Router Plane

While a router plane doesn’t share the same iconic status as a smoothing plane or a hand saw, its usefulness has earned it a place in my toolbox. Just as a hand plane smooths large visible surfaces of a project, a router plane levels surfaces that usually aren’t seen but are just as vital to the success of a project. These include the bottoms of rabbets, dadoes, grooves, tenon cheeks, and hinge mortises. The way a router plane does all this lies in its construction. An L-shaped blade extends below the sole to reach hard-to-get surfaces. The base acts as the reference to create a parallel surface within the joint. As a practical matter, the router plane ensures that grooves are a consistent depth from the surface or that tenon cheeks are free of twist for square assemblies. This simplicity of the design means this versatile tool is pretty straightforward to make rather than buy. It also results in a custom tool unlike any you’ve seen.