Planing dovetails flush

[Paul Fisicaro]

Hey Guys, What type of plane would be best for flushing dovetails after they've been joined. Not so much the whole board but just around the dovetails. What do you guys use?

[Andrew Hughes]

That would be a low angle block plane.

[Robert Hazelwood]

A low angle plane is good if you have one, since it handles the end grain particularly well. But a common pitch bench plane will work as well. Either will need to be freshly sharpened and set to a fine cut. Wetting the endgrain with alcohol or mineral spirits makes planing easier as well. This is one of those operations which is more difficult with softer woods.

[Zach Dillinger]

Anything sharp will do fine.

[Paul Fisicaro]

Your endgrain is like your bellybutton. Yes, I know you have it. No, I don't want to see it.

HAHAHA! That is very funny.


Thanks guys, I dont have a low angle block plane but Ill get one if that makes it easy or easier.

[Sean Hughto]

A chisel. Paring in an arc motion allows you to avoid any break-out.

[Paul Fisicaro]

I forgot to ask. Is there a particular block plane that you guys like?

[Prashun Patel]

(Obvious answer alert): Plane them flush after gluing up. Else, unless you make dovetails as tight as the previous posters on this thread, you (read, "I") can have (read, "have had") tear out.

[Paul Fisicaro]

Is this one ok? http://www.ebay.com/itm/rare-Gage-Tool-prototype-low-angle-wood-block-plane-w-1913-patent-pre-Stanley-/400969161355?hash=item5d5b9fda8b:g:880AAOSwd0BVu65-

Its just pocket change...

[Paul Fisicaro]

also, I probably would like to get a Sargent block plane since I collect VBM's and I see one on ebay but it says Block plane not low angle block plane.. is there a difference?

[Robert Engel]

I use a low angle jack on big drawers or a LA block plane just because I have them but any plane with a sharp blade will do.

[lowell holmes]

Hey Guys, What type of plane would be best for flushing dovetails after they've been joined. Not so much the whole board but just around the dovetails. What do you guys use? This is the one I use.http://www.arcadilegno.it/album_pic.php?pic_id=1085

[Robert Hazelwood]

also, I probably would like to get a Sargent block plane since I collect VBM's and I see one on ebay but it says Block plane not low angle block plane.. is there a difference?

Yes. A Standard block plane has the cutter bedded at 20 degrees. A low angle has the cutter bedded at 12 degrees. Assuming you sharpen both blades with a 25 degree final bevel, the LA plane will have an effective cutting angle of 37 degrees, vs. 45 for the SA (no different than a common pitch bench plane). A lower cutting angle is a bit more effective at cutting end-grain and cross grain (especially with softwood) but is more prone to causing tearout on long grain.

[Derek Cohen]

I plan my drawers so that the grain of the sides runs back from the drawer front. That way I can plane without fear of the end grain spelching or the sides tearing out.

I also attempt to end with the mating sides as flush as possible. This simply requires that the dovetail depths are scored accurately. To do this you benefit most from a wheel or Kinshiro-type cutting gauge ...

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ShopMadeTools/KinshiroOnTheCheap_html_28f206d6.jpg

If one side is a fraction high, I want it to be the drawer side since the drawer front is fitted to the opening. And since we are mostly planing face grain, I will use a smoother.

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ToolReviews/TheVeritasSmallBUSmoother_html_m18d37a64.jpg

At the rear of the drawer, where there are through dovetails, I will chamfer the ends to prevent spelching, and use a smoother once again. I would only use a low angle block plane if the tails are raised, and then only to drop themin height.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Paul Fisicaro]

I plan my drawers so that the grain of the sides runs back from the drawer front. That way I can plane without fear of the end grain spelching or the sides tearing out.

I also attempt to end with the mating sides as flush as possible. This simply requires that the dovetail depths are scored accurately. To do this you benefit most from a wheel or Kinshiro-type cutting gauge ...



If one side is a fraction high, I want it to be the drawer side since the drawer front is fitted to the opening. And since we are mostly planing face grain, I will use a smoother.

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ToolReviews/TheVeritasSmallBUSmoother_html_m18d37a64.jpg

At the rear of the drawer, where there are through dovetails, I will chamfer the ends to prevent spelching, and use a smoother once again. I would only use a low angle block plane if the tails are raised, and then only to drop themin height.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Derek, those are some sweet dovetails... Im jealous!

[Patrick Chase]

Hey Guys, What type of plane would be best for flushing dovetails after they've been joined. Not so much the whole board but just around the dovetails. What do you guys use?

I use a low-angle block plane (12 deg bed, 25 deg bevel) until I get very close to flush, then I switch to a finely-set bench plane (usually a #4 or #3 depending on the size of the work).

I sometimes use a skew block because then I can get a skew cut while still "bridging" the sole across multiple dovetails.

[Patrick Chase]

If one side is a fraction high, I want it to be the drawer side since the drawer front is fitted to the opening. And since we are mostly planing face grain, I will use a smoother.

In case it isn't obvious, the "smoother" Derek is using here is a Veritas Small Bevel-Up Smoother (SBUS), which is a #3-sized bevel-up plane with a 12 deg bed (same cutting geometry as a low-angle block plane, though with a 1/8" wider blade and ~2.5" longer sole). I have an SBUS and love it, but for some reason I use a block plane followed by a bevel-down bench plane instead for this application. I'm sure the SBUS would work great though, and think that drawers/boxes are a perfect application for that size of plane.

Derek, what bevel angle are you using in that SBUS? Is it optimized for working the end-grain of the pins (~25 deg bevel) or for tearout control on the sides (higher angle)? Or do you switch blades as you get close to flush?

[Patrick Chase]

Is this one ok? http://www.ebay.com/itm/rare-Gage-Tool-prototype-low-angle-wood-block-plane-w-1913-patent-pre-Stanley-/400969161355?hash=item5d5b9fda8b:g:880AAOSwd0BVu65-

Its just pocket change...

Hah!

It's not clear to me what's going on with that. If it's really what the seller claims then they might be better off going through the Fine Tool Journal Auction or something like that.

[steven c newman]

Nothing real fancy in the shop....either a Millers Falls No.56B Low Angle block plane for the smaller stuff, and up to the Stanley No.4,Type 13 for wider stuff.

I plane at an angle to the end grain, and towards the face grain. I also will plane a slight bevel right at the corner of the joint. I do that, then the final pass or two.

Just the way the shop works.

[David Eisenhauer]

I have been tediously lining up and clamping a sacrificial board across the sides of the drawer front when flush planning the sides to prevent tear out on the drawer front as I plane across the very end of the side where it is joined to the drawer front. I find it difficult to work from the drawer front going back towards the middle of the side. Sometimes, like Sean says, I end up using a chisel to slice the vertical end grain, but that does not always work for me in hard hardwood as well as planning. Some days the block plane works better, some days the #3 works better. Would like to see some consistency on one of the methods and be able to pretty much stick with what works most every time rather than having to experiment every time. Part of the problem is a desire to not screw anything up at that stage, kind of "playing to not lose" rather than "playing to win". The only thing I will say in my favor is that I tend to nail the depth of cuts on both my through and blind dovetails so I don't have enormous amounts of end grain to pare down for a flush side.

[Derek Cohen]

Derek, what bevel angle are you using in that SBUS? Is it optimized for working the end-grain of the pins (~25 deg bevel) or for tearout control on the sides (higher angle)? Or do you switch blades as you get close to flush?

Hi Patrick

That would have been a 62 degree cutting angle - used for smoothing, not specifically for end grain.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Paul Fisicaro]

Maybe I mis-titled this thread. I was thinking more if maybe smoothing out the joint of the actual dovetails not really the end grain as if they tails were protruding. I always see David Barron in his videos plane his dovetails after he joins them. He uses some wood plane that he's made of course...

[Matt Knights]

I just use a chisel to pare down then a plain old number 4 to finish off

Matt