Skew rabbet plane question

[Josko Catipovic]

I'm learning to use the (LV skew) rabbet plane. My rabbet bottoms( faces?) look good, but verticals (perpendicular to the blade cutting surface) are kind of ragged, particularly if cutting crossgrain. I've been trying to fiddle with the adjustment between the scoring wheel and blade, but still need to take a pass or two with a shoulder plane to clean up the verticals. Is this to be expected, or should I be able to get two smooth faces with just a rabbet plane? What am I doing wrong?

[Jim Koepke]

This is one of those situations where a picture will do a lot to help determine what is not right.

The edge of the blade can be a problem. If it isn't set to cut all the way to the side of the plane, you may end up with a vertical stepped toward the outside of the rabbet. If the blade is cutting deeper to the side than needed it can cut a ragged side wall. The side of the blade should have a bevel and if rounded will cause other problems.

There are a lot of 'moving parts' when cutting a rabbet. The problems mentioned above are just the beginning.

jtk

[Tony Shea]

I do think a picture would be extremely helpful so we can see what you consider ragged. I personally will not go right up to the gauge line with this plane if the piece will be a show piece. I usually leave just a sliver to clean up with my shoulder plane. If this wall is getting a bevel or will be rounded over such as a floating panel of some sort then I just plane up to the line and clean it up with a block plane and a touch of sandpaper.

This is a relatively difficult plane to get setup properly but once you dial it in is a joy to use. My blade sticks past the side of the body ever so slightly when set to the depth I plan to use the plane at. Keep in mind that if you change the depth of cut at some point this projection will change slightly. And def set the nicker when doing cross grain work. Other than that I really like using this plane a lot!