OldTools Archive

Recent Bios FAQ

267093 Christopher Dunn <christopherdunn123@g...> 2018‑11‑15 Re: Stanley No. 55
Ken

After reading Chris Schwarz's article on the skew rabbet I tried
shifting my off hand back from the toe (I left the knob in place), and
felt the plane worked better if you pushed it into the board closer to
the blade (in the middle). It seemed to keep the plane on track
better, as long as you avoided the sharp finger eating thing. The
adjustment that drove me crazy was the Norris adjuster. Every time I
wanted up down I got left right. The longer fence is a good
suggestion. I own several Veriats tools, and they are are all nicely
made, but the skew rabbet wasn't for me.

Ed

In regards to the fillister plane, Knight's "American mechanical
dictionary" says:

Fillister: 1. the rabbet on the outer edge of a sash-bar, to hold the
glass and the putty. 2. A plane for making a rabbet, The variants are
known as side fillisters and sash fillisters. The former is regulated
for depth by a movable stop.

There was no listing for dado plane in the D section or under plane.
So admittedly it's not the most satisfying definition.

A better read is the rabbet plane chapter in Gramam Blackburn's book
"traditional woodworking handtools" where he walks you through the
variants. He defines a  fillister as "a rabbet plane with a fence and
a depth stop. The standing fillister has" ... "a fence that stand
fixed, and no variation in either depth or width. A more useful tool
is a moving fillister whose fence and depth stop, if so fitted (not
all moving fillisters have depth stops), may be moved." In the dado
plane chapter he defines a dado as "a groove that runs across rather
than with the grain", and thus the dado plane is one that cuts that
groove.

Thanks,
Chris

Recent Bios FAQ