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For what it’s worth….
It depends on whether you are cutting a structural rebate (out of sight) or something that will be visible. For the latter, consider rebate planes as a start to be finished later with a final tidying cut.
You don’t mention what sort of rebate plane you have……
A skewed blade, unlike a squared blade, presents its leading edge point at the shoulder of the work. I have found that once the blade is set parallel to the sole, it needs to be advanced sideways beyond the side edge of the plane a very tiny amount – a fraction - otherwise you’ll get a ‘stepped’, uneven cut that advances outwards at the base of the shoulder, but by doing this you need to look at the side edge.
Examine the side geometry of the leading edge of the blade. If the blade itself is presented at a skewed angle to the right hand side of the plane body when it is bedded, there will be two angles meeting at a compound that defines your cut – the cutting edge and the leading side. This needs to be well defined to give a good side cut as the blade advances. If the skewed blade is square on and the edge appear square, you will still need to dress this side edge.
On all my skewed blades, I like to dress the cutting edge, tip and leading corner of the side with the stone so that the meeting points are all clean, defined lines. This means flatting the back as well well as sharpening the cutting a edge, then dressing the side of the leading edge. Sounds a bit fussy, I know, but it does produce results.
Again, unless the wood I’m using is out of sight and particularly well behaved in the grain and hardness department, I don’t assume that the rebate is my final cut. I usually cut on the mean side and then clean down to the mark with a well-tuned shoulder plane.
Nickers are OK for most cross grain work and as has been said, need to be drawn backwards at each stroke, but if the work is to be in sight, for example a fielded panel, I prefer to scribe the final line with a knife or a cutting gauge – ideal for this - and either cut a start with a sharp saw or better still, undercut with a paring chisel.
Work methods are all a personal thing at the end of the day, Hope this helps…
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