how to cut a groove by hand?

[Adam Herd]

I have been watching Rob Cosman's videos on how to make a candle box and he uses his own made drawer bottom plane to cut grooves for the sliding lid and the bottom. He keeps mentioning that there are other better ways to do this operation but doesn't say what they are.

[Jim Koepke]

If we stick to hand tools, there are many ways such as marking it out with a cutting gauge and then using a chisel or a router plane.

Another way is with a plow plane.

If it is on a short piece of stock it can be sawn out after marking, then remove the waste between the kerfs wtih a chisel.

jtk

[lowell holmes]

I would do it according to the whim of the moment. Probably, I would probably do it on the table saw or with a router.

I might do it with a plow plane or with a joinery saw and a chisel.

[chris carter]

I’m not sure what the “better” way would be. I saw the promo video for that project on youtube and he shows the grooving plane he used and it seems like there’s a pretty big gap between the blade and the fence, bigger than what looks necessary on the box (I didn't see the whole tutorial, so I really don't know, maybe that wide really was necessary, but it would explain why it might not be the "best" way to do it). I made my own grooving plane for this same purpose – cutting grooves for drawer bottoms and lids. It cuts a ¼” wide groove a ¼” deep a ¼” away from the fence. Aside from this being a convenient size for the applications in question, there are some other handy tricks you can do with those measurements (like easily make plugs or inlays for said grooves, or shortcut some rabbets), but you could make whatever measurements you want. I made mine from a cheap Sears ¼” chisel ($7) and maybe a dollar’s worth of red oak. I mostly followed these plans with some modifications: http://www.finewoodworking.com/2011/04/07/make-a-pair-of-grooving-planes
I made both a left hand and right hand so I could always follow the grain, but in practice I have yet to actually need to use the left hand one as going against the grain has still worked fine so far. Although making one of these might derail you from your current project for a minute, it will be a tool that you’ll make tons of use for with drawers and boxes. I had only made one wooden plane before this so it’s obviously not high on the difficulty scale (was actually easier than the first plane I made).

The “non” better way I can think of would be to use a router plane (done it, it’s not fun) or just chisel it out (done it, it’s not fun). In fact, I made the grooving plane specifically because I had a box project coming up and said to myself “I need a easy way to do this!”

Of course, one could argue that the "better" way would be a router table.
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[steven c newman]

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Old school way.....
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A more modern way....

[Ted Phillips]

I saw that Rob Cosman video and went out and built myself a dedicated drawer bottom grooving plane. It only does one thing, but it does it well - and was fun to build. However, I find myself using my LV small plough plane for most ornamental boxes and other uses. The fence and depth stops can be tweaked to get exactly what you want, and the plane is a true pleasure to use.

TedP

[Adam Herd]

hmm Maybe i'll attempt to make a drawer bottom plane.

[Ted Phillips]

Adam - I think I have an extra 1/4" iron around here somewhere (I built a pair of drawer bottom planes and bought an extra iron in case I hosed one up!). Shoot me a PM and I'll hook you up.

TedP