Hi guys,
1) What's really the difference? I know they have different bedding angles, and that the bevels are in opposite directions. But they seem to do many of the same things and I don't see a ton of physical differences.
2) Can a Shoulder Plane do everything that a Rabbet Plane does, assuming the grain isn't all twisted up?
The Backstory. (Edit: I read the article in my personal email before I read Mr. Koepke's thread about it. Sorry.) LV's email newsletter arrived today and has an article about using Shoulder Planes for more than "just" shoulders. Many of the things the author suggests remind me of what other authors suggest using Rabbet Planes for; e.g., roughing out moldings before sticking them with your H&Rs. Well, lately I've been a bit bored building furniture so I've been trying to learn to build a few side escapement planes. What I need immediately is a 1/4" Round and I hope to make that one this weekend. But I was also going to make a 3/4" Rabbet Plane (straight, not skewed), just for fun. But now I'm wondering if I should make a 3/4" Shoulder Plane instead, because it might be more versatile. My LV Small Shoulder is bedded at a low 15* (bevel up) and my antique store Rabbet is bedded at 48* (bevel down).
Here's my theory - please nudge me if I've got it wrong. It seems like a Shoulder can do everything a Rabbet can do, but that the opposite isn't true; i.e., a Rabbet can only do a subset of what a Shoulder Plane can do. (There are some exceptions in both directions - I'm guessing the Shoulder can't handle twisty grain very well and that the Rabbet can't handle end grain very well. So these are generalizations, I'm sure.) But if I was only going to build ONE of them - which would do more for me?
I'd sure appreciate hearing your thoughts and experiences.
Thank you,
Fred