Making Wooden Auxiliary Fences

[Bob Betker]

I need a nice easy project for the holiday weekend and thought I would make some auxiliary wooden fences for my Plough and Rabbet planes. Any tips on dimensions, types of wood to use or avoid, etc. would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Bob

[Jim Koepke]

Hi Bob, Do you mean wooden fences to add to a metallic fence?

What planes are these going to be on?

For my Record #778 a piece of rosewood was used:

436023

Best is a piece of hard wood that wears well. You also want it to be smooth like ash or rosewood.

A hunk of wood was also added to the front to make it a bit more comfortable to use.

Approximately 1/2" thick works well. You do not need it to be real thick, just thick enough to be held on by wood screws. You do want to make sure the piece is as parallel and square as possible over its length.

jtk

[Bob Betker]

Wooden auxiliary fences that would be attached to the metal fence. I've got a Veritas Small Plough Plane and Veritas Skew Rabbet Plane that need the fences.
I've got a couple of small pieces of Ebony, Pau Rosa and Angelique lying around that I thought might be used.

[Derek Cohen]

Bob, the fences I have are very similar across the planes I have. I use the hardwood to hand. In my case it is Jarrah ..

https://i.postimg.cc/bN1H92Hz/Small-Plow.jpg

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Erich Weidner]

Not to hijack the thread, but in what circumstances are the auxiliary fence called for? Just to make the plane more stable on narrow pieces?

[Derek Cohen]

Erich, that is an understatement. Stability = precision.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Jim Koepke]

Erich, it is also because the metal fence can leave marks on some woods. The wood fence is less likely to mark the work.

jtk

[Tom Bender]

UHMW would work better but it just wouldn't be right.

[Jim Koepke]

UHMW would work better but it just wouldn't be right.

In reality, almost anything would work even plastic.

In one of my earlier posts rosewood was mentioned. It is a very smooth wood with an oily nature. Ash is can be worked into an extremely smooth surface.

A smooth surface is important for reducing friction.

A hardwood helps to prevent wear.

jtk

[Derek Cohen]

UHMW would work better but it just wouldn't be right.

Just squiggle wax on the fence. Anyway, UHMW is not stiff enough, and ends up heavier than hard wood.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Tom Bender]

Thanks Derek, I was having trouble with the vision of UHMW in that application