Modern Tool Versus Old Fashioned Hand Tool - Router bit or Plough Plane
Hello All,
I am getting more into timber furniture work. For example, repurposing solid timber furniture that is sold second hand at places like auctions. One project - that will no doubt be repeated, is making the groove for insert panels such as backing boards in a cabinet. The same feature is frequently found in bookcases too. I could either use a straight cut router bit to make the groove, or I could buy a new or secondhand Plough Plane. Something like the Record 044 that is a hand-tool powered by old fashioned muscle power. No batteries or power cords required.
Both a powered router tool and a non-powered hand-tool can provide senses of satisfaction during and after their use.
Both tools need adjustments to be made to get the job done correctly.
The first job will be cutting a groove right down the centre of a piece of timber that is sitting on its thinnest face of a rectangular shaped. The piece of timber at its thinnest face is 19-22 mm wide
I have a router and I have a Triton router table. With the router a lot of things can go very wrong, very quickly. A slight kick from something like an unseen knot in the timber can cause the router bit to be thrown of course. In the blink of an eye and before any preventative action can be taken, a gouge forms in the side of the channel making out of square, or a side can split.
Something like a plough plane takes longer to form the groove and it has a limit to how far offset the groove can be from the edge of a side panel. While a router can be set up any where on the face of side panel with a straight edge.
I like old hand tools. A good quality dedicated purpose router bit can be just as expensive as a second hand Record 044.
Which way would you go? Via a straight router bit made groove or a earlier era muscle powered 'slow' movement tool and why?
A lot depends on the amount of time that you have to spend on the job. In the past when hand tools were all that was available, tradesmen spent a lot of time perfecting the use of them before their work became acceptable to whoever they were responsible to.
You can certainly stuff a job very quickly with power tools, but you can also do the same with hand tools if you are not competent with them.
A lot also depends on your background. If you are used to working with your hands these skills can be picked up relatively quickly, however if your background is a more academic one this may not be so easily acquired.
The biggest thing to learn is to take your time and take small bites at a time. This applies to hand tools and powered.
Generally it is easier to make a good clean cut with a router, particularly if you have a bench mounted setup, but you still need to have learned the skills required.
Cheers
LuckyLes
It is easy to swap to other size/shape bits.
Various depths can be accommodated.
A second guide fence can be fitted to stop kick-out.
One can do an edge rebate.
So do the cut in several passes.
Old timber can be hard. A hand plane might be a lot of work for your shoulder.
If the groove edges are not going to be seen, one can cut it by a couple of passes over a power saw rip blade, once you have done a couple of test passes on some scrap, to help set it up.
I just did some further research and I have been able to eliminate one of my concerns with using a router table. The routing of the ends of stock and subsequent lack of control - which reduces joint accuracy. Turns out there is thing called a "Coping Slide" for routers that can be made with off-cuts or you can lash out and spend hundreds of dollars to carry out the same role. I will be checking out the local suppliers for some toggle clamps so I can make my own coping slide.
A lot also depends on your background. If you are used to working with your hands these skills can be picked up relatively quickly, however if your background is a more academic one this may not be so easily acquired.
Cheers
LuckyLes
G'day Les,
I am a Hard Landscaper - everything built within a landscape.The plants and turf are 'soft' landscaping.
I have a recently acquired PhD. Just take a different slant on the taco advertisement on tv - why not be both?
I am an applied researcher - not an academic, BTW . Theory with practice.
I use both plough planes and a router (Triton bench or something bigger down at the local Woodwork Club) depending on the application.
The plough plane is quick & easy to set up. I recently used one to cut the slots for the drawer bases in my plane storage box.
If the groove you need is some way from the edge you can clamp a piece of timber in position and use that as a guide (after removing the side guide from the plane). Alternatively a couple of saw cuts and remove the material in between with a router plane if you have one.
I have quite a few moulding planes. If there's lots to do I'll buy a router bit (or have a look down the Club) and set up the router bench, if it's only a short length I'll see if I have suitable moulding plane(s).
Sometimes it's the challenge of doing the job with hand tools and sometimes you just want the job done.
Colin
'56 Series 1 with homemade welder
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'81 SIII FFR
'95 Defender Tanami
Motorcycles :-
Vincent Rapide, Panther M100, Norton BIG4, Electra & Navigator, Matchless G80C, Suzuki SV650
I use both plough planes and a router (Triton bench or something bigger down at the local Woodwork Club) depending on the application.
The plough plane is quick & easy to set up. I recently used one to cut the slots for the drawer bases in my plane storage box.
If the groove you need is some way from the edge you can clamp a piece of timber in position and use that as a guide (after removing the side guide from the plane). Alternatively a couple of saw cuts and remove the material in between with a router plane if you have one.
I have quite a few moulding planes. If there's lots to do I'll buy a router bit (or have a look down the Club) and set up the router bench, if it's only a short length I'll see if I have suitable moulding plane(s).
Sometimes it's the challenge of doing the job with hand tools and sometimes you just want the job done.
Colin
Hello Colin,
Those are the exact same type of woodblock style planers that I once used when I worked at as an apiarist for a large apiary. We made our own hives. Also - reconditioned old hives. It was a business that the former owner operated for most of his working life. The business was sold and he retired. The business was sold to two young brothers. There was still a lot of old tools left over. There was also some 3-phase machines such as a thicknesser that did not have any guards - a third brother used the machine and it made mince meat out of a couple of his fingers. After that the machine was taken away to the dump.
Buying and using some Magswitch featherboards was a great improvement to my Triton router table. It holds the timber firmly against the fence for the whole cut. In an effort to remove the other issue with the Triton table - the lack of user-friendliness when adjusting the height, prompted me to do some research online. I saw a YouTube clip of someone using a Sherwood Router Lift. It looked great. Then I looked online to find the price. Thud ... the sound of me falling off my chair! I also found a Kreg version too. Talk about disappearing down a rabbit hole. I will have to look out for some reasonable alternatives or find a special when my tax refund comes around.
After some communications with one of my sons it turns out he bought a Kreg router lift kit when it was on a very - very special low price. The only thing is that he lives in Melbourne. It is just a bit far to travel from Queensland to do some wood routering! He also bought a motor-only router to suit the router lift. It is very much a rabbit hole one can disappear into!
Unfortunately, my work hours are not a match to the local Men's Sheds. There is a local woodworkers' guild here - I have not followed up about joining them. Something that I should chase up.
Does anyone have a router lift kit? What brand did you buy - what brand and style of router do you use, and are you happy with it?
Kind regards
Lionel
Last edited by Lionelgee; 5th July 2024 at 12:09 AM.
There I was taking the dog for his end of night walk in nature before he gets put to bed and I was walking past the shed. Oh I will just have a look at the latest woodworking project to plan the next stage. Turned on the lights and went to test how well the little $25 Irwin dovetail saw would work to separate two bits of timber that were rebated to form a 90 degree corner. One of the pieces needs to be replaced. I got caught up with using the pull saw... Came up stairs - after the dog had abandoned me, and it was 12:45 am. I got caught up in using a hand tool. The operation was a success. The facade piece was unblemished and the side piece of the corner was left intact - even though I will be replacing it. The little thin saw was able to follow the full length join really well.
Oh, well I best call it a night I suppose. Damn it is good to be able to walk up to the shed and flick a switch and have lights. It must be close to a year since the power was at last connected to the shed!
Is there anybody out there ... out there ... outttt
Anyway, I am reverse engineering an Indonesian cabinet that was erroneously purchased by my co-inhabitant whom measured the unit incorrectly. It is only too long by 600 mm for the space it was intended to fit. Along comes Muggins me to shorten the cabinet so it can fit in its intended space and perform its bought for purpose.
The Irwin 185mm dovetail pull saw I bought a couple of nights ago was amazing at getting into joints where one piece of timber was glued to another piece. The Irwin 254 mm Dovetail saw, that I bought on the same night, also came in very handy for cutting an edge on both sides or a groove that I cut out with a straight router bit. The sawn lines prevented the router bit from splintering the sides of the groove.
The cabinet was built with a combination of mortise and tenor joints that have been pegged with a little piece of dowel. Where the horizontal rails embed into the end/side panels there are four different dimensions of rails used. The equates to four different sizes of mortise and tenon joints. It took me about an hour just getting the spacing worked out from the final length of the cabinet.
The ends/sides of the top have a dress strip of timber that covers the end grain. The dress strip and the ends of the boards that form the bench top have been grooved either piece of timber. A tongue strip was glued to join the two pieces of timber together. The original cabinet makers liked using different kinds of joins. I have learnt quite a bit from pulling the cabinet apart.
The only pain has been the original cabinet makers used screws that need a flat blade screwdriver. The screws must have been made to be single use screws. Designed to go in and strip out the slot when someone tries to unscrew them.
The end product will only have one of the current two sets of shelves located in between the doors.
The photographs show the disassembly of the cabinet.
Because I do not want to pull the cabinet any further apart I will be cutting the tenons in-situ for the four horizontal rails. This means that I will be using the two Irwin pull saws to cut the tenons as power tools are too big to have access to make the cuts. I did buy some wood carving bits for my Dremel 3000 just in case the pull saw cannot produced finished cuts due to limited access. One way or another I will get the tenons cut.
The line on the bench top shown in the third photograph is the final length. I allowed the excess to provide some room to manoeuvre in case any mistakes got made with calculations. Some breathing space to play with is always handy.
Well, that is today's efforts recorded.
Kind regards
Lionel
Last edited by Lionelgee; 6th July 2024 at 10:37 PM.
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Originally Posted by LuckyLes
Theory with practice.
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