# Veritas skew rebate plane - a review (lots of pics)



## Paul Chapman (11 Sep 2008)

Rob Lee of Lee Valley recently published some pictures of the new Veritas skew rebate (or rabbet) plane on the Australian forum. I was very excited about this plane because it appeared to overcome many of the defects inherent in other planes of this type. I was therefore delighted to see that Matin Brown of BriMarc had two (a left-hand and a right-hand) on his stand at Yandles last Saturday. They had arrived from Canada only a couple of days beforehand.

Martin and I had a play around with the right-hand version and my delight with how well it worked must have been very obvious, because Martin asked whether I would like to borrow it and do a review. I jumped at the chance  

Rob Lee describes the plane as being inspired by the (no longer available) Stanley #289 pictured below 







The plane that most people will be familiar with which is most like it (but without a skew blade) and currently available is the Record #778. Here's mine






Here are some general pictures of the new Veritas





















The plane body is made from ductile cast iron and the various knobs from brass. The blade, which is skewed at 30 degrees, is made from A2 tool steel and the back is lapped dead flat on Lee Valley's super lapping machine. 











The handle and knob are Bubinga.

The design and engineering of this plane ooze quality and it is worth highlighting certain features which make it such a joy to use.

The plane has the now familiar grub screws to assist with the location of the blade






The blade adjuster has a thick, stainless steel washer with a peg which locates in the slot in the blade






This does not revolve when adjusting the blade and the conbination of this together with the grub screws means that the blade does not skew out of alignment when adjusting the depth of cut - in my view a very important feature.

The depth stop slides on two beautifully machined grooves and is secured with a brass knob






Now for the feature which sets this plane apart from all other fenced, metal, rebate planes - the cross-grain scoring blade. This is in the form of a wheel which is attached to an axle off-centre. This enables it to be raised or lowered. To do this, slacken off the screw behind the front knob






Then adjust the wheel






Now for the best bit. When in use the scoring wheel needs to be aligned with the outside edge of the blade. No other similar plane has a mechanism for doing this but Rob Lee and his team have come up with a brilliant solution. Remove the front fence rod and inside the hole you will find a short rod with a slot. Insert a screwdriver and adjust the rod which allows the scoring blade to be moved in and out. 






When set, tighten the screw behind the front knob. For me, it's worth buying the plane just for this feature 8) 

I did wonder whether it would be possible to re-adjust the wheel without disturbing the fence setting, should this be necessary. I found that it was by simply removing the front fence rod and leaving the rear one in position. 

The fence is particularly nice. It's held in place by a collet and brass nut arrangement which enables the fence to be adjusted by hand






The fence is drilled to enable you to fit a wooden facing if you wish.

To assist with honing the blade, Veritas make a skew registration jig to fit their Mk 2 honing guide. I didn't have one of these but it was easy to make up a setting block to position the blade for honing











I tried out the plane on various woods but here it is in use on some mahogany-type wood. I started off by scoring the wood by drawing the blade backwards with the scoring blade lowered






I then took quite thin shavings as I was working across the grain






When using the plane, it's important to maintain pressure against the fence. I found that there was a convenient position just in front of the blade so that I could maintain downward pressure with my thumb while pressing against the fence with my fingers






This picture shows the nice crisp, clean cut I was able to make






I then made some cuts along the grain, taking much thicker shavings






As I neared the finished depth, I adjusted the blade to take finer shavings - this is where the precise blade-setting ability came into play enabling the blade to be adjusted without it moving sideways. I was able to line up the depth of cut precisely with the cross-grain rebate






In conclusion, I found this plane stunning in its design, engineering and operation. Rob Lee and his team have taken a long, hard look at fenced, metal, rebate planes and have sorted out all the problems that have, in the past, made them so cumbersome to use. The Veritas skew rebate is an absolute joy to use and I'll probably shed a tear or two when Martin asks for this one back  

Martin did not have the UK price available at the time of writing but I'll update this post with details as soon as I know them.

Cheers :wink: 

Paul


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## Evergreen (11 Sep 2008)

Paul

Fame at last!

Excellent review and _outstanding _pictures. It's got that chunky, well made look of Veritas stuff and it's impressive how they always seem to come up with design improvements.


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## andyavast (11 Sep 2008)

That plane looks like a seriously well executed piece of kit. From the pictures it looks like is functions wonderfully as well. Thanks for the review Paul, it has (unfortunately?) added another bit of gear to my 'to buy' list.



andy


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## jonbikebod (11 Sep 2008)

Excellent review Paul. 
High time this workhorse plane got the ‘quality’ treatment.
Jon.


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## shim20 (11 Sep 2008)

8) wo like this alot whens it out in the uk?


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## Smudger (11 Sep 2008)

Nice review, Paul.
Can you compare it directly to an 078/778?


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## Pete W (11 Sep 2008)

Good stuff, Paul. As others have said, you've sold me on this one - I think it'll be at the top of my letter to Santa this year.

Hard to tell from the pix - can you tell us how wide a rebate it will cut? Looks to be much wider than the standard 78-style plane.


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## Paul Chapman (11 Sep 2008)

Hi Dick,

In my view the Stanley #078 and Record #778 don't really compare. The Veritas is a precision instrument with which you can do fine cabinet making. The Record and Stanley, on the other hand, are a bit agricultural. I've had my #778 since 1971 and hardly ever use it. In the review I deliberately did those two shallow rebates and made them line up perfectly - I would have struggled to do that with the #778.

Hi Pete, 

The maximum width of cut is 1 1/2" when using the full width of the blade.

I'm not sure when they will be generally available in the UK. Perhaps Martin Brown or Rob Lee will be along some time and let us know.

Cheers :wink: 

Paul


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## tnimble (11 Sep 2008)

Thanks Paul, excellent review!

This / these have already been on 'the list' for a while, they just shifted up a couples of places.

Now for the big question, left / right / both.

(still need to get the left edge plane to acompany the stainless steel, already run in a couple of grain direction problems with that one)


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## Mr Ed (11 Sep 2008)

Paul

I'm repeating what others have said, but great pictures and informative review.
It really has got me thinking about buying one when they come out, not that I need any more planes of course...

Ed


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## Paul Chapman (11 Sep 2008)

tnimble":3mcpvjk0 said:


> Now for the big question, left / right / both.



Hi Laura,

As you say, the plane is available in right-hand and left-hand versions. This is great because, at last, left-handers can buy a fenced rebate plane that they will feel comfortable with.

Others will buy both so that they can cope with different grain directions. I will have enough trouble getting one past the wife 8-[ 8-[ so will be making do with a right-hand version when I buy one. In fact, I think in the majority of situations with a *very* sharp, finely set blade and careful selection of timber, one version would cope with most situations. The piece of wood I used in the review was subject to tearing out easily, but the Veritas planed it perfectly across the grain - it really does perform well.

Cheers :wink: 

Paul


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## Pete W (11 Sep 2008)

Paul Chapman":1ck72dnb said:


> The maximum width of cut is 1 1/2" when using the full width of the blade.



My, that's a big one!

Not just a rebate plane, but a panel-raising plane, and a tenoning plane. We'd be fools not to buy one


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## tnimble (11 Sep 2008)

Paul Chapman":1fn1x518 said:


> tnimble":1fn1x518 said:
> 
> 
> > Now for the big question, left / right / both.
> ...


Cross grain poses no real tear out problems with a good scharp skew. It the along the grain part that poses the real problems, not of a bit of tear out, but of the blade digging in. (The lower the blade angle seems to be the more likely it becomes)

When having only one of this plane (or the edge plane) will force you to plane against the grain at times. For instance when raising a panel with this one or for planing a rebate on a box bottom or lid). When having to plane rebates for some door to receive a glass panel, the wood can be selected to have all planing with the grain.

The same goes for the edge plane. Having to square up both edges on a board poses the dig in problem. When you have only one you can't plane both sides from the reference face. Again gross grain / end grain poses no problems.


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## MarcW (11 Sep 2008)

Paul,

Fantastic pictures, nice review and I sustain every word you wrote. =D> 

I'm delighted too 8)


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## Paul Chapman (12 Sep 2008)

MarcW":3ahyj18w said:


> Paul,
> 
> Fantastic pictures, nice review and I sustain every word you wrote. =D>
> 
> I'm delighted too 8)



Thanks, Marc. I noticed from your blog that you have just bought one 8) 

Cheers :wink: 

Paul


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## bugbear (12 Sep 2008)

Paul Chapman":33ygkrdi said:


> . I've had my #778 since 1971 and hardly ever use it. In the review I deliberately did those two shallow rebates and made them line up perfectly - I would have struggled to do that with the #778.



Going 90 degrees cross grain with a straight blade leaves an awful surface, even with sharp blades and fine cut.

BugBear


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## Escudo (24 Sep 2008)

Thanks for that informative review Paul.

I would like to have a play with one of those planes, they certainly look very good.

Cheers, Tony.


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## custard (25 Sep 2008)

I looked on the Brimarc website but can't find these listed. Do you know if they're available anywhere in the UK yet?


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## custard (8 Oct 2008)

I couldn't find these in the UK so took advantage of the Veritas intro offer on their Canadian web site and ordered direct, parcel arrived this morning. 

It'll be a real pleasure to produce the occasional rebate without a screaming router or the cross-grain tear out of a 778.


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## Paul Chapman (8 Oct 2008)

Let's know what you think of the plane, Custard.

Cheers :wink: 

Paul


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## custard (11 Oct 2008)

I've now had a chance to use the two planes, both the right-hand and left-hand versions. There's not much to add to Paul's excellent review but I'd make a few points.

1. The finish that Veritas achieve is absolutely stunning. I received a Lie Nielsen small shoulder plane recently, so was sharpening the new blade from that alongside the new blades from the Veritas skew rebate planes. It was noticeable that the Veritas blades were far more smoothly lapped with the non-bevel side perfectly flat. The Lie Nielsen blade took about thirty or forty minutes work to get to the same condition.

2. Staying with the finish quality, the edges of the Veritas skew rebate plane depth stop are actually bevelled to prevent any chance of digging into the work. What lovely attention to detail! However, there was still some small machining marks on the bottom of the depth stop, to make absolutely sure the work piece is protected I took about five minutes to polish these out.

3. Besides general quality and finish these Veritas skew planes have two distinct advantages over the 778 that I previously used. Firstly, as Paul pointed out, the skewed blade does a far superior job of cross-grain work. But secondly is the fact that they come in a handed pair, which means you can work a rebate right around a work piece without tear out. And it's here that the beautifully engineered cross-grain spur really comes into its own. I used this as the reference datum to ensure both planes were identically set, and measuring the completed rebate afterwards with a measuring caliper, I found it's possible to make the depth of the rebates match to within .001".

4. I've had mixed views on the Veritas grub screw system for aligning plane blades. When I was looking for a low angle jack plane I weighed up both the Veritas and Lie Nielsen versions, but didn't think the grub screws offered a real advantage for the way I work. However, on these skew planes, I really can see a benefit. One of the problems of skewed blades is the exactitude that they require in both honing and then in fitting back into the plane chassis. With a bench plane I normally grind the blade to a curve, so I'm often tinkering with the setting after every sharpening and personally I prefer the flexibility of the traditional system. But with the skew plane I just want absolute repeatability, and that's exactly what the grub screw system delivers.

5. One disappointment was the throat opening, at nearly 2mm I thought this was excessive. You'll usually want to remove stock reasonably quicklywith any rebate plane, so obviously the fixed throat will have to be biased towards a wider opening. But there will be times when you'll want a very fine finishing cut, especially if you're just using one plane to go right around a board, when you'll be working against the grain on one side. Given that the design of the plane lends itself to very efficient chip clearance, with no potential choke points, I think the throat could be redesigned to be quite a bit narrower.

6. Paul mentioned that it's possible to grip both the fence and the chassis to provide both downwards and inwards pressure just ahead of the blade. On a wide board like the one Paul used this would also be my preferred grip. But on a work piece with a smaller cross section this won't be possible. It's then that the canted front handle shows the good design sense that's gone into this tool, giving a "sure footed" ride along the work piece with the rebate maintaining crisp, 90 degree angles.

7. I'll certainly fit a small wooden auxiliary fence. The outside of the pre-drilled fence holes are countersunk, so I'll tap the appropriate threaded holes into a lignum fence, 5/16" or 3/8" 2BA brass screws will match the plane's brass hardware neatly. I want a fence that protrudes by 1/2" at the front, because when using the plane and looking down from the top it's difficult to see the location of the plane's fence, so this arrangement will make the tool that fraction easier to use.

All in all I'm very pleased with this pair of tools. For short runs of rebating it'll be a pleasure not to have to set up the router and its attendant jigs and dust extraction. However, I won't be putting my 778 on Ebay. As well as furniture making I'm also involved in boat building, and the 778 is just a more appropriate tool for throwing in a work bag and using outside in the damp salt wind. One of my rules for boat building is never use tools that are prettier than the boat!


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## whybob71 (12 Oct 2008)

Excellent review Paul!
I had the chance to use both the versions of these fantastic planes. I totally agree with custard regarding the two grub screws, that in these planes are really useful, especially when you need to set the blade and align it to the side of the plane (forget the paper trick). The front knob seems at first useless, unless you try to pull the left-hand version of the plane! I really suggest to add a small wooden auxiliary fence, no thicker than 10 mm, which help to drive the plane.

you may want to take a look to this looong review (I'm sorry it's in italian, but we are working to translate it in english)

http://www.arcadilegno.it/contenuti.php?post_id=24993 (part I)
http://www.arcadilegno.it/contenuti.php?post_id=24994 (part II)
http://www.arcadilegno.it/contenuti.php?post_id=26762 (part III)


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## Paul Chapman (12 Oct 2008)

Thanks whybob :wink: 

Thanks for posting those links to your review - fabulous pictures and illustrations.

Cheers :wink: 

Paul


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## Rob Lee (12 Oct 2008)

Hi - 

Thanks for the kind comments - both our designers and our machine shop staff have done a great job on the skews. It's literally taken a few years to prove out some of the concepts realised here. For example, the small plow was a test of the fence system for the skews..

We did discuss an adjustable throat for the skew rebates, but decided against it. We felt it would significantly raise the cost plane, and would add too much complexity for not so much benefit. While it is a fine plane - we did not feel it was so much a "finesse" plane. It is certainly capable of taking 1/2 thou shavings, that's not it's primary function - it has to be a solid worker first and foremost.

The "good" news is - our skew block planes (RH and LH!) will have an adjustable throat... no promise date on those though... they're still in design.

I would also encourage you to have a look at the Italian website - it's extremely well done... !

Cheers - 

Rob


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## edoardo (13 Oct 2008)

Hi at all.
Thank you very much for your kind opinions on our site and our reviews.

Hi Rob, really a interesting news for the adjustable throat on the two planes.

Cheers !


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## Paul Chapman (13 Oct 2008)

Hi Edo and welcome.

I think your reviews are great 8) 

Cheers :wink: 

Paul


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## EdK (27 Oct 2009)

I had to buy five quids worth of glue... and ended up with this plane in the basket too... how does that happen ?! 

Anyway, I was thinking about raised panels and this is probably a silly question but how do you create the flat areas. I understand that you can create the angled/sloped profile with an appropriate section of wood on the fence but how do then create the two 90 degree parts that transition back to the flat... guess a picture would help. 
I think this is a question of doing things in the right order...







i.e the 3rd one down on the left.

Thanks, 
Ed


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