Tool of the Month November 2017

Welcome to November’s Tool of the Month blog post, this month it’s a quick look at the rebate block plane!

Low angle rebate block plane being used to skim an oak tenon

The rebate block plane is a combination of block plane and shoulder plane. It is basically a regular low angle block plane with a fixed mouth and open sides allowing for a wider blade that extends the full width of the body, just like a shoulder plane (see December 2016’s blog post).

This is a very handy tool for cleaning up raised and fielded panels and large tenons as the width of the tool makes skimming wide surfaces quick and easy.

For working across the grain this particular model has two little cutting discs called ‘nickers’ recessed into the sides of the plane, these can be set to score the surface before the blade cuts which helps prevent splintering!

Low angle rebate block plane with an raised and fielded panel.

Low angle rebate block plane alongside a normal low angle block plane.

My plane was made by Lie Nielsen in the USA, other similar planes are available from Veritas and Quangsheng.

One thing that you have to be mindful of with these planes is that due to the open sides the tool can flex if the blade is tightened down to much, so careful setting is a must for accurate work!

Thats all for November, look out for December’s Tool of the Month post!