Debugging a cheap wooden rabbet plane

[Federico Mena Quintero]

I got a cheap "guillaume" rabbet plane a while back, and it has never given me the love that I want to give it. It just never seems to cut well and smoothly, and it chatters a lot.

The plane has a 1/2" iron, but the mouth opening seems *huge*, more than 1/4" of clearance between the iron and the, uh, front of the mouth. Would that cause problems?

I think the iron seats soundly on the ramp, but I haven't checked with soot or anything like that.

Advice is appreciated, as always.

(Just glued my first shop-made marking knife yesterday! I'm so excited!)

[Bill Moser]

Hey, that's my name in French! You callin' me cheap? :) But seriously, not that I'm an expert, but chatter seems to me to be either a sharpness problem (relative to the wood you're planing) or a seating problem. I'm not sure the 1/4 inch mouth would contribute to the chatter, but certainly digging in and stopping the plane if you're planing long-grain

[Terry Beadle]

I too don't think the 1/4 inch mouth will cause the chattering.

It may be the wedge is defective or not seated properly. It may be the sharpening angle of the bevel is too shallow and you might try putting a 35 degree micro bevel on it and giving it a go. Sharpness is a big factor. Make sure it's as sharp as you can make it and set the blade for the thinnest shaving possible as a starting point. Rabbit planes do better with a skew bladed set up...is your's skewed?

The grain direction of the wood is also a contributor to chattering. Try changing the direction of the stroke to the opposite way. Remember that grain direction can change in some woods every few inches so study the side of the dado and mark grain direction with a pencil to remind you during the stroke what's going on with the wood.

Good luck and enjoy the shavings.

[Federico Mena Quintero]

Thanks, guys - I'll check the seating of the iron against the plane, and of the wedge as well. I'm sure the blade is sharp; I've sharpened it several times and it would work fine if it were a chisel.