Veritas side rabbet plane experience?

[Rob Young]

Short story long, at the KCWG we had a Stanly #99 side rabbet that recently suffered damage. It simply isn't reparable (and it wasn't me). 

Personally I have LN 98 and 99 pair and prior to that a vintage Stanley #79. The vintage #99s are OK but does anybody here have experience with the Veritas Side Rabbet?

Likes?

Dislikes?

It is ductile iron body which is a plus for a shared shop like the KCWG space. We get a lot of inexperienced users trying to do things with tools they aren't familiar with. I spend a fair amount of time fixing up issues with hand planes and hand saws after people (usually unknowingly) abuse them. Wondering if the LV side rabbet will survive.

[TroutStalker]

Short story long, at the KCWG we had a Stanly #99 side rabbet that recently suffered damage. It simply isn't reparable (and it wasn't me). 

Personally I have LN 98 and 99 pair and prior to that a vintage Stanley #79. The vintage #99s are OK but does anybody here have experience with the Veritas Side Rabbet?

Likes?

Dislikes?

It is ductile iron body which is a plus for a shared shop like the KCWG space. We get a lot of inexperienced users trying to do things with tools they aren't familiar with. I spend a fair amount of time fixing up issues with hand planes and hand saws after people (usually unknowingly) abuse them. Wondering if the LV side rabbet will survive.

I have one and I’m very happy with it. I don’t use it often but it’s invaluable when I screw up and make a dado that’s too narrow. I highly recommend it.

[andrewb]

I have one and I’m very happy with it. I don’t use it often but it’s invaluable when I screw up and make a dado that’s too narrow. I highly recommend it.

Same - I bought the pair for myself for Christmas several years ago.  Don't use them much and usually just the one but they work well as far as it goes.  Haven't had any issues with them holding up but mine live in a drawer when they're not in use so can't really say if they take abuse well.

[rwe2156]

I have one and I’m very happy with it. I don’t use it often but it’s invaluable when I screw up and make a dado that’s too narrow. I highly recommend it.

IMO, if you use good technique there isn't a reason for a dado to be that far off. If it is, the mating part is adjusted using a hand plane as above or the Kigoroshi technique.

Have one, never use it anymore and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone unless they have a lot of experience. Its not a tool that is used very often, and the blades are very hard to sharpen, the tool quite fiddly to adjust. My biggest issue is you're cutting 90° across the grain and outside the knife line, so if you need a clean crisp dado, its very difficult.

Its much easier and safer to plane down the inserted part to match the dado.

[AHill]

I had the LN pair and I sold them. I rarely used them. As rwe2156 mentioned, it's easier to trim the mating piece to fit the dado / groove.

[Rob Young]

I had the LN pair and I sold them.  I rarely used them.  As rwe2156 mentioned, it's easier to trim the mating piece to fit the dado / groove.

In my personal shop, I work hybrid (power + hand) and find them quite simple to use and valuable. Once set up they work great.

Add a router plane and I've got a solution for when the dado-stack isn't quite right or I don't want to see the "bat-ears" in a finished dado (plywood or solid wood, doesn't matter). 

I sold my #79 because I didn't care for the push-me-pull-you design. Found it easier to just set up the pair and always have them available to me.



As stated, this is for a shared shop space. One key tenet of the KCWG is teaching so we have a little bit of everything for people to try. So having a side rabbet isn't a bad thing.

[professore]

I will admit that I was first attracted to the LV side rabbet plane by the gizmocity factor but since acquiring it and using it I wouldn't be without it.  Granted I don't use it everyday and there have been times when I reduced the thickness of the piece going into the dado rather than taking a slice out of the dado but I have had more than enough use for it to justify its purchase.

Sharpening requires a little finesse because of the small blade size, especially the angled edge, but that hasn't been a war-stopper for me.  As with anything else YMMV.

Frank S in IA

[Tony Z]

Also have a hybrid shop and I have both LN and a Stanley. I find the LN lifesavers when needed (not that often). The Stanley, to me, is not that intutive.

Funny story about the LN's: my wife both them for me, maybe a dozen years ago. With the 88 & 89, she also bought spare blades! I told her it would take me several life times to use up the original blades.