Rebate planes

[Ultima Thule]

The subject arose recently of out of square canvases and the problems of fitting them in to frames. Not an uncommon problem, and usually I resort to widening the rebate by a mixture of Stanley knife and chisel, a bit homespun but works. Are there any rebate planes designed for use with the relatively fine profiles that we use that might do a neater job?

[Not your average framer]

I've got an abundance of different types of woodworking planes and I'm good at setting them up fpr use andcorrectly sharpening the irons, or blades. Well, first of all you don't just need any rebate plane, you need a bull nose rebate plane, I've got one of those, it'scalled a Stanley model 90 and I can undo one screw and remove the front of the body of the plane so that I can plane right into the very corner of the frame, but I would not do that.

It would look like a bodge and it involves an unnecessary amount of risk that you don't have to take at all. All you have to do is to make the frame a little large and add a suitable flat slip inside the frame mouldings rebate before securing the painting in position behind it and the slip increases the effective rebate width, with the result of this meaning that the fact the painting is out of square does not show.

Why do something rather drastic, which may go wrong, when you can do something so quick and easy, which also can't go wrong. Simples!

[prospero]

A plane is no use if the frame is joined.

It's not easy to do even on a un-joined length. A Dremel with a sanding drum is your weapon of choice. Make a pencil mark where
the canvas is tight - usually a fairly localised area and nibble it out with the Dremel. Better than chiselling. One thing to be careful of
is making sure the tool doesn't runaway with you and fetch a chunk out of the sight-edge. Hold it with both hands.

If you want to widen the rebate all along, a router table is the best way.

[Abacus]

I use a multitool (like the fein multimaster)

https://fein.com/en_uk/m/oscillators/to ... ltimaster/

[fusionframer]

If a small bit to remove, chisel is easy and quick. All above options are good. Alternatively, a router with a guide and flush bit would allow you to extend the rebate as much as you would like, very quickly. The guide can be any straight offcut of timber. This will also leave a perfectly neat finish.

Nick

[Ultima Thule]

Thanks all for the input - food for thought there. I'll chew it all over...