Hand Tools doings #9: Rabbetted box

That’s great! Man, I gotta get me some of those specialty planes. The smallest chisel I have is 1/4” so I can’t very well do a groove as narrow as that. I’ve actually thought about filing down and honing an allen wrench (I don’t have a grinder) and just gluing that up inside a block of wood to use as a makeshift tiny chisel.

As for the rabbets – saw and chisel. Not an easy way to do it. I love the look of that rabbet plane – homemade?

-- Eric at http://adventuresinwoodworking.com

Eric – I wish I could have made a plane that nice, but nope – its a Lee Valley purchase.

-- You can't get a hug from Facebook.

Well, whenever you do get around to making one, I’ll send you my address so you can pass that one along to me. ;^)

-- Eric at http://adventuresinwoodworking.com

Very nice, Betsy. You are improving markedly with each post. Are you going to put a finish on your box?

-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.

Got a nice box and some dandy tools, too. The two Veritas planes and the E.C. Emmerich rabbet plane, I recognize but I don’t know that saw. Whacha got there, Betsy?

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

I’ll keep that in mind Eric.

Doug – its a Japanese saw—- not sure if its the one with the R or the D. But it cuts on the pull stroke, Cuts like a knife through butter actually.

Scott – yes I plan to put a finish of some sort on after I get a little more cleaning up done on it.

I have to give myself props on this though – this all hand tool box actually looks better than my first all machine box. So there is progress being made.

-- You can't get a hug from Facebook.

Boy, you are getting better by the day! Sorry about the boo boo.

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

That Veritas plow plane makes me plenty envious!

-- Just another woodworker

Ooh! You have the Veritas plow plane! I played with that for about 20 minutes at the woodworking show a few weeks ago. How do you like it? That can cut rabbets too, though not as wide as the rabbets you cut on your box lid.

Your fillister plane has a scoring blade on it, doesn’t it? That’s supposed to prevent tear-out like you got on the underside of your lid. On your next box you can try scoring a deep line with a knife or even saw a shallow kerf where the edge of the rabbet goes to avoid that tear-out when rabbeting end grain.

You’re assembling a nice collection of hand tools. Nice job on the box!

-- johnjoiner

You’ve got a nice collection of hand tools developing. Neat box.

John the plow plane is sweet! Comes ready to use out of the box. There’s a learning curve on keeping it level – you wouldn’t think so – but it’s easy to tip it one way or the other. It may not be so bad on a larger work piece. The pieces I was working on was pretty small.

As for the scoring blade on the fillister plane – it does have one. The issue is making sure it’s set correctly. I think the knife kerf is a good idea.

Thanks David. Boxes are a favorite – small but still lots to them.

As to the hand tool collection. Well, I look at in as an investment in my health. If only I could my flex plan to apply I’d be in great shape. :-)

-- You can't get a hug from Facebook.

Betsy, The hand tool work is looking good. I should invest in some decent planes and use them as well. I do like reaching for the hand tools when I have a chance.

Thanks for posting your journey down this route, look forward to seeing more of it.

CtL

-- Chris L. "Don't Dream it, Be it."

Excellent! Great to see some results. Nice job on the first all-hand tool box.

-- Check out my new website! http://www.blakeweberwoodworking.com

Way to work the hand tools. This has been an encouraging series.

Thanks guys. I really do appreciate the encouragement. I’m putting a finish on this box now and will flock the inside then post my finished project. After sanding it a bit, it looks better.

Thanks again.

-- You can't get a hug from Facebook.

Betsy,
You are doing a great job with the hand tools. The bench hook you are using is for a western style push saw. As you saw it pushes the wood into the fence. The same way you are planing towards the fence. With a pull saw you would need to clamp the hook to the bench with the fence on the outside closer to you. That may be why you had to give the blood sacrifice to the tool gods! I am sure a Japanese style woodworker would be able to tell you better how it is done with a pull saw. I sometimes run the groove for the bottom in the board before I cut off the pieces. Keep it up!
Mike

-- mike, www.schoolofwood.com