Many years ago I had a type of plane that I now wish I had kept. It was like a shoulder plane in that the blade was as wide as the sole and cut clear to the edges. It also had an adjustable fence so that the width of the cut could be controlled. It was ideal for making rabbets or trimming down edging that stood proud of its panel.
Can anyone tell me what it is called and where I can buy one? I looked at Lee Valley, Woodcraft, and Rockler and didn’t find it.
Thanks in advance.
Replies
John,
You're describing a rabbet plane, Stanley called their's a #78, the Millers Falls version was a #85. Shouldn't be too hard to find used. Probably still made by some one, possibly by Stanley in England. The plane has both a fence and a depth stop and is a handy tool to have.
P.S. I Googled rabbet plane and turned up a lot of tools that aren't what you are describing, bull nose planes, and bench planes with full width blades, and shoulder planes, but apparently Anant still makes a rabbet plane of the type you are describing. They come up on E-bay occasionally. I may have a spare one, if you are interested I'll look for it and set a price.
John White, Shop Manager, Fine Woodworking Magazine
Edited 5/18/2006 12:32 pm ET by JohnWW
A good place to fidn them is on Ebay. If you are patient, and know what you want, you'll land one at a very good price. My personal favorite is the stanley 55. It has to be the most complicated hand tool ever invented. I'd like to have one for my mantel just to look at because of it's utilitatian beauty.
lie-neilsen has a block rabbet
http://www.lie-nielsen.com/catalog.php?cat=504
and a bench rabbet
http://www.lie-nielsen.com/catalog.php?sku=10_25
Mr. White is right on the money, but I call it a Duplex Rabbet plane, if it has two places that you could mount the cutter, like the Stanley 78, the Millers Falls 85, and others. If it just has one place to mount the cutter, it's a maybe a Stanley 190, 191, 0r 192. (I have at least one of each of those planes mentioned above). As for why I have so many - just freakin' don't ask. All users, every one of them. And yes, maybe my rabbet plane problem is as bad as my saw problem.
I picked up a duplex rabbet at my local flea market/ rust emporium/ Chinese pot-metal-blister pack cheap tool distribution center a few months ago. It was the version made by Union with a slightly heavier casting and the horn in the front to help bear down on the toe of it. It was marked $20. The blade was labelled "CRAFTSMAN" and it had the wavy, "pepsi-cola" craftsman trademark from back when Sears made really good woodworking handtools, or had good tools made for them by companies like Union.
When I took it to the counter to be paid for, the elderly Mississippi matron said, "Whyyyyy honey-chile, whatever is THAT old thing?"
"It's a duplex rabbet plane, in good condition except for the rust, and just missing the depth stop, perhaps dating from the 1910s or 1920s," I replied, never one to miss an opportunity to flash a little old handtool knowledge - I haven't read 6000 pages of e-mails from the old tools list for nothin'!
"A Dew Plecks Rabbit! My word! I've never heard of sich a thing," she said. "Why look at how rusty that old thing is! I'm going to let you have that for half price since it's got all that nasty old rust!."
Ten dollars. Inside my stomach was going flippity-flop, flippity-flop. As soon as I got home and cleaned off the surface rust (not pitting), I happily realized that whoever had owned this tool previously had never really used it and that I had another vritually brand new, albeit nearly a century old, user! And yes it cuts rabbets like nobody's business!
BTW, anybody got a depth stop for a Union/ Craftsman Duplex Rabbet Plane?
Good luck, Ed
If the plane was made out of wood, you probably had a moving fillister plane. They're about 2" wide and have a movable fence on the bottom and a brass depth adjustment arm just like you talked about. They can easily be found on Ebay. just type in the word FILLISTER and see what vcomes up
Many thanks to all who replied. To my surprise, it is available new as the Stanley 12-978 Bullnose Rabbet Plane! http://www.stanleytools.com/default.asp?CATEGORY=PLANES&TYPE=PRODUCT&PARTNUMBER=12-978&SDesc=Bullnose+Rabbet+Plane
Hi John
The very best of these planes is the Record #778. This has two points of attachment for the fence (where the Stanley has one), and a better blade adjustment system.
You will find one on eBay. I suspect that Groz or Anant make a replica as well. Since they are very basic planes, doing very basic work, any of these will work satisfactorally.
Here is my #778:
View Image
Regards from Perth
Derek
John,
If you search for Millers Falls on E-Bay you will find several.
You probably will get a good deal on it.
MF were quality tools.
C.
The best is the Record #778 like Derek's, I managed to buy the last one in NYC just as Irwin/Rubbermaid ate Record and destroyed the last good tool maker. The adjuster for the iron is the key. It's astounding that Stanley never did it that way with a more precise lead screw, almost like a #45 or #55. LN sells a 778 iron btw.
What I would like to know is who bought all the existing stock that Record had to have had in inventory? Has anyone seen it in the market place?
WARNING---STAY AWAY FROM THE ANANT 78 AND 45 MULTIPLANE THEY ARE A DISASTER. I have both in my quest for a cheapie. It seems that while the bench planes are quite functional the detail of the specialty planes has eluded them. Both look like the finish grinders felt that a very poor finish could be corrected by plating them with 6 times the finish to smooth over the poor grinding. This plating includes all the screws for the spurs to the point that the screwdriver slots are almost flush with the top of the screw--a real bummer- and the screws are ground off on a bevel on the front of the (only a few threads) screws making them a very large problem to get back in the threaded hole, if you can get them out -remember the plated slots- Ha.
As a small stupid move they have about 1/16 of cheap clear finish- like it was dipped in a cheap clear nail polish- on the totes made of a very nice Indian rosewood but you can scrape it off and oil it. The 778 also comes with either a wood or plastic front knob. I was unlucky, I got the cheap ugly poly knob that still had the casting flashing at all the seams. I have since turned a rosewood copy for my Record 778.
Sorry to rant on your thread John, I had tucked these Anants under the bench a year ago and seeing one in a post cranked me up-I should have posted the review long ago but it was out of sight /out of mind.
The 78 is a fine tool if you don't rest your finger on the iron adjustment lever-your cut starts to get a lot lighter- and the 778 has a more stable fence with twin rods from both sides. All the best , Pat
Anant bought Record's tooling but unfortunately the quality of their product has been very spotty. You either get a beautiful tool at a very good price or a piece of junk not worth anything. I will say the U.S. reps are aware of the problem and are confident that in the fullness of time things will be up to snuff. They have been very good about taking back substandard product, but have not always had good product to replace it with. Not much consolation but again you get what you pay for, If it's got to be right the first time spend the money and go with a firm that has established a track record.
Thanks for the info as I had written them off. I am not in great need as I have a forrest of 45/55's most are refurbished a few nib never used before me. I set them up for special projects to save time particularly when doing compound one of a kind edge moulding.
I think that there is only one importer, I think we will have a chat next week, Thanks again , Pat
A great source of old tools of both UK and US origin is: toolbazaar.co.uk they have a great selection in a sale catalog they produce 3 or 4 times a year I think it is. The trouble is you can soon drop $500 on an old Norris if you dont control your urges!
They mainly cater to the collector but have a lot of good old user tools as well. Shipping to this side of the pond makes things a little pricy. I put together a set of user hollow and rounds from their offerings quite reasonably.
Good luck in your hunt.
Cheers, Oldoaktree
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled