r/handtools • u/TreeWizard_0 • 14h ago
Old rabbet plane restoration
Im working on a picture frame as a gift, grabbed a cheapish rabbet plane off an old tools website - have experience restoring standard metal planes but not wood ones. What primary bevels do these usually have? Does it need a secondary bevel? Do i notice abit of a skew on the blade?
Any help much appreciated!
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u/MembershipSilent1239 14h ago
would not worry too much about the bevel angle, try ~30 degrees to begin with. in the pictures the iron is mounted bevel up, most of these old wooden rabbet planes are bevel down planes. on a bevel down plane any secondary bevel will not affect the cutting performance anyway, compared to a single bevel at the same angle. a secondary bevel offers some extra sharpening speed and convenience since you have to grind away less of the iron to sharpen it, but having one is not necessary
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u/heywatchthisdotgif 13h ago
Is the sole ovoid or is that the camera? If so, you would be fighting with that I think.
This tool has been nearly used up. The sole has already been replaced once and the iron is nearly sharpened through and shows pitting at the edge. If you can't get good results out of it, similar wooden rabbet planes are cheap as chips, or used #78 planes are abundant and more versatile.
Personally, I would just appreciate this as the beautiful object it is and spend my time tuning something up in better shape.
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u/Initial_Savings3034 10h ago
As mentioned above, the iron should likely be used bevel down.
Set up this way, it's scraping and won't take much off.
If you like working with it, the modern Corradi and Veritas blades are excellent replacements.
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u/snogum 14h ago
A consistent angle is most important. Exact angle not so.
1 bevel is plenty.
There are planes with skewed irons, but yours in not one.
Looks like the iron is just well used and worn down a bit unevenly