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Casework
Dovetail Sockets
Joining a leg and a rail is a classic casework
joint. You cut a single dovetail on the end
of each rail, and then make a matching socket
in the top of each leg. This joint is difficult
or dangerous to make using power equipment,
since the top of the leg provides little surface
area to work on. It's also tough to do using
a chisel alone, because you want the socket
to be an exact depth. The router plane is
small enough to balance on the top of a leg
and is capable of providing the precision
you need.
To make a dovetail socket, cut the sides
of the socket with a dovetail saw. Remove
the bulk of the waste with a chisel, and
then clean up the floor of the socket with
your router plane. A small router plane
works best.
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your router plane has a spear-point cutter,
it's ideal for getting into the acute corners
of the joint. If you don't have a spear-point
cutter (for example, the router plane in the above photo has a straight blade only), clean out what you can and finish the corner with
a chisel. |
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Other
Uses
Once you understand that a router plane is a trenching
tool, you can see how it can be used elsewhere in
your work: adjusting the depth of grooves in a frame-and-panel
door, removing background waste in a carving, making
recesses to receive inlay or banding and lots more.
In fact, the router plane is like its electric
counterpart in one important regard: once you've
used the tool, you'll wonder how you ever worked
without it.
Christopher Schwarz
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