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Thread: 140 Trick

  1. #1

    140 Trick

    Ralph over at The Accidental Woodworker blog had a couple of questions about the "140 trick". I answered them on my blog but figured the answers might be of general interest so I will kinda crosspost here. BTW, if you do not follow Ralph and his blog, you should. He is close to 100% Neander and his productivity puts most of us to shame. Anyway here is my post on the 140 trick:

    Using a #140 Block plane to make a shallow rebate on the back of the tail board is called the 140 trick. I'm sure it was done before Alan Peters used it but he popularized it.


    The reasons the 140 Block plane works so well is two fold, the side plate is removable exposing the slewed cutter and it has a fence. The plane has a nicker as well which I do not normally use. Here is a photo of my 140 with the side plate removed and, I doubt you can see it, the cutter is extended a thin red one pass the side of the plane.

    140withSidePlateRemoved171017dscf2060.jpg

    I will normally use a TiteMark wheel gauge to mark the base line because the 140's fence will register on the board's end as does the TiteMark. Setting the TiteMark. after gross setting I will give the micro-adjuster an 1/8 to 1/4 of a turn clockwise to deepen the baseline. I like the pins and tails to be slightly proud.

    settingTheTiteMark171017dscf2057.jpg

    Next is deepening the base lines. I do this "freehand" with a marking knife.

    deepeningTheBaseLine171017dscf2059.jpg

    Set the fence so the cutter just touches the near edge of the base line mark.

    settingTheFence171017dscf2062.jpg

    Take a couple or three passes until the rebate "looks about right".

    140TrickRebate171017dscf2065.jpg

    Mark and cut your tails however you would normally cut tails. After the tails are cut, set the tail board on the pin board and aline the reference edges with a chisel. Mark your pins and if nothing moves and you saw and chisel correctly you should have a near perfect dovetail joint.

    rebateBoardOnTop.jpg

    As always....Click 'em to big 'em.

    ken

  2. #2
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    Probably obvious, but this trick should work with just about any rabbet plane.

    The 140's small size makes it nice for small work and also to keep the depth of the rabbet uniform if/when the wood isn't flat across the grain. Taking this to absurd lengths, there's no reason why you couldn't use a "10-1/4 trick" on larger parts, again assuming they're sufficiently flat.

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    Ken,

    I am curious, you have two torpedo levels on your bench what you use them for?

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by Patrick Chase View Post
    Probably obvious, but this trick should work with just about any rabbet plane.

    The 140's small size makes it nice for small work and also to keep the depth of the rabbet uniform if/when the wood isn't flat across the grain. Taking this to absurd lengths, there's no reason why you couldn't use a "10-1/4 trick" on larger parts, again assuming they're sufficiently flat.
    Then it wouldn't be the 140 trick, would it .

    As you pointed out most rabbet planes would work, LV makes a fenced block plane that I've used but the LN 140 is easier to set up. I've also used a snipes bill and a unfenced rabbet plane as well. I expect with enough skill all you need is a chisel. Then the question becomes "why".

    ken

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by Lonnie Gallaher View Post
    Ken,

    I am curious, you have two torpedo levels on your bench what you use them for?
    Lonnie,

    I use the torpedo levels to check that my board is setting level before sawing it, makes it easier to saw vertical lines that way. Two? Just because sometimes one will end up somewhere else.

    ken

  6. #6
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    Before this became the 140 trick, some called it the rabbet trick. Just imagine back to the days before the #140 was on the market and don't forget the plane didn't have a fence until Rob Lee put one on it. (If someone else is responsible for the #140 fence, I am sorry for any slight and will edit this if notified soon enough.)

    It has some useful benefits and it has at least one pitfall. One has to take care about the depth of the rabbets or they can throw a piece out of square. This is fairly minor or course unless a plane is taking some thick shavings. A rabbet plane with a depth stop is helpful. Set it to the thickness of 2 or 3 business cards or one credit card and all should be good.

    It can cover base line gaps on the inside of the joint. It won't hide sloppy sawing or chisel work.

    The rabbet trick (140 trick) helps in aligning the tail board to the pin board. If the end of your workpiece isn't dead square, neither will the finished work. The joint may be square in two dimensions, but the third is just as important.

    To me this is a helpful trick somewhat like training wheels. For better alignment in the past my framing square was used. Recently a different square was made to align the tail board to a pin board for marking:

    Joint Alignment Inside Square.jpg

    This has worked well and given me an idea of having a side bar for alignment on a Moxon vise if I ever get a round tuit. It wouldn't have to be on the side. Maybe a rabbet into which a guide bar could be inserted. Still mulling it over in my mind.

    jtk
    Last edited by Jim Koepke; 10-17-2017 at 9:58 PM. Reason: spelling
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Koepke View Post
    Before this became the 140 trick, some called it the rabbet trick. Just imagine back to the days before the #140 was on the market and don't forget the plane didn't have a fence until Rob Lee put one on it. (If someone else is responsible for the #140 fence, I am sorry for any slight and will edit this is notified soon enough.)
    Fences are nice, but battens aren't *that* onerous :-).

    In my experience battens also tend to be a bit safer/easier for people who aren't used to working with fence-guided planes.

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    Thanks Ken for sharing this super practical tip for getting square dovetails. Even though you're too modest to mention it, I heartily recommend your own blog "I'm an OK Guy" as a thoroughly enjoyable discussion of hand tool woodworking, road trips and Mexican food.


    Back to the 140 tip: I've always been impressed by the ability of preindustrial woodworker's to expeditiously execute fine furniture with hand tools. In my old age I've made an effort to speed up my projects by streamlining my technique to focus time on only those skills/techniques that make a visible difference in the finished product. IMHO, the tip you described is is an excellent example of a technique that yields a great return for the time invested, particularly for dovetailing carcasses/larger components where misalignment of pins/tail boards can result in significant, compounding errors.


    Cheers, Mike

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Allen1010 View Post
    Thanks Ken for sharing this super practical tip for getting square dovetails. Even though you're too modest to mention it, I heartily recommend your own blog "I'm an OK Guy" as a thoroughly enjoyable discussion of hand tool woodworking, road trips and Mexican food.


    Back to the 140 tip: I've always been impressed by the ability of preindustrial woodworker's to expeditiously execute fine furniture with hand tools. In my old age I've made an effort to speed up my projects by streamlining my technique to focus time on only those skills/techniques that make a visible difference in the finished product. IMHO, the tip you described is is an excellent example of a technique that yields a great return for the time invested, particularly for dovetailing carcasses/larger components where misalignment of pins/tail boards can result in significant, compounding errors.


    Cheers, Mike
    Mike you are too kind.

    I'm doing much the same including making simpler builds.

    Making the rebate is so easy and solves so many problems for me it is a no brainer....at least until I forget to do it before sawing the tails .

    ken

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    Making the rebate is so easy and solves so many problems for me it is a no brainer....at least until I forget to do it before sawing the tails .
    It worked fine for me the few times it was tried. Like you, my tails often get cut before remembering to cut the rabbet.

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

  11. #11
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    I don't have a 140, and I do pins first.....trick doesn't help much for the way I do things.....

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    Quote Originally Posted by steven c newman View Post
    I don't have a 140, and I do pins first.....trick doesn't help much for the way I do things.....
    It might help square up the pin board when you mark the tails.

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

  13. Quote Originally Posted by steven c newman View Post
    I don't have a 140, and I do pins first.....trick doesn't help much for the way I do things.....
    Just goes to show: pins first is just wrong! So very wrong!

    [Hat? check. Coat? check. Car keys? check. I'm outa here.]
    Fair winds and following seas,
    Jim Waldron

  14. #14
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    And...then the tails will be too thin....

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    Quote Originally Posted by James Waldron View Post
    Just goes to show: pins first is just wrong! So very wrong!

    [Hat? check. Coat? check. Car keys? check. I'm outa here.]
    Really, there should be some sort of law against doing pins first. It's a crime against both nature and logic.

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