rabbet plane

[addicted]

Hey Guys
What do you guys prefer to use to trim tenons down to final size? Slick, Rabbet plane, Chisel, Block plane.....etc
Any reason you would use one over the other?
I'm partially looking for a reason to buy a rabbet plane but would rather make an informed decision before buying a paper weight.

Thanks
Rusty

[Jim_Rogers]

I use a rabbet plane to get up close to the shoulder, on the tenon cheek.

I use a wooden one.

Jim Rogers

[Brian_Weekley]

I use a slick to pear the tenon down to final size.  However, I do use my rabbet plane to chamfer the edges of braces near the shoulder.  Since the cabinet rabbet planes usually go for a premium, I got an old Stanley 78 which works fine.  Do you ever really need an excuse to buy a another tool?   8) 

Rusty, I see you're located in Ann Arbor.  Lived there for 8 years until my company closed down there four years ago (you can probably guess who).  Anyway, we really miss it--what a great town!  Go Blue!

[Dave Shepard]

I usually use the framing chisel that I roughed out the tenon with. I do have a really old Stanley No.10 that I will use from time to time, but it's usually fastest to use what is at hand. The 2" chisel pares very nicely.

[jander3]

Chisel and slick works fine for me.  When I manage to get a tenon that has a large knot due to my inability to layout a stick properly, I sometimes use a 4" disc sander to clean things up to the line.

Of course if it is an antique tool that might, somehow, maybe, someday help with the job and I have the cash...no doubt I would pick her up.  I hit the local antique/junk shop every few weeks; I never leave empty handed.

[purple otter]

I use a Stanley 78 too sometimes, but sometimes my 2" chisel, both work well. A sharp tools is the key. My only experience is on white oak and locust. Maybe someday I will try some pine. Watch your knuckles on those deeper shoulders if you are using the rabbet plane :-\

[laffs]

I use a framing chisel and a rasp to fine tune my tenons.

[addicted]

Thanks for the advice guys. I've started looking for a 78 and wow!!! what a variety of choices. Old and new Stanley, record, miller falls, craftsman, Sargent, along with the new copies from anant, and now their upscale anant kamal, and the German Kunz. Then I notice most people saying to stick with the old Stanley. Ok then which old Stanley? USA, England, Canada, Australia? And what is considered old and how is one to tell on ebay? At what point did the quality drop? 40 yrs ago? 60? Is there a way to tell the age of these planes? I didn't know this was going to be this frustrating.

Rusty

Hey Brian
Sorry to hear that you were caught up in that situation. For a while it seemed they were indestructible. I hope you were able to land on your feet.
Go blue

[Jim_Rogers]

We have bought and sold many #78 rabbet planes. Some old, some new reproductions.
Most have been fine as far as I have seen.

Any Stanley should be good.

Good luck with your search.

Jim Rogers

[TW]

These are my opinions. Everything is just opinions when it comes to tools. There are few absolute rules and the technical qualities may vary a lot between two planes from the same maker at the same time. Uneven quality that is. Just about any maker of cheap junk seems to turn out one or two usable planes in a batch of 1000 useless ones and most high end makers have turned out one or two bad specimen that just by mistake happened to pass the quality control.

My rule of thumb is that Stanley 78s that are old enough to have the crocodile skin like pattern on the grip surfaces of the handle are good. Some later ones are good too whole some are junk.

Kuntz planes are mostly junk and so are Anant in my opinion.
Old Record 078 (before the American takeover) and Woden are in my opinion way better than Stanley 78. Hellstedts 78 was also a great plane back in the days.
Millers Falls and Sargent are said to be equal to old Stanley but I have never had a chance to test their 78 equivalents so this is just rumors.

I think the old Stanley fever is just a bubble on the market. Once people realize that there were several other makers making tools of similar quality the Stanley prizes will drop and Record and Millers Falls and Hellstedts will go up on the secondhand market. Until then I am happily stockpiling those under-prized tools.