Fence on a wooden fillister/rabbet plane

[MarcW]

Hello all,

You know this, you buy a new plane, sharpen the blade and ... oh god, it does not do what you want it to. That said, my new Ulmia rabbet plane didn't perform square rabbets, they were always a little bit off and I had to work the rabbets with shoulder plane and chisel.

But thanks to Jake, who is known for his fine fences on #45s, #55s and so on, I came to this:

A wooden oak fence a little bit wider and stronger. The original fence being only a width guage, same as the depth guage on the first pic, it was quite impossible to take even and straight strokes without wobbling. I screwed together and installed this fence yesterday evening. Everything works fine now, no shaving sticking in the fence. There's absolutely no spot for chips or shavings to hide in :lol: In the next pic you can see the plane in action, the left hand pushes the fence against the work... Well here the left hand was on the camera #-o

The result is here:

I like those square rabbets. It shows once again that tools often aren't just more than a kit of parts to put together and to work.

Thanks for looking and Jake, thanks for sharing your inspiring ideas,

Marc

 

[Alf]

Nice job. Must admit Jake's got me thinking an awful lot about the fences on my planes (sad case, ain't I?) My user-made moving fillister would really benefit from such an improvement... :-k

Cheers, Alf

 

[JesseM]

I too have installed larger fences on a lot of my planes cause of Jake. And they all work better as a result. =D>

 

[Paul Chapman]

You're right, Marc, Jake is really inspirational in the way he analyses problems and develops practical solutions. Pleased to see you got your plane sorted :wink:

Cheers

Paul

 

[Frank D.]

Same here,
Got a bigger fence on my 78 last week. Your post has given me some ideas too, Marc.
Merci to both of you!

 

[bugbear]

Just a warning; a misplaced nicker, or misaligigned blade in a fillister will always give sloping rebates, regardless of the fence.

Plane fault diagnosis is such an interesting field...

BugBear

 

[whybob71]

Hi all
where can I find Jake fences for 45s?
thanks
Bob

 

[bugbear]

Hi all
where can I find Jake fences for 45s?
thanks
Bob

Your scrap bin?

BugBear

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

That's a great improvement over the original, Marc. Thanks. I think I will make up one for my ECE as well (and a thanks to Jake for inspiring your inspiration).

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[JesseM]

Hi all
where can I find Jake fences for 45s?
thanks
Bob

I used some scrap bamboo flooring for mine. Its flat, stable, and its got a got a slick finish on it which makes it slide easier.

 

[whybob71]

I suppose you are talking about replacing the existing original rosewood fence from the 45 left fence. I all ready replaced mine with a bigger oak one.

 

[JesseM]

I suppose you are talking about replacing the existing original rosewood fence from the 45 left fence. I all ready replaced mine with a bigger oak one.

Yes. I made mine both longer and wider and it has improved the lateral stability, and made it a lot easier to use.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for looking and Jake, thanks for sharing your inspiring ideas,

Marc

My pleasure Marc and everyone else..... thrilled that some have found some use for my musings.

Gets a bit lonely here in Kyogle for a serious handtooler uno.(sniff :wink: ).. in fact I think I'm the only one.... so, its good I'm able to talk others instead of myself. (Heard, Alf has the same problem too :lol: :wink: )

Great job on the fence. Nice feeling when you get a plane working well consistantly.

I think Bugbears right though on the blade alignment. Probably a good idea for one to get into the habit of making test cuts, and to make those final slight corrections by making light taps to the top of the blade with a hammer till its cutting square.

Important to remember I think that the whole idea of a wider face to your fence only works when its running along the wide side of your timber like you've got going there. Its the only time I think, one can rely on the depth stop working adequately.

Else, if your working across a thin face, your really going to have rely on scribing marks at both ends of your timber with a marking guage and plane to that.

I think its actually the depth stop as it begins to rub thats causing the biggest problem....causes the fence side of the blade to sag taking the cut out of square.

I think most rebate planes are prone to this depth stop problem, so its best I think to orientate the cut with that wide fence off a wide portion of the board like you've done Marc, if possible.

Anycase, I think its great what you've done there. Neater looking than my beatup planes. all the best. If you change your mind on those moulding planes...oh, never mind. :wink:

 

[bugbear]

I think Bugbears right though on the blade alignment. Probably a good idea for one to get into the habit of making test cuts, and to make those final slight corrections by making light taps to the top of the blade with a hammer till its cutting square.

The "nasty" is if the blade is right up to the body. If this is the case, the blade will cut (say...) 1/64" inch inside the body. On each stroke.

Now, since the body bears up against the rebate (as the cut proceeds down) the rebate just get narrower and narrower, one stroke (and 1/64") at a time.

This is related to the reason that shoulder plane blade are just a tad wider than the body.

BugBear

 

[Anonymous]

This is related to the reason that shoulder plane blade are just a tad wider than the body.

BugBear

agree entirely.....I wouldn't even make it a tad, since its fence guided. I'd make it obviously protruding to ensure it cuts properly. No need for it to be subtle. (different if there was no fence of course)

And flare the corner as well is important. ie. the very corner protudes more than the rest of the blade further up. or risk rub off problems again.

 

[MarcW]

Just a warning; a misplaced nicker, or misaligigned blade in a fillister will always give sloping rebates, regardless of the fence.

Plane fault diagnosis is such an interesting field...

BugBear

Hi BugBear and Jake,

That's right and I entirely agree. I'm just wondering why you wrote that. Hm?... Is it because of the lightly #-o burnt sidewall of the fillister. Then I may explain, this happened because I didn't wedge the iron very well. Indeed... sh... happens.

Gets a bit lonely here in Kyogle for a serious handtooler uno.(sniff ).. in fact I think I'm the only one.... so, its good I'm able to talk others instead of myself. (Heard, Alf has the same problem too )

Jake, here in Wormer, it is lonely too, well, we have citizens here but no known woodblokes or even neanders...

Well something new about the depth stop. German carpenters install it the wrong side, so the stop is wider. Something they told me here in a German Forum. I didn't try yet but will do on weekend. I hope planing under the scribed line will be history.

Regards, Marc

p.s.: If I ever fall on moulding planes, I will call you, sure.

 

[Anonymous]

Jake, here in Wormer, it is lonely too, well, we have citizens here but no known woodblokes or even neanders...

Well something new about the depth stop. German carpenters install it the wrong side, so the stop is wider. Something they told me here in a German Forum. I didn't try yet but will do on weekend. I hope planing under the scribed line will be history.

Regards, Marc

p.s.: If I ever fall on moulding planes, I will call you, sure.

Interested in what you mean by German carpenters installing it on the wrong side.....not sure what you mean though.

I'm only being cheeky with the moulding planes. Don't listen to me....I carry on a bit too much. :wink:

 

[MarcW]

Hey Jake,

Nasty this english I can't even say flip it over this way ](*,) , so here's a pic to show:

In contrast to this way:

The last pic shows how the plane comes outta the box, but most carpenters use it the way the fence is installed on the first pic. It leaves to say on almost any picture you see it in books or on the web is as on the second of my two pics. Hm, maybe it's a well guarded joiner's secret, hm ...was... :mrgreen:

Indeed the plane works better, so installed the wobbling of the plane on the vertical axis ends earlier when planing down to the scribed line.

Regards, Marc

 

[Anonymous]

...I see what you mean now.

I haven't had any experience with those kind of planes Marc.

But visualising it now....holding it..... I can see how it feel better with the depth stop out like that.......

might have something to do with a bit more visual feedback uno whilst pushing the plane....can see better how close the depth stop is off the deck.

or 'maybe' its just a hand comfort thing.....maybe with the depth stop sticking out like that, provides a rest for your ring and pinky fingers ???? just guessing.

It can be painful when those fingers get caught on the edge of the table eh. :shock: Happened to me once or twice. Maybe thats one of the reasons totes were invented.

I've always found it interesting how instinctively we know what 'feels' right, and yet don't know why exactly.

Thanks for the photos. Please keep them coming.

Jake.