Cutting Rabbets

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178
I'm just curios about cutting Rabbets. I can use the table saw and have a rabbet in two cuts and there is no limitation on size. I can use a router table and be limited to 1/2 inch wide rabbets and have to use multiple cuts especially when using oak. What do other people do?

DKT
 
I'm just curios about cutting Rabbets. I can use the table saw and have a rabbet in two cuts and there is no limitation on size. I can use a router table and be limited to 1/2 inch wide rabbets and have to use multiple cuts especially when using oak. What do other people do?

DKT

router 90% of the time, handheld.
Dado set on the Tablesaw a few times.
 
Usually the router table unless it exceeds the capacity of my rabbeting bit set. Then it's a toss-up between a straight bit in the router table or the two-cut method at the TS. I don't own a dado blade (yet)
 
Dado set on the table saw if the material is flat and predictable like jointed solid wood or small panels of sheet goods. If the rabbet or dado is on a large sheet good panel I use a router with as small a base as possible to follow the irregularities of the sheet and give a more consistent depth rabbet. I also prefer a router for any longer run.
 
...Rabbit ledge on the joiner.

Have you really used that? In all the years I've had a jointer, I've never useed the rabbet ledge. Nobody else I've asked about it has ever used it either.

It just seems like a lot of trouble to go to when the tablesaw or router do it so easily and efficiently.
 
Am i the sole user of a rabbet plane? For limited cuts, i'll use my old Stanley #78. For numerous repeated cuts, i'll use the dado blade on my table saw. The hand plane takes me about 12 seconds to set the fence and depth gage, and cuts cleanly, quickly and accurately. It leaves a much better surface than does the dado blade or router. For small projects, i can usually have the hand plane adjusted and be done with the cuts by the time i'd get the saw blade switched over and have the adjustments tuned in on my table saw. The Table saw is great if i've got a dozen or so identical cuts to make, but depending on what you're doing, you may need to go back in to clean up the surface of the wood.
I'm not a neanderthal woodworker, but sometimes the old tools work quicker and better for a given task. #78 planes are very common and can be had for about $20 or less at flea markets - a bit more on line. If i were to buy one today, i think i'd look for an old Record or Millers Falls - maybe even a new Anant. Their fit and finish on this plane was better than the Stanley version.
The rabbet plane is a versatile tool. I wind up using it a lot more than i anticipated when i picked it up at an estate sale many years ago. It's not ideal for every woodworker, or every project, but i do think it's a valid alternative that gets overlooked because it doesn't have an electrical cord or batteries.
Paul Hubbman
 
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