Tool of the Month December 2016

Welcome to the final Tool of the Month blog post for 2016!

This is month it's a quick look at the shoulder plane!

The shoulder plane is designed to take light cuts on end grain and for paring across grain.

It is mainly used for cleaning and fine tuning tenons so they fit perfectly in the mortise.

The blade can be adjusted flush with either side of the plane's body, this allows the blade to trim right up to the edge of the workpiece. In the above image I am using the shoulder plane across the grain to clean the tenon face by removing the saw marks.

Here I am now using the plane on its side to very carefully pare the shoulder line back to the knife line. The low cutting angle allows me to really fine tune the shoulder without worrying about chatter and tearing out the grain.

The shoulder plane can also come in handy for other aspects of furniture making, for example it can be used to make moldings and small rebates.


That's all for December, and for 2016!

Happy New Year 🎊

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