Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Rabbits, white oak and a #78
Ernie Miller Topeka
>Man o man is it suposed to be this much work to cut rabbits with a 78 in white oak? I need a total of about 30' and only got 6' done in about an hour and a half last night. had to sharpen the blade twice and on one peice got some nasty tear out but was able to clean it up with some finer strokes. is there some tips I'm missing?
Humm...
Scott Burr in Ben Lomond CA
>I wouldn't think it would that hard. You trying to take off to much at a time (i.e. depth stop set too high per pass, too much blade out or both)? We are talkin rabbits here not dados right? Scott, who no longer uses a 78.
Re: white vs. red
Mitchell
>I think you have discovered, albeit indirectly, that white oak is a bear to work. It's handtool workability ought to be limited to barrels and boats.
I suggest that you try marking off both edges of the rabbet and plane down the corner off roughly with a bench planeand then use the #78 to square the remainder of the shoulder.
also pick up a piece of red oak and test the difference for yourself
Wrong plane
Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA
>Cutting rabbits in white oak or any other wood can't be done well with a No. 78 -- you need a furring plane.
On the other hand, if what you want to cut is rabbets, I concur with fellow islanders -- white oak is a darned difficult wood, perhaps part of the reason that the "Age of Oak" began AFTER power tools (even if powered by steam) came in.
Peaked my curiosity
Wendell @ Murphy, TX
>"Scott, who no longer uses a 78. "
Ok Scott, you got me curious. What do ou use to cut rabbets?
Wendell
Re: Wrong plane
Ernie Miller Topeka
>What is a furring plane? I managed to finish up about 1/3 of the rabbits last night I have one box ready to assimble so I am feeling better. I stopped and cut some glides for the drawers. much easier and will make a drawer tonight for a break befor going at it again. I need to make a 4' long drawer that slides in from the end of the bench befor I go much further to hold my level collection. It will fit between the bottom rails under the regular boxes that fit on the rails. I took some pictures last night might try and post them tonight.
Me too!
Bill Ward
>Ernie, I had similar experience with maple using a #78. I was working a 6 ft long piece to make some fancy moulding. I needed to decrease the thickness from 3/4" to something like 3/8" (this is an (window) undersill piece). I attacked with a freshly sharpen #78. Took some playing around to get depth adjusted right. I could get a nice fine shaving, but I was going for major wood removal here, so opted for some more depth. Pooped me out in a hurry and ended up taking a couple of nights.
Because of the final moulding surface profile, I actually switched to my L-N 40 1/2 to hog it down a bit. I then did final square up with the #78.
Couple of observations: the lever adjuster on newer #78's isn't that easy to use for fine depth adjustment. I kept going from light to heavy cut with barely any lever movement. I also have an early #78 without the adjuster. It was actually easier to tweak to the desired depth. Bugbear would be telling us to use a screw-adjusted Record #778 anyway. (Got my eye open for one of those)
Even with the #78's fence, I had to work hard not to bevel the rabbet. I had to correct the unwanted bevel several times. I cheated and cocked the cutter a bit to do this - sort of like a lateral adjuster does on a bench plane.
I also thought the #78 was a bit small to do really long work. I wonder if a #10 1/2 with a cleat acting as guide would be better for long rabbets??
Re: Rabbits, white oak and a #78
Roger Nixon
>Ernie, I know you have some woody rabbet planes with skewed blades. Fire up one of those and hog out most of the rabbet. Finish up with the #78.
I haven't tried Adam C's way yet but it sounds good. Use your #45 with your smallest plow blade and cut the shoulder line to the right depth. Hog out most of the waste with a chisel and finish up with the #78 and a fine cut.
Re: Rabbits, white oak and a #78
Ernie Miller Topeka
>How do you set a fence on one of them things? I need a real knuckle drager to teach me this stuff
Re: Rabbits, white oak and a #78
Roger Nixon
>Knuckle dragging IS the fence on the woody rabbet planes. Well, fingertips, anyway. Hold the body of the plane just shy of the finished shoulder line. Since you are a righty, hold the front of the plane with your left thumb on top and your fingers underneath with your fingertips touching the edge of the board. Let your fingers be the fence until you get the rabbet cut down about 1/8" then wale away.
Beep! Beep!
Scott Burr in Ben Lomond CA
>Generaly a Stanley 289 or 46. Also a Record 778.
Why Ernie...
Scott Burr in Ben Lomond CA
>You don't own a Stanley No. 340 furring plane. Go now to the blood & gore web site, go now.
Scott beat me to it *LINK*
Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA
>Go to the link below and scroll down.
My reference is to "rabbits," as in "wascally wabbits," as opposed to "rabbets," as in "step cut in the edge of a board."
http://www.supertool.com/StanleyBG/stan14.htm
Re: Beep! Beep!
Wendell @ Murphy, TX
>Scott,
You are evil :) I was perfectly happy looking for a Record #778 to make rabbets. Now I am convinced I need a Stanley #289. Thanks alot.
Do you have a complete set of blades for your #46? I have a #46 with 8 of the 12 blades (beep beep). I've been looking at the replacement blades offered by St. James Bay. Do you know anything about them? Also, do I really need a #289 if I have #46? I am talking strictly from a use stand point. From tool collecting/buying stand point, I obiviously need one :)
Wendell
Evil? Me...
Scott Burr in Ben Lomond CA
>Well maybe a little bit ;) Hate to say it, but I have 1 complete 46 and another thats missing 1 or 2 cutters.
I have heard good things about the SJB replacement blades.
With a 46 a 289 is not needed (I can't believe I'm saying this:). I had the 289 before I got my 46. I like the 46 better because of the dual fence rods (like the 778), although you need to be a little careful because the skew of the blade makes the plane wander at times if your not carefull.
Re: Evil? Me...
Wendell @ Murphy, TX
>Thanks for the honest opinion. I think I'll save my pennies to buy the replacement blades for the #46. I'll put the #289 on the nice to have, buy it if it is a REALLY good deal list.
Wendell
Re: Evil? Me...
Ted Shuck
>I would have thought that the 289 would offer a significant advantage over the 46, since it has some semblance of a mouth. I have had problems with tearout with my 46 in hardwoods when the grain gets gnarly.
I have a 46 which didn't have any blades when I bought it. I bought the SJB set and I've been very happy with them. They are shaped correctly with bevels on the sides and needed only slight adjustments to the cutting bevel. The steel seems quite good and they hold an edge well.
Ted
Re: #46 and tearout
Jeremy Osner
>I have used my 46 mainly to cut 1/4" wide grooves -- the trouble with this is you are guaranteed to get tearout on the inside face of the groove because you can't use the scoring cutter at that width.