Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 15 of 36

Thread: Which plane to buy? Tuning tenons

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    West Lafayette, IN
    Posts
    6,527

    Which plane to buy? Tuning tenons

    I mostly use electrons for cutting M&T's, but I don't have a good means to clean up the tenon shoulder and fine tune the cheeks. I was going to ask for a shoulder plane for Christmas, but I'm not sure that's the best first plane I should get. Since I normally use the TS for cutting tenons, I don't think I need the router plane.

    The planes I have been reading about are:

    Rabbet Block plane
    Float
    Skew Block Plane
    Shoulder plane

    Could I have some guidance on which to consider most?

    Thanks

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Location
    Dickinson, Texas
    Posts
    7,655
    Blog Entries
    1
    Router plane to size the tenons, bench chisel to straighten shoulders. I don't have much luck with a shoulder plane.

    I have all of the above. I do use a float on occasions, but the router plane does a better job.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    twomiles from the "peak of Ohio
    Posts
    12,109
    A shoulder plane is supposed to work, but, all I have is a Wards #78 rebate plane. I just remove the depth stop on the right-hand side, and lay the plane on it's side. I can also stand it up as plane right up the the shoulders

    I saw a tenon first, then remove most of the waste with a few whacks of a chisel, then the plane comes along and smooths things out.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    Houston TX
    Posts
    548
    Router plane for tenon cheeks...registers on face of board = cheek parallel to face. Bench chisel in knifed lines for shoulders.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Longview WA
    Posts
    27,312
    Blog Entries
    1
    Matt,

    Welcome to the cave by the Creek.

    My chosen tool depends on how big is the tenon needing to be trimmed. Most of the time a wide chisel works fine.

    Here is one way to do it: Video Link

    There is an odd ball tool of sorts that gets used at times which is a #10-1/2 Stanley/Bailey plane. Not a common find.

    Patrick Leach write up on the #10-1/2

    Another of my users for this an old 2" wood bodied rabbet plane. That is also one of the not found at every yard sale variety of planes.

    From your list above a rabbet block plane may be your best choice. Not sure if anyone makes a skew rabbet block plane.

    Router planes are a common choice because of being able to set the depth of the blade and the accuracy. They can be tedious if there is more than a little material to remove.

    One problem people have is forgetting about keeping the tenon centered when fitting. Having clearly marked lines to work to helps to avoid this.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    twomiles from the "peak of Ohio
    Posts
    12,109
    If you can find one, a Stanley #140 is a skewed rebate Block Plane

    Millers Falls made a copy of it

    L-N or Veritas now make a version

    I made a Traditional Chinese Edge plane awhile back. It can be used for short tenons, less than 3/4" long.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Location
    Lake Gaston, Henrico, NC
    Posts
    8,957
    Paring chisel, and iwasaki extra fine wood file.

  8. #8
    Definitely router plane and sharp chisel like everyone else. Skew block I'll sometimes use just remove some of the waste when I've left too much waste on the waste side of the line but I always go to the router plane for fine tuning and parallel edges. You can remove as much it as little as you need to get the fit just right. I've heard good things about floats, but never used one. I owned a shoulder plane once and sold it. Never found it handy and it generally got me in more trouble than just a sharp chisel. But router plane and sharp chisel is the best, quickest, and easiest way for me. If I were to do large scale tenons, like 3-4" deep tenons that are 4-6" wide, the I'd say a jack rabbet plane would be handy. But that's so rare that I'm ever doing tenons that large. In other words, I'd i made a living out of making roubo workbenches, id probably own a jack rabbet plane for those hefty large tenons.

  9. #9
    Bed float for planes. You could also use a long chisel for it with no problem, but the bed float is ideal.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Longview WA
    Posts
    27,312
    Blog Entries
    1
    Matt,

    Looking at all of the answers (opinions), what may be a good idea is to think about what other tasks a new tool might perform.

    A float or a shear file is a useful tool for working surfaces other than a tenon.

    Same with a block rabbet plane and any of the other tools mentioned.

    The one that will be the most useful in the most situations may be the most practical to add to your shop.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    West Lafayette, IN
    Posts
    6,527
    Thanks all. I don't see myself using a router plane for much else besides tenon cheeks, so it would likely be a 1 use tool for me. I'm leaning toward the block rabbet plane or skew block plane since i think i can use them more often fir other tasks

  12. #12
    I don't know how many other people here have used a plane bed float to clean a small tenon, maybe I'll make a video of it at some point.

    I think if you are doing a lot of cabinet sized tenons, you're not going to find those two types of planes very useful, they are too big.

    With a plane bed float, you have registration against a tenon and cutting all of the way to the corners of the float. All you do is place the float against the tenon, and put your thumb on it to keep it registered against the tenon. Determine how heavy the cut will be and adjust your thumb pressure as needed and push once, maybe twice. This is a matter of 5 seconds. and then recheck your fit.

    It is also useful for mis-cuts on pins when fitting half blinds or something. just float to the mark, same method.

    I have no clue how much the bed floats cost now, but they were about $55 when I got mine and indefinitely sharpenable with a simple xslim or xxslim file.

  13. #13
    You'd be surprised how useful a router plane can be, especially when doing dadoes, stopped dadoes, tenons, truing up grooves, etc. Works really well. You can pick up an old stanley 71 or 71 1/2 off ebay fairly cheap. Will work about the same as a new veritas or lie neilsen. Or make a cheap one like the paul sellers manmade router plane. But I'm willing to try to a plane float too like David says. I'd be interested to see how that works and for the $65 it costs, it might be worth a shot too.

  14. #14
    I don't know if I skipped mentioning it, for those folks who don't like the idea of sharpening a saw, the floats do have to be sharpened to start, but less is more (just follow the profile that's there until you get bare metal).

    I agree above about the router plane. Not something i use on tenons, but very useful for all kinds of other stuff. As mentioned above, I have also never felt that there was anything missing with the stanley router plane, and LV's irons fit in the stanley router planes, so if you can find one cheap, you can always add irons easily (i've never found one in the wild with more than the iron that was in it).

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    West Lafayette, IN
    Posts
    6,527
    Thanks for advice David. I'd love to see a video on using the plane bed float, as I can't find anything online about using them.

    Maybe i'll keep an eye it for a Stanley router plane, as it does intrigue me. I had originally thought about buying new only, and that plunking down $250 for the Veritas was too much. Any suggestions on buying a used router plane? Go with a Stanley from ebay?

    What plane bed float do you recommend?

    I'm still considering the rabbet plane and skew plane.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •