Rabbet Block Plane for Tenon Cheek?

[Tony Wilkins]

Just read an article in a past Fine Woodworker that I just bought about the best tools to clean up tenons. Good news for me is that they say that hand planes are THE tool. They say that a shoulder plane is the best tool for the shoulder. What surprised me is what they said was the best for the cheek of the tenon. They showed using a rabbeting block plane or a skew block plane for the cheek of the tenon.

I’d really just seen Schwarz demonstrating a router plane for this task but the rabbeting block makes a lot of sense to me. I see positives and negatives with each however. Enough so that I’m wondering what you all use for this task?

How many of you use a rabbeting/skew block? Router plane? Something else?

TIA,
Tony

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

I've just always used a broad chisel. It's best if you don't have to use anything at all!

[Jim R Edwards]

I use a LN rabbeting block plane. It's probably my most used plane.

[Brett Bobo]

I use a LN rabbeting block plane. It's probably my most used plane.

+1 on using a rabbeting block plane. In fact, I bought one to be used primarily for this task but it's obviously useful for many other things as well. I've found that it's best used on larger tenons where you have good registration of the plane and where the cheek surface is relatively flat--no ridges from a table saw, for example. Otherwise, I think a router plane is another good option too.

[Tony Wilkins]

I've just always used a broad chisel. It's best if you don't have to use anything at all!

True about not having to use anything but I've got a lot of 'practice makes better' moments between now and then I suspect ;)

A wide chisel is on my to do list as well - widest I have is 1" (both in my LN bench chisels and a Blue Spruce long paring). Been thinking about getting either a Barr or a LV PM-V11 butt chisel.

[David Weaver]

I've tried the skew block plane, etc, but I favor a chisel the most - it's faster and just as accurate with not very much practice. I also like a plane bed float for the job, but it's not something anyone would need to go out and buy. It's just a nice way to remove a bit of material, works perfectly separating fibers cutting across the grain, and helps get a decent fit - and can remove material fast or slow.

[Jim Koepke]

After trying various methods a sharp wide chisel seems to work very well for me on both cheeks or shoulders.

Of course this is with a soft pine.

When making a tenon it is very easy to make it a touch fat. Then removing a few shavings with a chisel to fit is a breeze. Then while it is still on the bench the end is easy to chamfer with the chisel.

Recently watched Pete Folenbase on the Woodwright's Shop making tenons without sawing. He broke out the cheeks with a wide chisel. Seems faster than sawing.

jtk

[Tony Wilkins]

Follansbee does that quite a bit - always makes me nervous lol. It is much faster but moves too close to the risk side of things for my skills. Interesting the preponderance of chisel usage. Wider chisel is on my list as the widest I have now is 1". Keep the discussion going - I'm learning ;)

[Graham Haydon]

Cut to my gauge lines and make it fit http://www.woodtalkonline.com/public/style_emoticons/default/laugh.png........And when they don't freehand with a chisel. I guess on really big joints I have used a large rebate plane
http://i.ebayimg.com/t/Record-No-010-cabinetmakers-rebate-bench-plane-No-10-VGC-/00/s/OTYwWDEyODA=/z/FmUAAOxyicJSGPW8/$T2eC16RHJF0FFZ47I7e!BSGPW8R)V!~~60_35.JPG
So a rebating block plane would seem the logical choice to me for small tenons.

[lowell holmes]

I have the LN skew block plane and the LN rabbet block plane. I prefer the router plane and/or chisel.

The router plane works best for me.

[Judson Green]

Mostly a wide chisel but sometimes I'll use a big file (safe side) in a similar fashion as David uses his plane float.

[Paul Saffold]

If the tenon is not to long, I use my LV router plane.

[Michael Peet]

I use both a router plane and a rabbet block plane, depending on the situation. I might even try both if I'm not getting good results with one. With the rabbet block it is easier when the shoulder is tall enough to give you registration for square, as Brett pointed out. The router plane makes it easy to stay parallel with the board face, but takes smaller bites.

A chisel alone would not be adequate in my hands. My widest one is only 3/4" anyway.

Mike

[Tony Wilkins]

The same article also mentions skew block planes in pretty much the same vein. Would the fence on those make it easier to keep things square?

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

I think the key that really let's Follansbee split out tenons as easily as he does is that he's almost always working in riven stock - so he's got extremely straight grained material that's apt to split in a more predictable fashion.

Trimming some mortises the other day with a chisel, a good point came to bear - if your tenon cheeks aren't as wide as the stock (you've got shoulders on three or four sides instead of just two) marking the width of the tenon after cutting away the waste from the narrow bits but before cutting the wide cheeks gives you a more accurate line to pare to if things go awry in the sawing . . .

And while we should always shoot for the best work we can do, never underestimate the ability of drawbores to make a less-than-stellar tenon fit quite sturdy.

[Jim Koepke]

I think the key that really let's Follansbee split out tenons as easily as he does is that he's almost always working in riven stock - so he's got extremely straight grained material that's apt to split in a more predictable fashion.

Trimming some mortises the other day with a chisel, a good point came to bear - if your tenon cheeks aren't as wide as the stock (you've got shoulders on three or four sides instead of just two) marking the width of the tenon after cutting away the waste from the narrow bits but before cutting the wide cheeks gives you a more accurate line to pare to if things go awry in the sawing . . .

And while we should always shoot for the best work we can do, never underestimate the ability of drawbores to make a less-than-stellar tenon fit quite sturdy.

On the tenons I cut most recently the cheeks were cut first and then marked the height of the tenon from the mortise. After cross cutting a chisel was used to break off the waste. Went pretty good and leaves nice smooth surfaces.

jtk

[Shawn Pixley]

Chisels, rabbet block plane or router for tenons. If I need perfectly parallel tenon I'll break out the router plane. Most times I'll end up tuning with a chisel. Usually, I get pretty close with my sawing.

[Richard Shaefer]

rabbet blocks are nice for a few quick swipes at a tenon cheek, but their low profile makes it harder to track that you're keeping square to the tenon shoulder. the low shoulder of a tenon is hard to register against for sqaure and it's very easy to end up with a tenon that doesn't have parallel faces. If it's a short tenon, then a large shoulder plane works better. it's taller profile makes it easy to make sure that you're staying square to the face. Router planes or a big jack rabbet work better on large tenon faces.

I will add that nothing beats a rabbet block for trimming relieved infill panels.

[Jim Matthews]

Holding the block plane straight and level to clean the tenon escaped me.

All of my tenons trimmed that way were narrow at the "free" end, and thick at the shoulder end.
The router plane "registers" off another piece of stock to keep the cutter perpendicular to the face used as a reference.

That said, I pare tenons with a chisel - which may not be so precise, but it's much faster.

[Hilton Ralphs]

What face to you reference off when using a router plane?

[Zach Dillinger]

What face to you reference off when using a router plane?

Your reference face, so in my work the front face of the table / chest /whatever I am making. I don't do this often, only when it is imperative that I achieve a perfectly flush rail and leg. The back of the rail is usually just rough and that tenon face is just cut to fit whatever mortise width I've achieved.

[Steve Voigt]

I'd really like to make the tenon router described in this guy's blog post (http://handmadeinwood.wordpress.com/2013/04/19/the-humble-router-gets-an-outing/), since I'm not likely to find one of these old Prestons.

[Hilton Ralphs]

I'd really like to make the tenon router described in this guy's blog post (http://handmadeinwood.wordpress.com/2013/04/19/the-humble-router-gets-an-outing/), since I'm not likely to find one of these old Prestons.

That's probably what Veritas based their design on for the new Hinge Mortise Plane.

It addresses the issue of routing with the grain.

[Paul Saffold]

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

This is Harry Strasil's solution. Since he isn't here much I'll provide the link.

[Sam Stephens]

either a 1" chisel or a router plane makes fast work of getting the cheeks parallel if they're not already off of the saw (or split). Board face is the reference depending on the size of the tenon. For final fitting, a shoulder plane and rasp makes quick work for me, but I could see a skew rabbet as an alternative (if i had one). IME, shoulder planes aren't so good for squaring shoulders. Easier to cut them square to begin with using a knife line and a saw.

[Mike Henderson]

That's probably what Veritas based their design on for the new Hinge Mortise Plane.

It addresses the issue of routing with the grain.
The hinge mortise plane has been around for a long time. You can find old ones and LN offers a new one (http://www.lie-nielsen.com/special-purpose-tools/butt-mortise-plane/). I have one (one of the old ones) but I much prefer to use a router plane.

Maybe it works well on passage door hinges but I need something to set hinges on furniture.

To trim tenons I mostly just use a chisel. You don't need a super wide chisel - a 3/4" will do fine if you have a good eye.

Mike

[That shop made plane pointed to in the link is a good idea, especially if you do a lot of M&T joinery.]

[Chris Griggs]

I used to use a router plane to fit tenons, but than I stopped becasue I prep all my stock by hand and don't like to spend the extra time to make sure the back (non reference face is perfectly parallel) to the front face. And even if I do get it perfect there is a chance that it will have moved by the time I get around to cutting the joinery. Like Zach, I prefer to work from a single reference face which means the router plane isn't ideal for fitting.

Currently I saw as close as I can and then use face float. I mark my tenons a hair small so that as I 'm truing things up and doing final fitting I still have the marks to see where I might need to remove material.

For some reason I don't really like fitting tenons with a chisel, and find the float much easier. I've thought about getting a rabbet block or skew rabbet, and have used both the LV version and the LN versions (skew and straight) and found that they do make fitting tenons pretty quick and easy (though you do need to pay attention to not accidentally taper the tenon). If I were to get one I'd probably get the LV skew block, though I do like the LN straight rabbet block an awful lot too.

The LV hinge mortise plane is an interesting looking design. More like a long router plane than a typical hinge mortise plane. Hope to have a chance to play with it some day even though I really don't have a need for it.

[glenn bradley]

I use a shoulder plane on both shoulder and cheek when required.