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Once
you have it working, what to use it for? Grooves, naturally.
One classic use is, of course, frame and panel components,
which needs no explanation. Drawer and box bottom grooves
is another task for which the plow plane is frequently used;
however, difficulty arises if the end of the groove is revealed
by the construction of the corner joints. At that point we,
as modern woodworkers accustomed to powered routers, usually
turn to the stopped groove. Unfortunately, the plow plane
is entirely ill suited for this. The length of the plane needs
room that's denied it by the nature of a stopped cut. You
can drill and chisel out clearance at each end, and use a
plow to some extent if you must, but it's a tortuous process
and you lose the benefit of the dedicated plow plane, namely
its speed and efficiency. Better to design out the need for
stopped grooves, if at all possible. The best work might use
mitered, secret mitered, or lapped dovetails, but a simple
rebate joint or even an end grain plug used to fill the hole
does the job. If it suits the style of the work, an applied
molding works beautifully.
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| Mitered
joint hides the end of the groove. |
Another
common groove, loosely speaking, is the rebate. (It is, after
all, just a groove with one side missing.) With the depth
stop on the fence side of the plane, wooden plows don't lend
themselves to regular rebating with a single iron, but metal
plows do. In fact, manufacturers often design a pocket in
the fence face so the outer edge of the cutter can be recessed
in the fence. This ensures the cut can be completed right
up to the edge of the work.
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| Fence
pocket for blade. |
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