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Thread: Shoulder planes

  1. #1
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    Shoulder planes

    Just a quick question here for you folks that make your tenons by hand.

    How many use shoulder planes? Do you find them incredibly useful for the task, or do they seem rather daft? Do you prefer to undercut the shoulders with a chisel instead? Or are you perfect and don't need to worry about any of this (I know there are those that can bisect a line perfectly with a saw every time)? Or do you do something else?

    My concern stems from my hand-cut tenons seeming to be sub-par to the quality I would like; that being the quality of absolutely no gap between the tenon shoulder and the contact surface around the mortise. The smallest bit of light, to me, is a glaring mistake that makes me want to throw the project out the window. I'd say the biggest gap I see is maybe 1/32"; enough that I can see it, it annoys me, and I think it looks like complete and utter crud.

    Thanks, y'all.
    The Barefoot Woodworker.

    Fueled by leather, chrome, and thunder.

  2. #2
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    Shoulder planes are often useful to me, but not for truing shoulders. I prefer to pare to a knifed line:

    ~ Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the men of old; seek what they sought.

  3. #3
    No shoulder planes. Slight undercut with the chisels, and if possible, mallet and bench chisel rather than parer to work to the marked line - if the line is marked accurately, the tenon will also be accurate.

    You're right, a 1/32nd gap looks terrible. With a little bit of practice, you really shouldn't have any shoulder gaps (using the method I just described) that are big enough to put more than a sheet of paper through, and if you should get any of those small gaps, you can hide them with glue or often close them with clamps.

    conceptually, shoulder planes seem like something that should be great to use to the marked line, but I don't find them quite as accurate in use (nor as fast) as sawing just short of the line and using a reasonably wide chisel for the final cut in the marked line. you can leave the shoulder plane for error correction or really large tenons at that point.

  4. #4
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    dry fit result (you can judge if these are tight enough):

    ~ Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the men of old; seek what they sought.

  5. #5
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    Bench chisel to the knifed lines, then bench chisel to undercut. Works for me.

  6. #6
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    Thanks, y'all!

    Quote Originally Posted by David Weaver View Post
    No shoulder planes. Slight undercut with the chisels, and if possible, mallet and bench chisel rather than parer to work to the marked line - if the line is marked accurately, the tenon will also be accurate.

    You're right, a 1/32nd gap looks terrible. With a little bit of practice, you really shouldn't have any shoulder gaps (using the method I just described) that are big enough to put more than a sheet of paper through, and if you should get any of those small gaps, you can hide them with glue or often close them with clamps.

    conceptually, shoulder planes seem like something that should be great to use to the marked line, but I don't find them quite as accurate in use (nor as fast) as sawing just short of the line and using a reasonably wide chisel for the final cut in the marked line. you can leave the shoulder plane for error correction or really large tenons at that point.
    Never thought about using glue to hide a small gap. I usually choose brute force with clamps.

    And this is why I'm a rank amateur.
    The Barefoot Woodworker.

    Fueled by leather, chrome, and thunder.

  7. #7
    Well, glue isn't preferable! A tight joint definitely is, but if the error is a tiny gap, just a little bit of glue is better than a dark line left from finish filling the gap. Though it's taboo to talk about, when I worked in a cabinet factory on an assembly line, every person had a filler stick if cabinets came down the line with small gaps in the face frames. They also looked far better than leaving the gap open. If the gap was large, the cabinet got a new face frame, though.

    We're all (well all but a very select few) rank amateurs

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
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    It depends for me - furniture sized tenons I usually use a chisel like others. For large shoulders, like 1.5" x 8", I prefer a shoulder plane.

    R/
    William

  9. #9
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    I don't have a shoulder plane, so I learned to pare down to a knife line. It seemed impossible at first but after relatively little practice, I could see and feel the knife lines. Turned out to be much easier that I first thought.

    On a related note, I was watching an episode of the Woodwright's shop where Peter Follansbee was making a 17 century frame and panel chest. He explained that the period joiners undercut the front shoulder (straight off the saw) and cut the back shoulder short. The idea was that only the leading edge of the front shoulder made contact and no gap showed.

    These were functional chests efficiently made and not necessarily beautiful furniture.
    -- Dan Rode

    "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." - Aristotle

  10. #10
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    I use a chisel in a knife line like David mentions. The tough part for me is getting things good all the way around the piece. You can be a little more lax about a gap on the inside of a cabinet, where it doesn't show.

    I'm still not always great at it, and the only way I've gotten any better is practice and particular attention to accurate marking.

    One thing I have picked up is to careful with undercutting, if you're too bold with it, and have to go back and plane the piece, you can end up showing a gap that wasn't visible at the glue up!

  11. #11
    I have a shoulder plane. It has it's place - but IMHO not on tenons.

    Personally, I like my chisels more and more. They're just more versatile.
    Also, as I'm getting better at sawing and sharpening my chisels, (it's ultimately about better sawing and sharpness anyway) I find clean up quicker with a chisel.

    Last, ain't nothing wrong with undercutting the shoulder!

  12. #12
    I use shoulder planes for tenons. This is due to my chisel skills. Need more practise. For shoulder planes I can be more sloppy?

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
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    Perth, Australia
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    Shoulder planes are useful for more than tenon shoulders. I find one invaluable for fine tuning rebates and breadboard ends, as well as small precision planing.

    While I may also use a wide chisel for shoulders, it is often easier to use a shoulder plane to plane to a fine line when the gap is small ...



    The first step here is to knife a new shoulder line.



    Now shoot down to the line, using the cheek to rest the side of the plane.



    Clean up the ends with a chisel.

    And here is the result. On the left is the reference face, and on the right is the back side.




    Regards from Perth

    Derek

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by Derek Cohen View Post
    That's probably the best example of the worst of my gaps that I have to deal with coming straight off the saw.

    If my wife sees it, she doesn't see a problem. Me? It looks gawd-awful like I had a full-on epileptic seizure while trying to cut it.

    I actually appreciate the pictures, Derek. They make me realize maybe I'm just being way too hard on myself at times.
    The Barefoot Woodworker.

    Fueled by leather, chrome, and thunder.

  15. #15
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    Shoulder plane. But if fine, fiddly work didn't hurt my hands so much, I would use a chisel. I use my shoulder planes for more than just tenons.
    Paul

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