inside corners

[Kevin McMichael]

I am a newbie. I made some end tables with an opening for a 12" ceramic tile. I made them about 1/16" too small overall. They are white oak. How should I enlarge them. I might use this opportunity(or excuse) to purchase a Lee Valley shoulder plane that should work when the nose is removed and used as a chisel plane? Will I risk too much tear-out? Should I try to do it with sandpaper?

[Jim Belair]

I have one of these little guys and would try it. (item B)

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=1&p=50232&cat=1,41182

A side rabbet would definitely do the job

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=1&p=60012&cat=1,41182,48945

[Steve Hamlin]

Since only 1/32" needs removing all around, I wonder if a slitting gauge (cutting gauge) might be effectively employed to define the new show edge and then just pare straight down with a broad chisel, perhaps releiving the cut on the waste side first to help avoid bruising the show edge.

[Zach England]

I have problems with my Stanley 90 digging into the work. Maybe it is just user error, but for this purpose I like my LN small chisel plane (97 1/2?) much better. It has a bigger sole that registers better to the surface. I think part of the problem with the bullnose plane is the high angle.

[Prashun Patel]

FWIW, I have one of those LV chisel planes. Don't waste yr money. For me, it nosedives too much to be useful for any rabbeting/dado work. It's really only 'useful' in corners, and to be honest, I find it easier to use a chisel even there.

[george wilson]

A chisel plane is ONLY good for maybe 2" at most,and if the blade is set too deep,it WILL nosedive. I used one I made for several years in cleaning out the ends of harpsichord keys,where their shanks end and become full width keys.

Don't condemn the chisel plane. Just experiment with blade depth settings,and remember that a maximum of 2" is all that can be expected from them. That 2" is enough to do the job.

My chisel plane had a 45 degree angle blade,and was made of boxwood. The blade was adjusted with only small hammer taps. I know a metal plane with screw adjustment would be capable of doing better work,but a lot of success is developing skill with these planes.

You'd better take off more than 1/32" all around,or your tiles will either pop or push the table apart when the weather gets drier, or the wood shrinks some more.

[David Gendron]

I like the idea of the cuting gauge, followed by paring with a chisel. but instead of the chisel, I would use the widest plane blade you have, like 2" or more. and I'm with Goerge, remove a little more than the 1/32 you need!

[Jim Koepke]

Side rabbet planes are made for this kind of work.

They can reach into the corners when set up for bull nose work and either use a chisel to clean up or remove the nose piece all together and use for the last 1/2 inch as a chisel plane.

144478

jim

[Zach England]

When we say "side rabbet" does this refer to the 98/99?

[Jim Koepke]

When we say "side rabbet" does this refer to the 98/99?

Yes and many others that serve the same function such as the Lee Valley product with a link in Jim Belair's post.

The new Lee Valley is at a price that is the same as you might be able to get a decent pair of old Stanley side rabbets if you are lucky and have a lot of patience. The Lie-Nielsen pair is a little more costly, but a pair of Stanleys might cost about the same with the aforementioned time, luck and patience.

My preference is for the pair of side rabbets over the one that does both functions. This does not make a pair better than a single tool for final function. It is just my preference. My preference is also to have depth stops. There are others who feel they are not needed. Same caveat.

jim

[Tom Henderson2]

Is it possible to cut the tile down to fit? It may be easier than making the hole larger, for all the reasons stated.

If you aren't set up for cutting the tile, perhaps a pro tile vendor can do it for you.

-TH

[James Taglienti]

If it was my table I'd scribe a line all the way around it and use a 2" chisel in the corners, then switch to a bullnose rabbet plane for the rest. If you are grouting the tile afterwards, Then no matter how good or bad the cut looks, you can use the same plane to cut a small chamfer all the way around and grout that, too. I find it easier to cut a nice chamfer than to make the inside of a recess perfectly square and true.

[Kevin McMichael]

Thanks for the replies. I ordered a veritis side rabbet planes. I was reluctant to order one, being unsure how much I would use it. However, I went ahead and pulled the trigger on one. I hope it will work on this and be useful later......it looks like a cool tool toy!