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But
you may be wondering about cross-grained work? Dedicated plow
planes (as opposed to combination planes such as the Stanley
45 and 55) don't come equipped with spur cutters or "nickers",
used to pre-score across wood fibers. However, if necessary,
you can work round the problem. My favored method is to use
a backsaw to saw the sides of the rebates or dados to depth.
Alternatively, you can score them as deeply as possible with
a knife, following up to deepen the scoring as the cut progresses.
Dados,
even if close enough to the end of the board, seem best done
running the plane against a batten. Some years ago, I adapted
a power tool guide clamp for hand plane use, but you can just
as easily clamp or pin a batten to the work. It's particularly
important to avoid letting the plane tip at any point, not
an easy task when balancing on one narrow skate. It doesn't
take much to see the upper edge of your dado chewed up. To
avoid messy breakout at the far end, knife in the extent of
the dado on the far edge. Best to orientate the cut so you're
planing towards the back of the project if you can. Better
still, if the project calls for a subsequent rebate on the
back edge, then any breakout is simply planed away.
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| Creating
a dado using a plow plane. |
While
dados may require a sense of humor, cross-grained rebates
are a piece of cake with only one edge to keep an eye on.
The fence can encourage the plane to tip outwards a little,
but as there's no outside edge to chew up, it's not a problem.
So
now you have no excuse; put some music on and get into the
groove!
Al Frampton
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