desired for using a complex moulding plane is similar to those created when using hollows and rounds. You, the user, will need to determine how much stock removal is necessary for each profile. I imagine there are times when preempting a complex profile with a rabbet plane, plus hollows and rounds, is ideal. After all, these few planes with individual curves are easier to maintain than a highly complex profile.
Fig. 2-7. Many passes required. The portion of the iron that is closest to the fence may take 40 passes before the edge farthest away takes one. When it is time to sharpen, the entire edge must be addressed, despite only a small portion needing it.
The genius of dedicated moulding planes is in their absolute consistency, made possible largely by their integrated fences and depth stops. However, these same features also limit the versatility of the planes, and make them poorly suited to address many people’s primary motivation for investigating moulding planes: eliminating excess tooling.
The planes we will discuss in the pages to follow do not share these limitations. We are going to focus on rabbets, hollows, rounds, snipes bills and side rounds. Each of these planes serves a different function. All these planes, however, share a similar characteristic: They have neither integral fences nor depth stops. Without these two characteristics the planes are remarkably versatile. And by using simple stock preparation techniques, the user can impose steering and depth control on the planes to direct and focus their versatility to create all manner of profiles precisely and simply with just a handful of planes. These planes have no fences. We will make guides. These planes have no depth stops. We will make gauges.
But how do these tools work? These planes cut specific portions of an arc in a profile. Each size cuts a segment from a circle of a specific radius. While a plane’s cut matches the circumference of a specific circle, the percentage of the circumference is up to the user. There are no fences that need to be registered on the work, no spring lines to obey and no depth stop to adjust.
Fig. 2-8. The limits of side beads. A 1/8″ side bead can efficiently establish that profile on the edge of the board. It cannot make a bead set in from the edge or the convex portion of an ogee as the No. 2 hollow does above.
With hollows and rounds, the plane that cuts a side bead on the edge of a board is the same plane that cuts the convex portion of an ogee set 1″ from the edge of a complex waist mould. Unlike a dedicated moulding plane or even a Stanley No. 45 plane, these planes do not need to reference an edge while being held at a specific angle.
Whether the specific arc created by these planes falls along the narrowest edge of a board or onto the widest portion of a linenfold panel, the arc’s location is not predetermined. If the arc you need is a minimal 60° of a circle or more than 180°, that function is not determined by a depth stop. Whether the arc stands alone or in a sequence is a decision made by the user, not the planemaker.
These planes do not have predefined purposes other than cutting an ideal radius. Executing any moulding along a straight edge is achievable with these planes – whether you are making moulding on a board that will be applied beneath the top of a piece or even to the top itself.
Fig. 2-9. Geometry of the sole. The sole of this hollow and this round is one-sixth of a circle. The sole’s width is equal to the radius of the circumference it creates.
The soles of hollow and round planes represent 60° of a circle. Thanks to basic geometry and the properties of an equilateral triangle, we know that the width of each plane’s sole is equal to the radius of the circle each creates.
These hollow and round planes generally come in pairs, one convex sole (round planes) and one concave (hollow planes). The pairs vary in radius, which means they also vary in width. There are several numbering systems used when describing these planes, some dependent upon the maker, some on the origin of the tool. For this book, the following numbering system will be observed.
In this system, the plane’s number (usually stamped on its heel) designates its radius in 16ths of an inch up to 3/4″, or 12/16″. The numbering system then breaks, as subsequent planes increase in radius by 1/8″ instead of 1/16″.
There are a few other planes we need to learn about that assist the hollows and rounds – snipes bills, side rounds and rabbet planes.
Hollows are to rounds as snipes bills are to side rounds: The first has a concave sole and cuts a convex shape, while the second has a convex sole and cuts a concave shape.
Fig. 2-10. Other planes. Snipes bills (left) and side rounds are helpful planes for some profiles.
Fig. 2-11. The rabbet. A rabbet plane is rectangular in form and cuts square rabbets.
Many people look at the above planes and, for good reason, do not recognize their purpose. But you soon will.
The following is excerpted from Matthew Bickford’s “Mouldings in Practice.” In this book, Bickford shows you how to turn a set of complicated mouldings into a series of predictable rabbets and chamfers that guide your hollow and round planes to make any moulding that has been made in the past or that you can envision for your future projects.
The first half of the book is focused on how to make the tools function, including the tools that help the hollow and round planes – such as the plow and the rabbet. Bickford also covers snipes bills and side rounds so you know their role in making mouldings. Once you understand how rabbets and chamfers guide the rounds and chamfers, he shows you how to execute the mouldings for eight very sweet Connecticut River Valley period projects using photos and step-by-step illustrations and instruction.
Below is one of the appendices, which shows you how to make a simple sticking board – a must have appliance for the hand-tool shop.
A table saw has a fence, a powered jointer has a table, your bench has dogs or a stop. Like any other task in our craft, bracing a piece while working is necessary. The solution is not always obvious. A sticking board is the appliance you will make to hold your work as you create profiles using your planes.
A sticking board in its simplest form is a base, a backer board and a stop. I use 1/2″-thick MDF (medium-density fiberboard) with screws set in a few inches from the end for the stops.
I add screws on both ends of the sticking board for the times when I need to plane in the opposite direction so the board’s grain runs in my favor. I make the sticking board wide enough so that it can be pinched between the dogs on my workbench and puts the work near the front edge of my bench.
Most of the force you exert upon the piece with these planes will not simply be downward against your bench. The piece you are working is often angled, so the planes are held at an angle, too. Simply clamping a piece between two bench dogs is not ideal for several reasons. This is one of those reasons.
A sticking board gives you a backboard to press against and resists this lateral pressure. The sticking board can be clamped in your bench between dogs and/or held down with holdfasts, screws or numerous other solutions. A firmly held sticking board prevents the workpiece from snapping out of the dogs and you from doing a belly flop across your bench and damaging the plane, iron and the moulding being stuck on your bench.
The sticking board will also prevent the clamping pressure of the two dogs from distorting a thin moulding.
Because the piece being worked upon is not usually pinned in the sticking board, gauging your progress does not require you to bend down and look for gauge lines, leftover rabbets or flat spots in less-than-ideal light. Simply pick the piece up, rotate it and examine it.
As a moulding becomes more intricate, so does the sticking board. The rabbet for a picture in a frame is cut first, making it more difficult to work from that point. Attaching a perfectly dimensioned piece to the board can make a non-square piece sit square again.
Attaching an angled plate to the sticking board allows the user to attach a crown moulding to the board. The options for specialized sticking board design are too many to list. Change the board to fit the piece. Finally, a sticking board, if rigid enough, can turn a typical 7′-long workbench into something more than 8′ long. I even have a game plan for the time when I need something even longer.
The following is excerpted from “Mouldings in Practice,” by Matthew Sheldon Bickford. The book turns a set of complicated mouldings into a series of predictable rabbets and chamfers that guide your hollow and round planes to make anything – anything – that has been made in the past or that you can envision for your future projects.
“Mouldings in Practice” is accessible for even the beginning hand-tool woodworker. It uses more than 200 color illustrations and dozens of photos to explain how to lay out, prepare for and cut any moulding you can draw.
The first half of the book is focused on how to make the tools function, including the tools that help the hollow and round planes – such as the plow and the rabbet. Matt also covers snipes bills and side rounds so you know their role in making mouldings. Once you understand how rabbets and chamfers guide the rounds and chamfers, Matt shows you how to execute the mouldings for eight very sweet Connecticut River Valley period projects using photos and step-by-step illustrations and instruction.
Breaking a moulding down into a series of simple forms results in a smooth execution. When you look at each aspect of a profile, consider the following rules:
Following these rules will make complex mouldings achievable.
Fig. 4-1. Moving fillister. This moving fillister has a brass depth stop that is adjusted with the knob on top, along with an adjustable fence upon which this plane is standing. The iron is skewed across the sole and has a nicker ahead of the cutting edge for shearing wood fibers while working across the grain.
The following is excerpted from “Mouldings in Practice,” by Matthew Sheldon Bickford. The book turns a set of complicated mouldings into a series of predictable rabbets and chamfers that guide your hollow and round planes to make anything – anything – that has been made in the past or that you can envision for your future projects. The expert instruction is accessible for even the beginning hand-tool woodworker. It uses more than 200 color illustrations and dozens of photos to explain how to lay out, prepare for and cut any moulding you can draw.
Hollows and rounds have no depth stops and no fences, and they have cutting edges that are difficult to maintain. So how do we guide these planes? Is it not a trial to keep them sharp? The solution to both questions is a rabbeting plane.
Rabbets, which are grooves along the edge of a board, along with chamfers (or bevels), are the basis for all mouldings when using hollows and rounds. These rabbets serve three purposes: creating chutes in which the planes travel, creating guides that serve to gauge your progress, and removing as much material as possible with an edge that’s easy to maintain and easy to guide.
Cut Rabbets with a Rabbet Plane. All the moulding profiles discussed in this book begin with a series of rabbets and/or chamfers. These two shapes define the final moulding profile. Therefore, accuracy is crucial. Much of your time making moulding is spent laying out the profiles and transferring those layouts onto the wood via rabbets. Only an efficient method of executing these steps will lead to success. There are many methods.
Ventures through the Internet, books or magazines will introduce you to many tools for cutting rabbets, including fenced rabbet planes, moving fillisters and plow planes. A rabbet plane with a fixed fence and fixed depth stop needs only to be pressed against the side of a board, held vertically and swiped until the plane’s depth stop bottoms out and the plane stops cutting. It produces one rabbet of a fixed width and depth along the edge of a board.
A moving fillister plane might seem more versatile than a fixed rabbet plane. You can, of course, create rabbets of any width by adjusting the tool’s fence. Its depth stop can also be adjusted so that the plane cuts rabbets of various depths. Limitations still exist.
Though the plow plane is slightly different than a moving fillister, it also has an adjustable fence with (usually) an adjustable depth stop. A plow plane, in conjunction with a chisel, can be used to aggressively remove material along the edge of a board. In addition, a plow can cut grooves in the center of a board, which is necessary for some mouldings.
A moving fillister and plow plane are very useful when creating single rabbets of equal depth and width in different boards. But they have shortcomings. Most profiles start with multiple rabbets of varying dimensions. Each time one rabbet is completed and the next is started, the fence and depth stop need to be changed. In addition, many of the mouldings involve chamfering a corner of a rabbet. When using fenced planes, it will be necessary to set up a second plane to execute this brief step.
A fence and depth stop predetermine the order in which rabbets must be cut. This predefined order is not always efficient. Finally, there are circumstances in larger profiles when the surfaces upon which the fence and depth stop register are lost as subsequent rabbets are added.
Fig. 4-2. Plow plane. This plow plane also has a brass depth stop, this time on the opposite side of the iron, that is adjusted with the brass knob on top. The plane is leaning upon its fence, which is adjusted by the wedged arms protruding through the plane’s body. When using my plow to make rabbets, I use only the thinnest iron. That iron allows for the most aggressive cut.
The Simple Rabbet Plane. For mouldings, an unfenced rabbet plane is ideal for the craftsman looking to use fewer planes. The simple rabbet plane has no depth stop and no fence. Therefore, each time a new rabbet with new dimensions in a new place along the board is needed, nothing needs to be adjusted. Despite this lack of guides, it is possible to be as accurate with this plane as you are with any gauge line made by a marking gauge.
Rabbet planes with no fence or depth stop excel at making mouldings because almost all profiles require multiple rabbets of varying dimensions.
A rabbet plane that is 7/8″ wide will cut rabbets as wide as the plane’s sole and as narrow as you want or need. There are few limitations to this plane. Contrary to common belief, at times you will wish for a plane that is slightly more narrow, 5/8″, but rarely for one that is wider. Among other things, a smaller plane will let you see inside the escapement when adding a small chamfer in a tight area. This narrow plane also allows these facets to be added in tighter spaces while keeping the sharp corners of the tool away from the surrounding facets. Additionally, the individual rabbets you need to cut are rarely wider than 7/8″, even for the large, complex mouldings.
I prefer a rabbet plane of this width, 7/8″, because I like to use approximately half of the plane’s sole in normal circumstances. I am able to comfortably reach under the plane and use my fingers as a fence against the edge of a board which, as you will see, is vital. If you have large hands, a narrow rabbet of 5/8″ will likely suit you better because you will use less of your fingertips. Many people simply prefer a narrower plane for this type of work because it is easier to recognize the vertical axis when holding a thin, tall plane body.
Rabbet: Setup & Use. When setting the iron of a rabbet plane it is important that the iron’s cutting edge be parallel to the sole. Additionally, it is vital that the iron’s side projects very slightly from the side of the rabbet plane’s body where the cut occurs. If the iron’s side is instead flush to the side of the plane it will be impossible for the plane to cut down into the wood vertically. The side of the iron must not be sharpened; if the side of the iron is sharp, it will scrape the vertical portion of the rabbet, or fillet. This will increase the rabbet’s width with each subsequent pass and can potentially clog the plane.
Holding an unfenced rabbet plane with no depth stop might seem intimidating. It is not necessarily obvious how it works. Some woodworkers think it is an inaccurate tool and has the singular use of cleaning up surfaces that were created by other planes. Perhaps you have read how some woodworkers attach a batten, or auxiliary fence, to the work for the rabbet to follow. This works, but it is another unnecessary step that consumes time and effort in some situations, and is useless in others. When working with a simple rabbet plane, here are the basic steps to follow.
Step 1: Mark the size of the rabbet with a marking gauge along the board’s face, edge and two ends.
Fig. 4-3. Tilting a rabbet plane. My fore and middle finger, located in front of the cutting edge, help lead the plane down the length of the stock. Pressure is applied from the top of the plane toward your body, the sole and cutting edge. Do not apply this force away from your body against the side of the plane. This second method may result in the iron’s side scraping the far side of the gauge line and slightly widening the rabbet prior to starting.
Step 2: Pinch the plane with your thumb leading on top and your forefingers along the bottom. Hold the plane at an angle with its corner pressed into your gauge line. The plane will want to stay in that line. Use your fingers as a fence and take two passes. The plane’s corner will want to stay in the gauge line; your fingers will help it.
Fig. 4-4. Tip the plane substantially. The closer it is to 45°, the easier it will be for it to stay in the gauge line.
You have created a “V.” That “V” will give some slight room for error in the following step. The more rabbets you cut, the less you will use this second step.
Figs. 4-5 & 4-6. Holding square. The fore and middle fingers of my leading hand are guiding the plane while my trailing hand applies most of the forward force. Be certain to hold the plane square, which is gauged by the existence of a full-width shaving.
Step 3: Hold the plane vertically (see Figs. 4-5 and 4-6). Keep the plane pinched in the same manner with your leading hand. This is the more difficult step because your fingers are now the only guide. Start taking passes and keep the corner of the plane and iron that are on the escapement side of the plane inside of your “V.” If you miss, try to miss toward the edge closest to you. (I do not watch the corner of the iron during this phase. I sight down the side of the plane’s body and watch the edge of the body in front of the iron. A pencil line drawn in the “V” will help the novice.)
Be certain that the plane you’re holding is vertical. A full-width shaving should be ejected at all times. After only a few passes, the fillet of the rabbet will be developed to the extent that your fenced fingers will be less necessary. At this stage you can become less careful and more aggressive by increasing your speed. Wispy shavings that flutter in the air are fun, but not here.
Your progress then should be closely monitored in two ways. First, make certain that the plane is being held vertically by comparing the floor of the rabbet with the previously marked gauge lines on the two ends of the work. Second, measure the depth of the rabbet against the gauge line running along the board’s edge. Take abbreviated passes along areas with high spots. The goal is to make one full-width, perpendicular shaving that removes the gauge line in its entirety on your final pass.
Figs. 4-7 & 4-8. Horizontal work. Hold the rabbet plane horizontal to clean up the vertical fillet. Clean-up will be necessary if you wandered from the gauge line at any stage or if the vertical fillet is a finished surface to appear in the final profile. Be aware that, depending on the season the rabbet plane was made and the season that it currently is (or the age of the plane) the iron may protrude too heavily on this opposite side or not at all. This can affect the results if several passes are necessary.
Step 4: If at any stage the plane was held out of vertical for several passes, or if the plane strayed from the gauge line, the vertical fillet along the back of the rabbet will not be perpendicular to the rabbet’s floor. To fix this, tip the plane on its face to clean the fillet.
As discussed, there are several ways to make a rabbet. This is a simple method when dealing with square stock because it involves one plane from start to finish. Other methods involve multiple planes and/or other tools such as chisels.
A metal shoulder plane, along with many other planes that have an iron that projects to the edge, can perform this task. This is not ideal, however, because they are heavy and do not easily eject their shavings.
In this way, a wooden rabbet plane is a luxury. Its tall body helps you find vertical easily. Its light weight allows you to be aggressive. Its escapement grants you speed. Its lack of a depth stop and fence allow you to cut the next rabbet with no adjustments. A simple rabbet plane can cut rabbets of any width less than their own – a 1/16″-wide rabbet is easily executed with a 7/8″-wide rabbet plane. When a corner needs to be chamfered, and roughly a third of your corners will, you don’t need to find a new plane and set it up.
Adding a chamfer with a rabbet plane is also a straightforward process. Your fingers will again serve as a fence. Progress will be gauged by sight. Look at the surrounding facets. Not only should the chamfer be of a uniform width, but the adjoining horizontal and vertical surfaces need to be uniform. Hold the plane at the desired angle and stop at the desired depth.
Fig. 4-9. Chamfering. Again, my fore and middle fingers are guiding the plane. When possible, I allow my trailing fingers to fall upon the workpiece. This will help gauge uniformity.
Fig. 4-10. Even shavings and results. Your goal when creating a chamfer is uniformity. All care, however, should not be paid toward this goal because efficiency is also warranted. Work for consistency, but do not demand it. The length of the hollow plane to follow will overcome moderate variations. The width of the plane’s sole in relation to the chamfer will overcome slight facets. Watch the surrounding horizontal and vertical facets. If these features look uniform from afar they are perfect for this step. Do not reach for your double square.
Note: Using a plane on its corner for the first few passes will eventually cause problems. A significant amount of wear will occur on the single point that runs in the gauge line. In time this edge will become slightly rounded and will not sit in a gauge line. Many antique planes show evidence of re-establishing that corner lost to wear. Some soles have been planed back so much that they approach the tool’s escapement; sometimes the face has been planed off to re-establish the sharp corner.
Fig. 4-11. Boxed corner. The boxing on this rabbet plane will help that corner of the plane remain sharp longer. It will not, of course, help the opposite, unboxed edge. The unboxed edge is used less often, but it is still used.
The solution? “Boxing” a corner of a rabbet plane is recommended if you use a rabbet on its edge. Boxing is where you inlay a wear-resistant species, such as boxwood, into the corner of the tool. This reduces that wear and the inevitable loss of that corner.
A table saw or other power tool is also an economical method for creating rabbets. When creating a large profile I often opt for this method. Getting rabbets close on a table saw then fine-tuning them with a rabbet plane is an efficient way to work. The main problem I have when using a table saw is that, after multiple passes, it will often turn a long, straight piece of thin wood into a long, bowed piece of wood that will become difficult to hold and then work. It is also dangerous to run many profiles to completion on power tools because the final product often has a triangular cross section.
Rabbet plane use begets rabbet plane use. The more you use a rabbet plane and the more comfortable you become with one, the less you will opt for the table saw. You will gravitate toward efficiency and effectiveness, which a rabbet plane allows.
Fig. 4-12. With the table saw. An errant pass across the table saw, with the blade raised too high, can quickly change the final profile drastically. Do not bother with 1/100ths on the saw. Do not feel like every rabbet on a single piece needs to be executed in this fashion because you’re already there. The risk of an extra rabbet can easily outweigh the reward of saving the three minutes it will take to do it by hand.
This last point will bring up the argument, “If efficiency and effectiveness are the goal, why not stay with a router in the first place?” I can create most profiles three days faster than a router user, unless he pays for overnight delivery of his specialized tooling (in which case I will only beat him by 24 hours). But I digress.
