Favorite Tool So Far This Year: Router Plane

[Jim Foster]

Around ten years ago I picked up an old router plane for $3.00 at a flea market, not really knowing what it was for, if it was any good, and thinking it would make me look more like a woodworker having one around. Well, I saw a blurb recently on using this tool to clean up tenons and such and tried it, and what a wonderful tool its proven to be. I'm using it for tenons and mortising in hinges. Can't imagine life without it. On top of that it's much more quiet and far less stressful than trying to use an electric router for these tasks. Probably my only tool gloat, just $3.00. The reason I remember the $3.00, is it's written in marker on the base, but it's finally starting to rub off from use.

[George Bokros]

My uncle was a carpenter and he used them all the time for the hinge and striker mortises. Wish I had one.

George

[Sam Murdoch]

I paid more than that for mine but will agree that it is a very useful tool that is most often a pleasure to use. Used mine just yesterday and was thinking good things about it :).

[Chris Griggs]

Yay! Another who loves the router plane as much as I do. It is remains one of my favorite if not my favorite tool in the shop. The best $3.00 you'll ever spend.

[Tony Zaffuto]

It's one of those tools that you don't know how much you need it until you've used one once! My small & large are used all the time.

[Andrew Gibson]

Wait till you try it for inlay work... I will admit that I will use my trim router to do much of the work but to get right to the knife line there is nothing better then the router plane...

[David Paulsen]

I agree with Andrew, it is great for making inlay work (as well as so much more). I have been working on a very delicate inlay (a narrow motive) and used some allen wrenches and filed and sanded them down to the sizes i needed. Worked beautifully!

Would also like to make a specific tenon router where one arm extends further onto the piece, so to have more surface control. Would be an easy and fun project I guess...

[Derek Cohen]

My uncle was a carpenter and he used them all the time for the hinge and striker mortises. Wish I had one.

George

George, you can always make your own ..

Building an OWT: http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ShopMadeTools/OldWoman%27sTooth.html

Improving the OWT: http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ShopMadeTools/UpgradingTheOWT.html

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Planes/Router%20planes/OWT/8_zpsbbc2997b.jpg

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Paul Saffold]

Harry Strasil has a short video using this router plane but I haven't been able to find it. Perhaps others will have better luck finding it.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?36807-Tenon-Router

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

Harry Strasil has a short video using this router plane but I haven't been able to find it. Perhaps others will have better luck finding it.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?36807-Tenon-Router

this is the thread with links to videos -

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?122794-Tenon-Router-Video

Unfortunately, they're linked to a photobucket account that now needs a password.

[Roy Griggs]

David,
Try a piece of 1/4" plywood screwed to the bottom of your router, that's why the Stanley's and Millers' have screw holes in the base!

[David Paulsen]

Roy, The other day I was using my Stanley #71, actually considering in passing what those holes were for. Now you tell me and I feel like a dufus... Which is okay, not the first time. So simple, thank you for that.
But I wonder, if I were to screw the ply on and off, for when I needed it on a tenon, wouldn't it then become to loose in the screw holes (on the ply)? Then having to make a new plywood base every now and again? Maybe it is better to make a specific tenon router once and for all!?!?

[David Barnett]

Maybe it is better to make a specific tenon router once and for all!?!?

I tapped my acrylic auxiliary base for machine screws fifteen years ago. Still works.

[David Paulsen]

I tapped my acrylic auxiliary base for machine screws fifteen years ago. Still works.

Hey David, yeah that is a pretty wholesome idea!!! Not sure how I feel though, about attaching acrylic to such a beautiful tool. But for using it every now and again, it would work a charm.
My thought had also been to make an inserted thread in a solid wood base and then some bolts...

[David Barnett]

Hey David, yeah that is a pretty wholesome idea!!! Not sure how I feel though, about attaching acrylic to such a beautiful tool. But for using it every now and again, it would work a charm.
My thought had also been to make an inserted thread in a solid wood base and then some bolts...

The acrylic coupled to the older #71 suits my aesthetic, but more so, you can't see through wood—a generous acrylic plate makes the #71 truly superb for grounding bas relief carving and lettering on signs. I've even made v-cutters for incising, gouge-shaped and toothed cutters for texturing and right & left-hand cutters for edging.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

Would love any info on those cutters, David - I'm intrigued!

I need to make a new sub base for my LV router - whatever I sheet goods at hand I used last time had too much flex to be useful, and unwittingly my screws start to poke through and leave scratches all over my work!

[David Paulsen]

David, see through acrylic, yeah thats good. I will give that a try! Would you recommend a thickness for the acrylic plate?
And, I second Joshua... It would be lovely to hear more about those cutters!

[David Barnett]

Would love any info on those cutters, David - I'm intrigued!

Sorry to be slow in replying, but had hoped to get out to the woodshop to take pictures of the cutters but that may not be possible for a few days. Pictures of both cutters and the effects they leave are what is really needed, but here's a description that I hope makes at least some sense.

The cutters were of three basic types:

• one-piece straight cutters with toothing and gouging ends (not hollowed),
• one-piece L-shaped cutters forged from ½" cold-drawn 'square drill rod' (W1), and
• two-piece cutters with screws similar to the Stanley V-shaped cutter.

The one-piece straight gouging cutters resembled vertically-held lathe tool bits, with low-sweep cambered ends to scrape shallow rounded channels. These worked surprisingly well with slight rocking-scooping motions and left grounding marks that suggested spoon gouge marks. They were also easy to hone. The toothing cutters were not rocked and left a surface much like small, coarse stone-carving tooth chisels—great for cross-hatching.

I also used a straight V-cutting tool—not like the Stanley V-cutter which leaves a smoothed surface—but leaving a V-channel, very useful for laying out and defining outlines of letters.

The one-piece L-shaped cutters acted as you might expect, but I used a steep geometry to scrape rather than slice. Left and right cutters allowed me to neaten transitions from raised letters to background in a crisp manner where appropriate, such as prepping letters for gilding. I also used an undercutting bit on occasion.

The two-piece cutters, fastened with countersunk machine screws, allowed me to use right and left skews without having to walk around or turn the work which could at times be awkward due to the large scale of some carved signs.

While one could accomplish this with the V-cutter canted nearly sideways, the skews left a cleaner background and allowed for a more direct pulling action, which better suited me.

I had also meant to measure cutting and clearance angles but that will have to wait, as well. At any rate, I hope this gives some idea. None of these cutters are all that challenging to make, but the L-shapes do require at least a micro-forge or torch equal to the task—I prefer oxy-propane—and something to beat on. I use this:

http://home.comcast.net/~d.j.barnett/Trenton200lb.jpg

By the way, if you don't need to see through it, aluminum plate makes great #71 auxiliary bases and is cheap on eBay. 6061 is fine, and just about anything from ¼" and up should work. Bevel or round the lower edges to avoid marring work.

[David Barnett]

David, see through acrylic, yeah thats good. I will give that a try! Would you recommend a thickness for the acrylic plate?
And, I second Joshua... It would be lovely to hear more about those cutters!

David, sorry to be slow in replying.

I have used ¼" but feel that somewhat thicker is better. I think mine is actually 8mm to 10mm (.31" to .39") but can't make it out to shop to measure. Bevel or round the lower edges to avoid marring work and when it scratches or scuffs, use very fine automotive wet/dry then maybe some Micro Mesh or buffing compound to bring it back to clarity.

I explained a little more about the cutters in my reply to Joshua Pierce so check that one—sorry, no pictures yet.