Jointer Fences for Hand Planes

[Jimmy Harris]

I never had a need for a jointer fence. The closest I've come is building some donkey ears for my shooting board. But even then, it has only been because I was mitering lots of end grain and needed precise and consistent angles.

But if I ever did need a fence on a jointer plane, or something like that, I'd probably just clamp a board to the side. Maybe cut a rabbet into the fence or attach a secondary piece so that I could get the iron all of the way to the edge. I don't think it would be something I'd use often enough to justify the space, let alone cost, of buying a purpose made tool. Never mind the time lost buying one.

But, you know, everyone's different. I'm kind of a minimalist when it comes to buying tools. And I enjoy the process more than the product. So figuring out a way to make what I have work has an appeal to me that buying a rarely used tool doesn't.

[steven c newman]

Everyone seems to forget that a jointer fence is NOT just for 90 degree chores ( Your knuckles can do THAT same job quite easily)


However, IF you need to add a bevel to and edge at a certain angle other than 90 degrees? Piece of scrap c clamped to the side of a plane just ain't getting it. (BTDT) Plus, IF you have a lot of said bevel edges to make, and have them all consistent...THAT is where an Adjustable fence shines..

Beveled edges on the lid of a Writing Desk? Hmmmm....set the fence, and go to it...

As for that "Knuckles"....I wrap my left thumb over the left edge of the plane ( a LOT) more like just hook it over...the knuckle on your fingers will then ride along the board, underneath the plane's sole. Yes, you can tell when things are NOT 90 degrees..your hand will tell you that..try it sometime.

So..maybe there IS a clue as to what a fence is meant to be used for....as most are made to be adjustable ...some even in both directions from 90 degrees. Why limit your self? AND the tool?

[Jimmy Harris]

However, IF you need to add a bevel to and edge at a certain angle other than 90 degrees? Piece of scrap c clamped to the side of a plane just ain't getting it.

You can always plane or cut an angle on that piece of scrap pretty easily to get whatever angle you need.

[steven c newman]

The fence on a Jointer Plane does the exact same things that the fence on your powered Jointer does.....it is guide, it is a tool, nothing more.

Currently, I do have a Stanley No. 7c.....the left cheek had been drilled and tapped to hold a fence LONG ago ( plane IS a Type 9) so, someone must have found a use for such things as a fence for the Jointer Plane.....and most of the plane makers back then SOLD quite a few fences.

They do come in handy, IF you have a lot of edges to bevel/joint...and it is a repeatable jig....rather than clamp up some pieces of scraps, and hope you get the angles correct.

The fence is just a tool, nothing more. (Now, IF Veritas made such a tool...imagine all the "glowing reviews" it would get..)

YMMV, of course...

[Cliff Polubinsky]

Now, IF Veritas made such a tool...imagine all the "glowing reviews" it would get..

I just checked and Veritas makes 5 fences.

Cliff

[Jim Koepke]

Then of course there are other ways of making consistent angles.

Cut One Side Gauge Fence .jpg

This was an easy set up and the angle could be adjusted by taking a few shavings if needed.

Test Fit Octagon Cap.jpg

The test fit indicated the calculations worked.

jtk

[steven c newman]

Like I keep saying...the Jointer Fence is merely a TOOL, rather someone uses it or not, is up to them, entirely....way too many ways out there, to skin the same cat.
Set and forget
Purpose made one-off
MKII Eyeball...

Plane the same exact bevel on a few hundred feet of Molding by hand...

[steven c newman]

Just watched a YT video from Wood by Wright(?) 2 years old, BTW....where he showed everything you'd ever want to know about a Stanley Jointer Fence..

Whether anyone here WANTS to watch it...does not matter to me....nor do I care how "Pitiful" some on here might think it is (IF they even watched it at all)

Just a FI....do with it as you see fit...

Me? I will put one on my Rust Hunt list of things to keep an eye out for...I am sitting beside a Video Cabinet that has a 3/4" x 11" x 20" Ash raised Panel in it's door...that a handplane was used by me to actually "raise" the panel....A fence would have made thinks so much easier...DAMHIKT..

[Warren Mickley]

...Plane the same exact bevel on a few hundred feet of Molding by hand...

Something tells me you haven't been making a hundred feet of the same molding by hand. Using a jointer for making a bevel like this is awfully clumsy and would get old pretty fast. This isn't the way Peter Nicholson described making a molding in 1812, and in fact a fence like you are describing does not show up in historic texts or historic tools.

When Ken Wisner started what would later become Lie Nielsen Tools, he started with the No. 95 Edge trimming block plane. Not because it was useful but because it found little use. So few were made originally (low demand), that collectors bid them up and Wisner found a market of guys who wanted one but didn't want to pay collector's prices.

[Eric Brown]

Just watched a YT video from Wood by Wright(?) 2 years old, BTW....where he showed everything you'd ever want to know about a Stanley Jointer Fence..

Whether anyone here WANTS to watch it...does not matter to me....nor do I care how "Pitiful" some on here might think it is (IF they even watched it at all)

Just a FI....do with it as you see fit...

Me? I will put one on my Rust Hunt list of things to keep an eye out for...I am sitting beside a Video Cabinet that has a 3/4" x 11" x 20" Ash raised Panel in it's door...that a handplane was used by me to actually "raise" the panel....A fence would have made thinks so much easier...DAMHIKT..

Thats a good video Steven. Thank you for sharing. My main reason for starting this thread was to compare different vintage models available. I agree that the Stanley 386 is probably the best. Things to watch out for are missing clamps. If your handy shaping metal you can make replacements. The knob adds a level of comfort. The Millers Falls model also has a knob but the fence is a little shorter in length. The shorter fences are lighter and don't adjust as easily. The Veritas ones look pretty good but being aluminum may show wear quicker if used heavily. The Stanley being the heaviest helps keep it against the wood.

[steven c newman]

How the bloody ell would you know....

I lived in a lot of Old Homes including the current one...

Staring right now at a 3 window wall....narrows on each side...flanking the wider one in the middle.....with a LOT of millwork in-between. Been doing this sort of work since the 1960s, helping my dad..Could NOT care less about how someone did a task in 1812...more concerned about doing this sort of task in 2023!


Just got done rehabbing a Block plane enough, to test drive on some scrap Ash...
WEDs Night, test drive.JPG
Kind of doubt this was used back in 1812.....but it will get used NOW.

[steven c newman]

Hmmm, back in the day.....did they not just use Spring Line on the toe of a molding plane? Must have been hard to see on a 22" long "Gluing Plane" as Moxxon called it...

Didn't they also just screw a "fence" to the wooden side of a plane? Or, did they have bolts for that, back then.

I do have a 22" Sandusky No. 81 Jointer plane in the shop....with a Butcher double iron, no less.....Much prefer my Stanley No. 8c....YMMV ( and Century)

[Jim Koepke]

Hmmm, back in the day.....did they not just use Spring Line on the toe of a molding plane?

Yes, though the "spring line" on the toe of a molding plane was to indicate vertical on the plane for both the maker and the end user.

Must have been hard to see on a 22" long "Gluing Plane" as Moxxon called it...

Hard? Try impossible since a spring line was mostly used on molding planes made to be used at an angle to vertical. "Gluing planes (jointer) and most other planes didn't have spring lines.

Didn't they also just screw a "fence" to the wooden side of a plane?

A very low percentage of old planes show this kind of modification. Most often it occurred on rabbet planes to decrease the width of an area being worked. Most workers either learned how to use a rabbet plane without a fence or purchased a fillister plane.

In my years of rust hunting many bench planes, including jointers have been found. I do not recall seeing a single plane fence other than on ebay. Seeing the price they got on ebay, my eyes were always searching for one. Even brushing aside cob webs to look into the shadowy places under benches or in the back of cabinets in hopes of finding one to score some extra money. None ever appeared.

Running a matching bevel over numerous pieces has never been a great challenge for me. My skills are likely in the range of average hobbyist. Surely most woodworkers with a bit of skill could do the same without a lot of effort.

BTW steven, which model of jointer fence is it you use?

jtk

[steven c newman]

Left thumb to hook over the side...left index finger's knuckle as a guide.....was starting to get tired of "wear marks" on that knuckle.....Maybe go ask the OP what ones HE uses?

There IS a quote from Qiggly downunder you MIGHT want to check out....

"Just because I don't have a use for one, does not mean I do not know how.."

[Mike Allen1010]

Generally if we have a board we want to true up we flatten a face side first and then flatten and square an edge to that face. This is because it is a lot easier to square the edge to the face than square a face to an edge.

When we are making an edge joint it is easier to make the joint first rather than truing faces. Otherwise you have to flatten the face of each board, make the joint and then flatten a face again. Once the board is all glued up, then flatten a face.

+1 me too