Veritas Rabbet Plane

Michael Huntley becomes a fan of this Veritas plane

This side rebate plane - I'm quite prepared to call it a rabbet plane because whatever side of the Atlantic you come from, it does its job - is part of a series of old-style hand tools that Veritas in Canada are bringing out. As is usually the case with these reworkings of older tools the modern router will do the job much faster; however, it will also wreck the job much faster if things go wrong! Being a rather slow and careful person I am very happy to remove one skim of a shaving at a time from my much-loved project until the groove is perfect.

The purpose of a side rebate plane is to widen a narrow groove by taking skims off the walls until the part to be inserted fits easily. It can be used in grooves from 3/16in wide upwards. The maximum working depth is 1/2in. The blades are O1 tool steel which gives a sharper edge and the body is ductile cast iron. This plane is based on the Preston and Record originals.

How it works

The sole of the plane holds two mirror-image blades that will cope with both sides of a groove and both grain directions on each side. A small depth gauge acts as a register and the handle flips over by 180 degrees to offer appropriate clearance for each blade. The toe is removable to allow you to work up to the end of a stopped groove.

Reasy to use

As usual with Veritas, the tool comes ready to use and has detailed instructions. The blades can be honed freehand because the long bevel provides an easy register surface; however, if you prefer the security of a jig, then Veritas suggest the Mark 2 used with the skew registration jig on the following settings: green honing guide setting, 35 degree bevel angle and 30 degree side angle.

The verdict

I tested the plane on elm that was initially grooved with a Veritas plow plane. The side rabbet plane did a beautiful job. I loved it and didn't want to give it back.