Veritas skew rebate plane - a review (lots of pics)

[Paul Chapman]

Rob Lee of Lee Valley recently published some pictures of the new Veritas skew rebate (or rabbet) plane on the Australian forum. I was very excited about this plane because it appeared to overcome many of the defects inherent in other planes of this type. I was therefore delighted to see that Matin Brown of BriMarc had two (a left-hand and a right-hand) on his stand at Yandles last Saturday. They had arrived from Canada only a couple of days beforehand.

Martin and I had a play around with the right-hand version and my delight with how well it worked must have been very obvious, because Martin asked whether I would like to borrow it and do a review. I jumped at the chance

Rob Lee describes the plane as being inspired by the (no longer available) Stanley #289 pictured below

The plane that most people will be familiar with which is most like it (but without a skew blade) and currently available is the Record #778. Here's mine

Here are some general pictures of the new Veritas

The plane body is made from ductile cast iron and the various knobs from brass. The blade, which is skewed at 30 degrees, is made from A2 tool steel and the back is lapped dead flat on Lee Valley's super lapping machine.

The handle and knob are Bubinga.

The design and engineering of this plane ooze quality and it is worth highlighting certain features which make it such a joy to use.

The plane has the now familiar grub screws to assist with the location of the blade

The blade adjuster has a thick, stainless steel washer with a peg which locates in the slot in the blade

This does not revolve when adjusting the blade and the conbination of this together with the grub screws means that the blade does not skew out of alignment when adjusting the depth of cut - in my view a very important feature.

The depth stop slides on two beautifully machined grooves and is secured with a brass knob

Now for the feature which sets this plane apart from all other fenced, metal, rebate planes - the cross-grain scoring blade. This is in the form of a wheel which is attached to an axle off-centre. This enables it to be raised or lowered. To do this, slacken off the screw behind the front knob

Then adjust the wheel

Now for the best bit. When in use the scoring wheel needs to be aligned with the outside edge of the blade. No other similar plane has a mechanism for doing this but Rob Lee and his team have come up with a brilliant solution. Remove the front fence rod and inside the hole you will find a short rod with a slot. Insert a screwdriver and adjust the rod which allows the scoring blade to be moved in and out.

When set, tighten the screw behind the front knob. For me, it's worth buying the plane just for this feature 8)

I did wonder whether it would be possible to re-adjust the wheel without disturbing the fence setting, should this be necessary. I found that it was by simply removing the front fence rod and leaving the rear one in position.

The fence is particularly nice. It's held in place by a collet and brass nut arrangement which enables the fence to be adjusted by hand

The fence is drilled to enable you to fit a wooden facing if you wish.

To assist with honing the blade, Veritas make a skew registration jig to fit their Mk 2 honing guide. I didn't have one of these but it was easy to make up a setting block to position the blade for honing

I tried out the plane on various woods but here it is in use on some mahogany-type wood. I started off by scoring the wood by drawing the blade backwards with the scoring blade lowered

I then took quite thin shavings as I was working across the grain

When using the plane, it's important to maintain pressure against the fence. I found that there was a convenient position just in front of the blade so that I could maintain downward pressure with my thumb while pressing against the fence with my fingers

This picture shows the nice crisp, clean cut I was able to make

I then made some cuts along the grain, taking much thicker shavings

As I neared the finished depth, I adjusted the blade to take finer shavings - this is where the precise blade-setting ability came into play enabling the blade to be adjusted without it moving sideways. I was able to line up the depth of cut precisely with the cross-grain rebate

In conclusion, I found this plane stunning in its design, engineering and operation. Rob Lee and his team have taken a long, hard look at fenced, metal, rebate planes and have sorted out all the problems that have, in the past, made them so cumbersome to use. The Veritas skew rebate is an absolute joy to use and I'll probably shed a tear or two when Martin asks for this one back

Martin did not have the UK price available at the time of writing but I'll update this post with details as soon as I know them.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[Evergreen]

Paul

Fame at last!

Excellent review and outstanding pictures. It's got that chunky, well made look of Veritas stuff and it's impressive how they always seem to come up with design improvements.

 

[andyavast]

That plane looks like a seriously well executed piece of kit. From the pictures it looks like is functions wonderfully as well. Thanks for the review Paul, it has (unfortunately?) added another bit of gear to my 'to buy' list.



andy

 

[jonbikebod]

Excellent review Paul.
High time this workhorse plane got the ‘quality’ treatment.
Jon.

 

[shim20]

8) wo like this alot whens it out in the uk?

 

[Smudger]

Nice review, Paul.
Can you compare it directly to an 078/778?

 

[Pete W]

Good stuff, Paul. As others have said, you've sold me on this one - I think it'll be at the top of my letter to Santa this year.

Hard to tell from the pix - can you tell us how wide a rebate it will cut? Looks to be much wider than the standard 78-style plane.

 

[Paul Chapman]

Hi Dick,

In my view the Stanley #078 and Record #778 don't really compare. The Veritas is a precision instrument with which you can do fine cabinet making. The Record and Stanley, on the other hand, are a bit agricultural. I've had my #778 since 1971 and hardly ever use it. In the review I deliberately did those two shallow rebates and made them line up perfectly - I would have struggled to do that with the #778.

Hi Pete,

The maximum width of cut is 1 1/2" when using the full width of the blade.

I'm not sure when they will be generally available in the UK. Perhaps Martin Brown or Rob Lee will be along some time and let us know.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[tnimble]

Thanks Paul, excellent review!

This / these have already been on 'the list' for a while, they just shifted up a couples of places.

Now for the big question, left / right / both.

(still need to get the left edge plane to acompany the stainless steel, already run in a couple of grain direction problems with that one)

 

[Mr Ed]

Paul

I'm repeating what others have said, but great pictures and informative review.
It really has got me thinking about buying one when they come out, not that I need any more planes of course...

Ed

 

[Paul Chapman]

Now for the big question, left / right / both.

Hi Laura,

As you say, the plane is available in right-hand and left-hand versions. This is great because, at last, left-handers can buy a fenced rebate plane that they will feel comfortable with.

Others will buy both so that they can cope with different grain directions. I will have enough trouble getting one past the wife 8-[ 8-[ so will be making do with a right-hand version when I buy one. In fact, I think in the majority of situations with a very sharp, finely set blade and careful selection of timber, one version would cope with most situations. The piece of wood I used in the review was subject to tearing out easily, but the Veritas planed it perfectly across the grain - it really does perform well.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[Pete W]

The maximum width of cut is 1 1/2" when using the full width of the blade.

My, that's a big one!

Not just a rebate plane, but a panel-raising plane, and a tenoning plane. We'd be fools not to buy one

 

[tnimble]

Now for the big question, left / right / both.

The piece of wood I used in the review was subject to tearing out easily, but the Veritas planed it perfectly across the grain - it really does perform well.

Cross grain poses no real tear out problems with a good scharp skew. It the along the grain part that poses the real problems, not of a bit of tear out, but of the blade digging in. (The lower the blade angle seems to be the more likely it becomes)

When having only one of this plane (or the edge plane) will force you to plane against the grain at times. For instance when raising a panel with this one or for planing a rebate on a box bottom or lid). When having to plane rebates for some door to receive a glass panel, the wood can be selected to have all planing with the grain.

The same goes for the edge plane. Having to square up both edges on a board poses the dig in problem. When you have only one you can't plane both sides from the reference face. Again gross grain / end grain poses no problems.

 

[MarcW]

Paul,

Fantastic pictures, nice review and I sustain every word you wrote. =D>

I'm delighted too 8)

 

[Paul Chapman]

Paul,

Fantastic pictures, nice review and I sustain every word you wrote. =D>

I'm delighted too 8)

Thanks, Marc. I noticed from your blog that you have just bought one 8)

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[bugbear]

. I've had my #778 since 1971 and hardly ever use it. In the review I deliberately did those two shallow rebates and made them line up perfectly - I would have struggled to do that with the #778.

Going 90 degrees cross grain with a straight blade leaves an awful surface, even with sharp blades and fine cut.

BugBear

 

[Escudo]

Thanks for that informative review Paul.

I would like to have a play with one of those planes, they certainly look very good.

Cheers, Tony.

 

[custard]

I looked on the Brimarc website but can't find these listed. Do you know if they're available anywhere in the UK yet?

 

[custard]

I couldn't find these in the UK so took advantage of the Veritas intro offer on their Canadian web site and ordered direct, parcel arrived this morning.

It'll be a real pleasure to produce the occasional rebate without a screaming router or the cross-grain tear out of a 778.

 

[Paul Chapman]

Let's know what you think of the plane, Custard.

Cheers :wink:

Paul