Woodworker's Journal 2008-32-4, страница 32

Shoulder &

coachmaker's

Rabbet Planes

By Ian Kirby

What distinguishes these planes from bench planes and block planes is that the cutting edge of the blade is as wide as the sole of the plane. This means that they can be used to remove material into the corner of a rabbet on both long grain or end grain cuts. They come to the furniture maker of today from earlier crafts. The coachmaker took his leave a long time ago, but the plane that carries his name continued to be used widely by patternmakers until that craft, too, suffered its demise in the lifetime of most Woodworker's Journal readers, due to changes in casting methods and materials.

The shoulder planes come from the craft of the carpenter/house builder who at one time did not only the structural woodwork for a brick or stone house — joists, rafters, purlins, lintels — but also made the doors, windows, stairs, et al. The shoulders on the bottom rail of a door — the kicker rail — might well be 12 or more inches, more shoulder than you would ever want to clean up with a chisel. The plane will trim the shoulder, but it won't stop on the shoulder line or cut the correct geometry unless ifs properly prepared and controlled by the hands that propel it.