Adriaan Schepel
11-29-2006, 8:30 PM
Hey.
For a little while now I've been looking lustily at several rabbet block planes, like the Sargent 507 or the Lie-Nielsen. I've thought, "That'd be a handy little plane to have around." But these planes ain't cheap - as some of you will know.
What to do? Well, a bit of a scavenge around the shed turned up [most] of an old Stanley 220. Heck, these things are cheap as chips on eBay ... nothing to lose, right?
So I got stuck into it with some drill bits and files, and a few hours later I had a rabbet block plane! 'But what about the blade?' I hear you ask.
Well, as it happens a 220 body is exactly the same width as a standard No.4 plane blade. So I found an old No. 4 blade with only a little life left, and after a bit of cutting and grinding, I got a fit. But then, of course, a No.4 blade has this whopping great slot cut into the middle of it, so there's no way it will lock into the 220's depth adjustment mechanism. Solution? Cut the No.4 blade in half and fit the 220 blade over the top, screwing the two together. Perfect. The adjuster fits through the slot to lock into the notches on the blade above. Everything works just fine!
So now I have the tool I wanted for a fraction of the price and just a few hours of fiddling in the shed.
Note that the opening for the chips is not as big as on a real rabbet block plane. I hope it is enough - I was trying to get the right balance between chip-clearing ability and strength. It SEEMS to work anyway - but maybe it needs a real workout to test it, rather than just a few test shavings.
Cheers,
Adriaan
For a little while now I've been looking lustily at several rabbet block planes, like the Sargent 507 or the Lie-Nielsen. I've thought, "That'd be a handy little plane to have around." But these planes ain't cheap - as some of you will know.
What to do? Well, a bit of a scavenge around the shed turned up [most] of an old Stanley 220. Heck, these things are cheap as chips on eBay ... nothing to lose, right?
So I got stuck into it with some drill bits and files, and a few hours later I had a rabbet block plane! 'But what about the blade?' I hear you ask.
Well, as it happens a 220 body is exactly the same width as a standard No.4 plane blade. So I found an old No. 4 blade with only a little life left, and after a bit of cutting and grinding, I got a fit. But then, of course, a No.4 blade has this whopping great slot cut into the middle of it, so there's no way it will lock into the 220's depth adjustment mechanism. Solution? Cut the No.4 blade in half and fit the 220 blade over the top, screwing the two together. Perfect. The adjuster fits through the slot to lock into the notches on the blade above. Everything works just fine!
So now I have the tool I wanted for a fraction of the price and just a few hours of fiddling in the shed.
Note that the opening for the chips is not as big as on a real rabbet block plane. I hope it is enough - I was trying to get the right balance between chip-clearing ability and strength. It SEEMS to work anyway - but maybe it needs a real workout to test it, rather than just a few test shavings.
Cheers,
Adriaan