On rabbets, plane vs saw
 

Greetings,
Just got Ian Kirby's "The Complete Dovetail" from interlibrary loan.
In the description of the double lap dovetail he says to cut the
rabbet with a rabbet plane. This provoked my question: Why plane out the
rabbet; why not cut it with a saw, and then trim with a plane? Seems that
planing the whole thing is a lot of work with ugly tear-out risks.

--
"Keep your ass behind you"

"Australopithecus scobis" wrote in message
Why plane out the
rabbet; why not cut it with a saw,

Just because you can.
Ed

On Thu, 19 Aug 2004 20:16:36 -0500, Australopithecus scobis wrote:

Greetings,
Just got Ian Kirby's "The Complete Dovetail" from interlibrary loan.
In the description of the double lap dovetail he says to cut the
rabbet with a rabbet plane. This provoked my question: Why plane out the
rabbet; why not cut it with a saw, and then trim with a plane? Seems that
planing the whole thing is a lot of work with ugly tear-out risks.

Key word in the paragraph is "rabbet plane." A rabbet plane has two extra
blades one on each side called nickers that take a veritical slice through
the wood, this prety much prevents any tear out along the edges of the
rabbet.

The other thing to remember is that there are usually several different
ways of getting any woodworking task done. So if you want to hog out the
bulk of the wood with a saw, and then fine tune the result with a plane,
do it that way. There is no law preventing you from doing it the way you
want to.

BTW I've got the book in my shop, when I find the floor again I'm going to
take a swing at cutting some dove tails.

Tigger

Australopithecus scobis wrote in
:

Greetings,
Just got Ian Kirby's "The Complete Dovetail" from interlibrary
loan. In the description of the double lap dovetail he says to
cut the
rabbet with a rabbet plane. This provoked my question: Why plane out
the rabbet; why not cut it with a saw, and then trim with a plane?
Seems that planing the whole thing is a lot of work with ugly tear-out
risks.


Don't you think you need some kind of excuse to buy a minty old Stanley 78?
I mean, don't most addicts have to justify their addiction?

Patriarch,
who has also been known to use a tailed routah first, and sometimes, even,
instead of..

On Thu, 19 Aug 2004 20:16:36 -0500, Australopithecus scobis
wrote:

Greetings,
Just got Ian Kirby's "The Complete Dovetail" from interlibrary loan.
In the description of the double lap dovetail he says to cut the
rabbet with a rabbet plane. This provoked my question: Why plane out the
rabbet; why not cut it with a saw, and then trim with a plane? Seems that
planing the whole thing is a lot of work with ugly tear-out risks.

Just a guess, since I've not seen that type of dovetail, but couldn't
you do the rabbet first?

Bill.

On Thu, 19 Aug 2004 23:18:22 -0400, Bill Rogers wrote:

Just a guess, since I've not seen that type of dovetail, but couldn't
you do the rabbet first?
Kirby does the rabbet first, before the pins&tails. I'm quibbling with the
choice of tool to do it. I am now completely convinced by the astute
observations of other responders: Yes, I do need a minty rabbet plane. Oh,
look, the LV catalog is right here beside me... Oh, my.

--
"Keep your ass behind you"

Anthony VanCampen wrote:

Key word in the paragraph is "rabbet plane." A rabbet plane has two extra
blades one on each side called nickers that take a veritical slice through
the wood, this prety much prevents any tear out along the edges of the
rabbet.

Are you sure you're not thinking about a dado plane? Or are you
referring to the retractable nickers like on the #78?

FWIW, I almost never even extend the nicker on my #78 (and the
nicker is really intended for use on crossgrain cuts). If I'm worried
about tearout, I use a marking gage to scribe the rabbets first. It
works better than a nicker (it produces a cleaner line).

For crossgrain rabbeting, a skew rabbet plane is the preferred tool.
Again, I score the line with a marking gage first to insure a clean cut.

The other thing to remember is that there are usually several different
ways of getting any woodworking task done. So if you want to hog out the
bulk of the wood with a saw, and then fine tune the result with a plane,
do it that way. There is no law preventing you from doing it the way you
want to.

Absolutely. But for doing a rabbet, I can't see any advantage to
sawing first, unless he's simply sawing the kerf for the side of the
rabbet. As a matter of fact, removing some of the stock for a rabbet
could even make it harder to finish the thing with the plane.
(Irregularities can make the plane harder to keep level, which is key to
getting a good rabbet.)

I'd say he's better off to just get a #78 and learn how to use it.
Rabetting and grooving by hand are fun to do. Plus they give you an
excuse to buy more tools. :-)

BTW I've got the book in my shop, when I find the floor again I'm going to
take a swing at cutting some dove tails.

It's a fun book. As usual with Kirby, you have to take some things
he says with a few pinches of salt. (Afterall, he's the guy who said
the only planes you need are a #7 and a #4-1/2. Silly man. :-) But,
he does give excellent advice on various techniques that can help you
improve your dovetailing. Plus I like the variations he shows.


Chuck Vance

Edwin Pawlowski wrote:


"Australopithecus scobis" wrote in message
Why plane out the
rabbet; why not cut it with a saw,

Just because you can.
Ed

using a saw doesn't give you as good or clean of a rabbit, or dado for that
matter, try using a router, with a good sharp bit it will give you a much
cleaner cut and that makes a tighter joint, the nice thing about a rabbet
plane is it lets you sneak up

Richard

On Thu, 19 Aug 2004 23:00:22 -0500, Australopithecus scobis
calmly ranted:

On Thu, 19 Aug 2004 23:18:22 -0400, Bill Rogers wrote:

Just a guess, since I've not seen that type of dovetail, but couldn't
you do the rabbet first?
Kirby does the rabbet first, before the pins&tails. I'm quibbling with the
choice of tool to do it. I am now completely convinced by the astute
observations of other responders: Yes, I do need a minty rabbet plane. Oh,
look, the LV catalog is right here beside me... Oh, my.

That or do like I did and buy a shaggy old Stanley off *b*y
for $15 or $20. Better yet, have the Veritas plane sent to
me and I'll send you a pre-tuned, less-shaggy Stanley in trade.
Yeah, that's much better. Got my address? ;)


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On Fri, 20 Aug 2004 07:32:40 -0500, Conan the Librarian wrote:

Anthony VanCampen wrote:

Key word in the paragraph is "rabbet plane." A rabbet plane has two extra
blades one on each side called nickers that take a veritical slice through
the wood, this prety much prevents any tear out along the edges of the
rabbet.

Are you sure you're not thinking about a dado plane? Or are you
referring to the retractable nickers like on the #78?


Yeah, a real DOH! Moment, thanks for the reminder about the #78, I don't
feel so dumb know.

Tigger