Popular Woodworking 2009-08 № 177, страница 36

Raising Panels by Hand

When 1 was about 12,1 raised my first panel, and I did it by hand. Since that time my voice has gotten deeper, I've gotten furrier and my methods have changed a bit. Now when I raise a panel, I'll usually rough out the shape on a table saw (like Senior Editor Glen D. Huey shows in this article), then III clean up the nasty saw blade marks

with a skew block plane. 1 find this method to be fast and produce nice results.

However, raising a panel entirely by hand is actually quite easy to do and doesn't require a lot of tools. All you need are a couple cutting gauges and a rabbet plane. Though I show using boLh metal and wooden rabbeting planes in this article,! prefer usinga

metal rabbeting plane because its fence has a longer reach, so I can make a wider bevel The first step is to back off the nicker in your rabbeting plane. Though you have some cross-grain cuts to do, the nicker isn't going to help you. Next, set yourcuttinggauge and rabbet plane so they are making the same width of cut. — CS

Q First get cross. Now sink a rabbet that is the width of your bevel <3 and about deep. Work both cross-grain bevels first. Note the block of wood at the end of my stroke that prevents me from spelching the edge.

/Define the field. Use

your cutting gauge to define the field all around all four edges of your panel. Begin with light strokes and then increase your downward pressure to make a fairly deep cut. This bevel is 1" wide.

2 Define the tongue.

Use a second cut ting gauge to define the thickness ofthe finished tongue. Run the fence of the gauge along what will be the backside ofthe panel. Make this cut on all four edges.

5 Lean into it. Now shift the fence so the tool will take a slightly wider cut - usually '/fl" wider will do it Why ? The bevel is longer than the rabbet. Tip the plane and work the rabbet into a bevel. Work down to the line on the edge of the panel.

4 Then with the grain. Then sink the same rabbet on the long-grain sections ofthe panel. Don't press too hard on the fence, The skewed blade will pull the fence against the panel.

6 Check your cut. Use a mullet that is the depth and width of your finished groove to check the edge. When the tongue fits and the corners look good, stop planing.

42 m Popular Wood working August 2009

Wood block

7 Use your eyes. Clean up the cross-grain bevels first. Then the long-grain bevels. With each pass of the plane, you'll see the bevels come into the same plane.

Q Cleaning up. Sometimes I'll use a O rabbeting block pla ne or skew-block plane to dress the surfaces and clean up any wonky areas. A plane with a skewed blade makes cleaner cuts on the cross grain, but that plane is at home today.