does anyone use a dado plane?

Re: does anyone use a dado plane?

Derek Cohen (in Perth, Australia)

>"I searched the hand tools archive and couldn't find much".

Tim

Do a search on "Stanley #46".

Regards from Perth

Derek

Re: does anyone use a dado plane?

paul womack

>The "fence" for a dado plane is just a clamped batten. There is no "built in" fence of the type that rebate and plough planes have.

BugBear

Yes

David Miller from Iowa

>but you have to have the right plane. A Stanley 46 will work if it is set up right and has properly sharpened nickers, but it can be cumbersome when trying to use against a batten.

I looked for quite some time until I found a 3/4" woody that works great - you do need one with the nickers, though.

A Stanley #39 is also a great plane.

Re: does anyone use a dado plane?

Tim of San Leandro

>Yup. I know THAT ;- ).

Re: does anyone use a dado plane?

Tim of San Leandro

>Darn Stanley numbering system..... :- (.

Why can't they just call a dado plane a dado plane? #46 doesn't tell me much.....hahahahahaha

You can tell I don't collect nor use antique planes ;- ).

Tim

Re: Yes

Tim of San Leandro

>David,

Yeah, I'm looking at Knight's dado plane(s). I've been extremely happy with his bench planes...small, smoothers, jacks and jointers so I figure I'd give some of this specialty planes a go. They have nickers to define the sides of the dado.

Tim

Re: does anyone use a dado plane?

Dan Moening in Sacramento

>A neighbor gave me a Stanley #39 3/4 this summer. Not a real early type, but fairly clean and complete. After a minor cleaning I just had to see how it worked...

The nickers (one on each side) were not sharp, and probably set too deep. The blade (skew) didn't appear to have been ground/sharpened from the original factory...

I set a 6" wide Oak board on my bench, clamped a 1x2 board across the grain as a fence and began. Pushing this plane took a bit more effort that I expected, light passes at first to allow the nickers to clear their path. I experienced a bit of tearout on the backside (easily remedied with backing board)...

General usage comments:

The blade is fairly easy to set for depth...even at a skew. It "plows" an exact 3/4" dado to the depth you set. Tracking against a 1" high fence was easy enough.

I feel its a good tool but limited by its width.

Dan.

Re: does anyone use a dado plane?

L. Hanson - N. Idaho

>Tim -

Just for clarity...

Dado planes are often a bit different than grooving or rabbeting planes in that the iron is best imbedded at a skewed angle to work better going across the grain, and there is a pair of nickers or an iron at the front that slices the wood in front of the cutter to prevent tear out. The old wooden ones usually have a depth stop also. I've found they work great. The "traditional" method you refer to using a saw, chisels, and a router plane is used more often for stopped dados - where a dado simply plane won't work.

Leif

www.norsewoodsmith.com

Here's a shot of a standard old wooden dado plane, using a board as a fence. The front wedge is holding an iron shaped so it works the same as a pair of nickers would, and the skewed iron behind does the majority of the work:

Re: does anyone use a dado plane?

Dan Donaldson

>That is a neat way to make nickers. Maybe it is common, but it is the first time I have seen that method. (of course the fact that I haven't seen it does not mean much ;-))

Re: Yes

Jack Guzman from Maine

>If you do get one of Steve's dado planes please post a review. I'd like to know how well they work.---Jack

Re: does anyone use a dado plane?

Darrell in Oakville

>Tim,

I have 4 of those planes, ranging from 1/4 to 7/8 inch width. Once you tune them up they're really nice for cutting dados. I got a couple from Tony Murland and the others at auctions or tool sales.

The most usual problem with old dado planes is that the body has shrunk over the years. The irons have to be a bit wider than the stock anyways, so that isn't generally a problem. I found that the shrinkage makes the depth stop jam solid in the plane body. And if the stop isn't fully retracted you're kind of limited to the depth of dado you can cut. So I ended up pulling the depth stops on three of my planes and paring their mortices to provide some clearance, then reinstalling the stops.

Aside:

One of the most interesting ways to use these is for shelves. You cut a dado narrower than your shelf stock, and then use a sash fillister to cut a rebate on the ends of the shelves. The sash plane *leaves* a specific amount of wood, and I found that it does work on end grain, but setting the iron is tricky.

Darrell

Wood Hoarder, Blade Sharpener, and Occasional Tool User

Dado question

Adam Cherubini, NJ

>Does anybody else start their dado by running the plane backwards a few times?

Any other dado tricks?

Adam

Re: Dado question

deanj

>I do Adam. I figured it gave the knickers a chance to score the fibers...

-Dean

Yes...

Scott Burr in Ben Lomond CA

>I do too. I also cut them backwards so to speak. start at the far side of the board and plane back to myself. This way it doesn't blow out the ends of the board.

Re: Dado question

Alan Hamilton

>Adam,

Yup. Me too--even though I make dadoes with a lowly combination plane.

With all of my specialty planes, I begin at the far end and work back towards me. Doing it that way makes it easy and natural to run the plane "backwards" and score the shoulder(s) of whatever profile I'm making.

Alan

Re: Dado question-OT

Adam Cherubini, NJ

>Only trouble with running the plane backwards is it takes so long to wear through the wood that way! :)

Adam