Virtues of shoulder plane for panel bevels
Bill Tindall, E. TN
>Relatively recently I became acquainted with a shoulder plane (the egonomically disasterous LN large version) and the result has been well fitted M&t's ever since. I think back to how I struggled to get good fits mowing off 1/1000" (ha, never did that well which is why they never fit perfect!) increments for tennons with the table saw. A clear case of hand tools winning the performanc and efficiencey battle.
Yesterday I was making panels for a frame and panel door and thought I would eschew the router bit approach that had served me in the past. (I did saw them on table saw. Not a total purist, at least yet) Discovery 1. the shop was not covered with dust from the router shavings. 2. That same shoulder plane cleaned up the panel bevels on a door in less than a minute, including the dreaded end grain. I have sanded for 30 minutes on these things in the past. Again shavings, no dust, and a clear time winner for hand tools.
I know there are specialized planes for this task but I have neither the $$ nor inclination to own a stable of single purpose occsaionally used tools. My point is that the versitile shoulder plane is good for shoulders ( a task I rarely use it for), tennons, and now to my delight panel bevels. I wish I had discovered this tool earlier in life, but thanks to the Forum I did eventually discover it.