block plane & rabbeting block plane

[walidantar]

if i  have a rabbeting block plane would i need normal block plane?

[Tpt life]

Totally depends on a few things. Chances are, no. However, in a work flow like mine...you may find yourself planning on multiple block planes just to have them set up for different tasks. 

[drzaius]

I have an LN rabbeting block plane & it does work as a block plane. But the rabbeting plane has the blade spanning the full width of the sole & must be hone perfectly straight so there is more chance of leaving tracks on a surface that's wider than the plane. But if you can only have one, I'd get the rabbeting first & then get a block plane when you can.

[walidantar]

the thing i was really wondering about is the  chance of leaving tracks , i looks like as each pass it with totally dip down the wood as a dado

[Tpt life]

That’s setup and technique. Any plane can leave tracks. I don’t use blocks as smoothers, so I am rarely planing something wider than a block plane with s block plane. 

[walidantar]

@Tpt life @drzaius thanks you  this point is now clarified to me, instead of another block plane, a smother /small plane/ would be a better option for smaller stock

 

 

[riqmar]

There is a small dilemma here: a rabbet plane blade should be sharpened to a straight-line edge so as to facilitate crisp, square-cornered rabbets.  But a block plane should be sharpened to a VERY slight arc or sharpened to a straight-line edge with the corners eased to minimize leaving tracks............

[Tpt life]

That’s an opinion. Again, I don’t regularly plane anything with my block planes that is wider than those planes. I am not cambering any of my block planes. 

[pkinneb]

5 minutes ago, Tpt life said:

That’s an opinion. Again, I don’t regularly plane anything with my block planes that is wider than those planes. I am not cambering any of my block planes. 

I agree. I do not camber block plane blades.

[Tom King]

I keep two sets of block planes.  Both Stanley 9-1/2's, and 60's.  The burgundy set, that I bought new in the '70's, I keep the irons straight across.  The older, dark blue pair have their irons kept with slight cambers like you would on smoothers.  One stays in a custom made pocket on my tool belt, when I'm wearing it,  and which one depending on what I'm doing.

The thing that always worries me about rabbeting planes, whether a block , or a full sized rabbeting plane, is that you need to be a lot more careful that they don't get dropped, or knocked off of something, because the sides of the bodies are much more subject to be broken, than a standard plane.  You see a fair number of the old ones that have been brazed back together.

I don't do much sanding, so if I'm making some cabinets, or shelves with banded edges, the cambered irons are less likely to mar the surface of a shelf when trimming the edge banding.

[Chet]

1 hour ago, pkinneb said:

I agree. I do not camber block plane blades.

+1