Tongue and groove planes, how much slop?

[Kees Heiden]

I can get a tongue and groove plane set, but the grooving plane leaves quite a wider groove then the tongueing plane makes the tongue. How much slop would be reasonable?

I have a narrow set from the 18th century and that makes a very tight fitting tongue and groove, but I am not familiar enough with these planes to know if that is reasonable or not.

[Matt Knights]

I would want the joint to be self supporting when together but not so tight you have to knock it together.

Matt

[Patrick Chase]

I can get a tongue and groove plane set, but the grooving plane leaves quite a wider groove then the tongueing plane makes the tongue. How much slop would be reasonable?

I have a narrow set from the 18th century and that makes a very tight fitting tongue and groove, but I am not familiar enough with these planes to know if that is reasonable or not.

Depends on the glue... I personally wouldn't accept anything over a few mils if I planned to use yellow glue, though I recall Franklin's spec being a bit higher than that (10 mils or so IIRC?)

[Jim Koepke]

My thought has always been that the joint should be self aligning with little or no room for slop.

My only plane used for doing tongue and groove work is a Stanley #45. The T&G comes out tight enough that I may need to hit the tongue or groove with a shoulder or side rabbet plane to take a shaving or two off to fit the joint.

jtk

[Denny Tudor]

I have and use a Union #41. It is a single plane that does both tongue and grove via rotating fence and two irons. I have had it for a long time but seem to think they sell around $40-50. Stanley made one after buying out union but I don't know the number. Mine works great

[Kees Heiden]

Thanks. The planes I can buy have about 2 mm slop. I could of course grind the grooving iron a bit narrower, but it seems that they have the wrong irons.

[Jim Koepke]

Thanks. The planes I can buy have about 2 mm slop. I could of course grind the grooving iron a bit narrower, but it seems that they have the wrong irons.

They may also have a mismatched set. This happens often when pairs are broken up and someone tries to put two planes together at a later date. I have a wooden tonguing plane without a grooving plane to go with it. It sits in a box with other planes waiting for the day they get to come out and play.

jtk

[Robert Norman]

image.jpg
This is from one of the few pairs I've seen with original
latching irons. They match exactly at this point and will not
move.
hope it helps!

[Kees Heiden]

Yes that is exactly like my own very narrow pair. I'll pass on the current offer.

[Glen Canaday]

A T&G plane is in this year's todo list so this thread is pretty interesting.