Router Planes - Which Blades

[woodlikesbikes]

I'm thinking of getting an veritas router plane. I'm not sure which blades to get.

I'm going to making housings for 18,12 and 6 mm ply shelves (a garage storage project).

Presumably a 1/2" cutter would be fine for the 18 mm ply. Am I going to need the 1/4" cutter for the 12 mm and a smaller one still for the 6mm ply?

Many thanks

 

[mseries]

The cutter size is it's width so the thickness of the wood is unimportant for housings. You need to choose a cutter that's narrower than the housing

 

[worn thumbs]

I don't know the particular tool,but can assure you that you will be unable to cut a housing any narrower than the width of the blade you are using.I am also very glad you used the correct description for a housing,Americanisms seem to be encroaching everywhere these days and you have resisted.

 

[deema]

The Veritas router is a very nice tool, I also have one. You will not be able to cut the entire rebate with the plane however, it's designed to cut to an set depth once the majority of the waste has been removed. It's like a shoulder plane, fine last bit adjustment. To cut a rebate with a plane you will need a Rebate / grooving plane, loads on eBay for very little money (less than £10) just select one that will come with the width of cutters you need. You will not need the router plane with a rebate plane as you set the depth on the plane and it stops cutting when it reaches depth.

The other option that most people use is a router and a suitable cutter.

I'd avoid 6mm for shelves unless they are pigeon holes, there was little strength / and they will bend under any load. 9mm is the minimum I would use, and oreferably 12 / 18.

Have a look at using MDF, it's significantly cheaper than ply, e.g. Circa £17 for a sheet of 18mm 2.4x1.2 compared to c£30. If I'm desperate and can't find any Medite anywhere I use Wicks which for me is usually better quality than most sheds. They are selling at at c£15.5 / sheet if you buy 5 or more.

 

[woodlikesbikes]

The 6mm ply is just going to hold a few sheets of sandpaper so weight is no issue. I've already bought good quality ply. I'd not thought of using a rebate plane. Aren't they for cutting rebates along a board rather than across?
I've seen Paul Sellers and the like using a saw to cut the sides of a housing, followed by chiseling out most of the waste. He then uses the router plane tonclean the bottom of the housing.

 

[deema]

Look for something similar to a Stanley no 50 combination plane, or better still a No 45. There are other varieties but these are the numbers I can remember. The No 45 is a really great tool (It's the one I have), and has very few problems with getting them to work, the No 50 can have some manufacturing gremlins I understand.

 

[custard]

Ply is made by gluing leaves of timber with a UF glue. UF glue sets as hard as flint and knocks seven bells out of hand tool blades. I keep an old Record 05 with a Ray Iles D2 blade just for cleaning up plywood edges. D2 doesn't take a particularly pretty edge, but it's tough enough to bully its way through UF glue.

I'll bet a pound to a penny that when Paul Sellers and the like cut housing joints they're using pine or a fairly easily worked hardwood like Sycamore, Poplar, or Cherry. I'm a huge fan of hand held router planes, but for housing joints in plywood I'd go straight to a power router with a carbide bit...horses for courses and all that.

Good luck!