Adding a Knob to a Stanley No. 78 Duplex Rabbet Plane

I’ve had this Stanley no. 78 for a couple of months now and finally got around to really using it for the first time. Previously I had sharpened the iron and set it up for a few trial passes. I love the simplicity of setting up this plane, and it seems to stay set once you tighten the screws with a screw driver.

Getting rough wood ready to use on Display Case work station has been a slow process, but since I’m working on a 100 year old project, it makes sense to do at least some of the operations close to how they would have done them originally. Besides, the gym’s closed and it’s good exercise ;0).

On that note, I set out to cut rabbets in the frame that will be going on top of the case. The first ones were less than 24″ long so I set up in the vice. It went ok, but there wasn’t a good place to put your hand at the front of the plane. And you need your hand at the front of the plane to apply pressure, keep it running straight etc.

My hand was a sore the next day so I set out to find a solution before getting back to work.

A little while ago my friend brought his bench top lathe over and I turned a couple of knobs for a plough plane I’m attempting to rebuild. If I were turning a knob just for this plane I would do it differently. For a quick fix, this was a huge improvement!

Having a flat side on the knob added a couple of extra steps to get the washer to fit, but nothing a cut-off wheel and a file couldn’t handle ;0).

And it was worth all the extra work to get a knob on the front! It made using the plane set at a deeper cut so much easier! Plus my left hand wasn’t sore from trying to grip the side of the plane.

No. 78 with knob bolted to the front.

I haven’t tried the plane yet with the iron in the bullnose position, but this is simple enough to take back off that it really shouldn’t be a problem :0)

How have you modified your tools to make them more user friendly?

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