Opinions? LV Skew Rabbet vs Jack Rabbit

[Jim Koepke]

Hey folks

If you needed a rabbit plane, which of these two would you choose?

My average rabbit is ~24" long by 3/4" wide and I've grown weary of the personality my Stanley 78 has, mainly the shifting blade if I hit a hard spot or adjust the depth of cut. I'm leaning towards the Jack Rabbit because of the nicker on each side and simple blade sharpening.

Brian

This is mostly an add on to what Derek said.

I even made a video to show how to cut a rabbet with a side rabbet plane:

https://youtu.be/1-d2CLdgaLs

I used to make rabbets using a Stanley 45. It took many tries and a lot of frustration to learn the ways of my Record #778 (similar to the Stanley #78 but better, imo). Now that I have it figured it is my go to rabbeting plane. The point of this is it was easier for me to start making rabbets with a more complicated tool. It took me a bit of time to get to the finer points of the #778. It does a better job of rabbeting than the #45.

My starting place on setting the blades side projection on the #778 is to slightly loosen the lever cap and press the side of the plane on my bench. The depth stop needs to be out of the way for this. This usually sets the blade cutting along the edge or right behind the nicker. If you want more projection, sheets of paper can be used to lift the plane body for more projection. Setting this is something one will have to figure out how to do for them self if they want ANY rabbet plane to work well.

My #10-1/2 is a short jack rabbet. Good for some things, not good for starting a fixed rabbet without scoring a start line. This is how it would be done without a fenced rabbet plane in the past. Score a line, carefully angle the plane to cut a trough in the waste next to the score mark. After a few passes of cutting the trough the plane body can be brought back to vertical a few degrees with each pass until the plane becomes level and the desired depth is achieved.

short video?

The other thing to avoid difficulties is to score the work if needed. Sometimes it is also better to work from the other side. I know some folks have a hard time switching to working left handed, sometimes that is the best way to work the grain. It is not as hard as it feels when you first start. It is like learning what you already know all over again. Only you are quicker at 'feeling' your mistakes. That would be an interesting survey, have everyone try using a #5 left handed and find out if others can feel the cut being off.

jtk

[Patrick Chase]

The relevant pice of information in the OP's original post was "3/4 inch" wide rebate. That should immediately exclude planes wider than about 1".

Regards from Perth

Derek

The 78 and Veritas Skew Rabbet have 1.5" and 1-5/8" blades respectively, so if your argument above is correct then they're both unsuitable to cut 3/4" rabbets. That's quite a remarkable claim.

I've cut long 3/4" rabbets with both the 10-1/4 and the Jack Rabbet. They do just fine.

[Patrick Chase]

My #10-1/2 is a short jack rabbet. Good for some things, not good for starting a fixed rabbet without scoring a start line. This is how it would be done without a fenced rabbet plane in the past. Score a line, carefully angle the plane to cut a trough in the waste next to the score mark. After a few passes of cutting the trough the plane body can be brought back to vertical a few degrees with each pass until the plane becomes level and the desired depth is achieved.

There are other, often easier ways: Batten, shop-made fence, etc etc. Also note that I specifically suggested the L-N 10-1/4, which has nickers FWIW.

[Mike Cherry]

Not to put words in Derek's mouth, but I think he was simply stating that if the average width is 3/4" the Jack rabbets 2 1/4 inch blade is overkill. The skew plane would certainly be more nimble than the larger rabbet planes.

Mr Jim, you stated you used a 45 for rabbets in the past. I wonder what caused you to go looking for a different tool for the job?

[Jim Koepke]

There are other, often easier ways: Batten, shop-made fence, etc etc. Also note that I specifically suggested the L-N 10-1/4, which has nickers FWIW.

Of course, with or without nickers having a plane with a fence means not having to make one for a plane that doesn't.

jtk

[Patrick Chase]

Not to put words in Derek's mouth, but I think he was simply stating that if the average width is 3/4" the Jack rabbets 2 1/4 inch blade is overkill. The skew plane would certainly be more nimble than the larger rabbet planes.

Woodworkers use wide planes to take narrow cuts all the time, and for a multitude of reasons. In this case I personally prefer to use a longer plane to cut very long rabbets, even if that means it's wider than it needs to be. IMO the difference in usability between a Skew Rabbet at 1-5/8" and a 10-1/4 at 2-1/8" or a Jack Rabbet at 2-1/4" isn't all that huge, though obviously opinions vary.

I think that there are almost always multiple ways to achieve any given task, and our own choices are often more arbitrary and subjective than we pretend.

[Derek Cohen]

The 78 and Veritas Skew Rabbet have 1.5" and 1-5/8" blades respectively, so if your argument above is correct then they're both unsuitable to cut 3/4" rabbets. That's quite a remarkable claim.

I've cut long 3/4" rabbets with both the 10-1/4 and the Jack Rabbet. They do just fine.

Patrick,

Mike expressed my thoughts quite well. A Jack Rabbet is overkill - by wide blade I really meant wide body. A moving fillister or a shoulder plane are much narrower and shorter, and the centre of gravity is just so different to the jack rabbet. I am not sure how much furniture/rebates you have made/cut, but I sure would like to see where you get your opinions.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Patrick Chase]

Of course, with or without nickers having a plane with a fence means not having to make one for a plane that doesn't.

jtk

Yeah, I was making a separate point about the nickers. Sorry about not being more clear.

I personally prefer a batten to a fence where possible, because I get better control of angle that way (provided the plane's side is square to its base). That also may be why I don't worry so much about balancing a wide plane on a narrow rabbet. So much subjectivity... :-)

[Patrick Chase]

Patrick,

Mike expressed my thoughts quite well. A Jack Rabbet is overkill - by wide blade I really meant wide body. A moving fillister or a shoulder plane are much narrower and shorter, and the centre of gravity is just so different to the jack rabbet. I am not sure how much furniture/rebates you have made/cut, but I sure would like to see where you get your opinions.

For the 10-1/4 and the Jack Rabbet the blade width is the body width (2.125" and 2.25" respectively). For the Skew Rabbet it's the projected blade width (i.e. body_width = blade_width*cos(skew)), or 1.5". These are not monstrous differences as such things go.

For furniture-scale work I typically use my skew rabbets, because those rabbets are usually shorter (and often shallower) than what the OP asked about. Note that EVERY response I've posted has included the disclaimer "for long rabbets...".

I get my opinions the same way most people do - by trying stuff and seeing what works for me, and I think I've been careful to couch them that way in this thread.

By constrast, I feel that you don't acknowledge or even consider the possibility that there might be multiple ways of doing things, and that makes these discussions more contentious than they should be.

[Reinis Kanders]

Depth stop of skew rabbet is very useful if one wants to quickly bang out some rabbets.
I recently did a bunch of 3/4" x 6' rabbets and skew rabbet was quicker than jack rabbet because of the depth stop. Advantage of jack rabbet is that it can be used in both directions, but that requires moving the fence and readjusting the blade a bit to make sure that it protrudes a right amount.
Tear out does not really matter that much in a rabbet and can be cleaned up afterwords with a rabbet block or what not.
If one is making boxes and cabinets I would get skew rabbet before jack rabbet and would also get the pair of veritas skew block planes over the time. Jack rabbet is nice to have and very nice to look at, but I use it much less then the skew. I am no expert though.

[Chuck Hart]

I have the LV skewed rabbet and like it a lot

[Kevin Hampshire]

Brian,

I have the Jack Rabbet, both of the Skew Rabbets and both of the Skew Block planes. I tend to do smalls (boxes etc.) up through tea/occasional tables. Hopefully I'll get to do a larger case piece in the near future.

My RH Skew Rabbet gets the most use, followed by the LH Skew Rabbet, then the Jack Rabbet and finally the Skew Blocks. The Skew Rabbet is just an easy plane to grab. The Jack Rabbet is pretty heavy...and my most used plane is a LN 5 1/2 followed by a 4 1/2 with a HAF so I'm not against heavy or large planes.

My thought is, if your Stanley 78 is the right size but wrong performance, then the Skew Rabbet would be a great fit. Everything about the Skew Rabbet is a large step up from your current Stanley.

[Matthew Springer]

I have both an LN Jack Rabbet and a new LV skew rabbet. Skew rabbet all the way. Just my opinion having cuts literally ones [sic] of rabbets with the planes. (OK, I';m mostly a tool collector at this point).

I find the jack rabbet is hard to hold square and I need a fence with it. I also find I can take a much more aggressive cut with the LV skew rabbet. I just dont use the #10's ability to cut from both sides all that often.

[Stew Hagerty]

"iiiiit's wabbit season!"

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

[Bill Rhodus]

I have the LV skew rebate and jack rabbet and would suggest a woodworker get the skew first. The skew will do a good job for almost all furniture rebates. If you are a timber framer or want a rabbet plane to make raised panels, get the jackrabbet.