Manual Training in WoodworkLesson VIII · Box Jointsp. 87

Lesson VIII

The Rabbet Joint How to cut a rabbet (rebate) joint by hand, in six operations

A rabbet is a step cut along the end or the edge of a board. For a box corner the step is cut across the end of the side; the end of the front sits in it, and the two are glued and pinned through the thin lip that is left. It is the simplest strong corner there is, and it hides the front’s end grain.

Begin the exercise Pin it

Time allowed: About 45 minutes
Grade: A first exercise
Joint: Corner, glued and pinned
Stock: 16 mm boards

Plate I

A finished rabbet joint: a honey-coloured pine front seated in a rabbet across the end of a pale poplar side, with three brads through the lip — Fig. 1. — The finished box corner. A, side (rabbeted); B, front; C, lip; D, brads; E, shoulder.

§ 1

The whole job at four times speed

Marking, sawing, paring, fitting, gluing and pinning, in twelve seconds.

Fig. 2. — The rabbet joint from start to finish, at 4× speed.

§ 2

Before you start

Two boards, seven tools and two settings of the gauge.

A pale poplar side board and a honey-coloured pine front board, both 16 mm thick, before cutting — Fig. 3. — The stock. A, side; B, front; both 16 × 130 mm.

Material
Part	Wood	Size
A, side	Poplar	16 × 130 × 180 mm, gets the rabbet
B, front	Clear pine	16 × 130 × 150 mm, cut square

Tools required

Marking gauge
for the width and the depth
Marking knife
for the shoulder line
Try square
to guide the knife
Backsaw
for the shoulder and the cheek
Bench chisel
25 mm, to pare to the lines
Pin hammer and brads
three 25 mm brads
Wood glue
on the cheek and the shoulder

Fig. 4. — Setting out, a section through the corner. w, width; d, depth; t, the side’s thickness.

The two settings. The rabbet’s width equals the front’s thickness: set the gauge from the front itself. Its depth is about half to two thirds of the side’s thickness; the rest is the lip, which covers the front’s end grain and takes the brads.

w: width = the front’s thickness (16 mm)
d: depth = ½ to ⅔ of t (10 mm)
t: the side’s thickness (16 mm)
lip: what is left: t − d (6 mm)

§ 3

The exercise: six operations

Each figure loops; tap it to pause, or slow it to half speed.

Step 1: Mark the rabbet.
Tools: Marking gauge, marking knife, try square, pencil

Fig. 5. — Mark the rabbet.

Set the marking gauge to the front’s thickness, straight off the board, and gauge the width across the side’s inside face and down both edges. Reset it to about two thirds of the side’s thickness and gauge the depth along the end grain and both edges. Deepen the shoulder line with a knife against a try square, and mark the waste with an X.

Note.Take the width from the front itself, not from a rule: then the front cannot help but finish flush.
Step 2: Saw the shoulder.
Tools: Backsaw

Fig. 6. — Saw the shoulder.

Lay the side face up and saw across the grain on the waste side of the knife line, keeping the saw upright, until the kerf reaches the depth line on both edges.

Note.Stop at the depth line. A kerf that runs deeper shows as a dark line on the inside of the finished box.
Step 3: Saw the cheek.
Tools: Backsaw

Fig. 7. — Saw the cheek.

Stand the side on its end and rip down the depth line, on the waste side, until the cut meets the shoulder kerf. The waste strip falls away by itself.

Note.Hold the board upright in the vice and watch the gauge lines on both edges as the saw goes down.
Step 4: Clean to the line.
Tools: Bench chisel (25 mm)

Fig. 8. — Clean to the line.

With the chisel bevel up, pare the sawn cheek flat in light passes. Then stand the edge in the knife line and pare the shoulder straight down, until no saw marks are left.

Note.Pare in from each edge towards the middle, so the far arris cannot split away.
Step 5: Test fit.
No tools: hands only

Fig. 9. — Test fit.

Drop the front into the step. It should seat on the cheek and against the shoulder, with its outside face flush with the end of the side.

Note.Proud? Plane it flush once the glue is dry. Shy of the end? The rabbet came out too wide.
Step 6: Glue and pin.
Tools: Wood glue, pin hammer, three brads

Fig. 10. — Glue and pin.

Spread glue on the cheek and the shoulder, set the front home, then drive three brads through the lip into the front’s end grain.

Note.Angle the brads a little, alternately up and down; they lock the corner like a dovetail.

§ 4

Examination of the work

Mark your own corner before the glue sets.

Fig. 11. — Flush outside, end grain covered.

Flush outsideThe front’s outside face is level with the end of the side.

End grain coveredThe lip hides the front’s end grain on the side’s face.

No gap at the shoulderInside the box, the front bears on the shoulder all the way across.

Brads in lineThree brads down the middle of the lip, none breaking out.

§ 5

Further study

The same step, cut along an edge, by other tools, and set beside the butt joint.

Fig. 12. — A rabbet along an edge, for a cabinet back.

(a) The edge rabbet for cabinet backs

Cut along the back edge of each side instead of across the end, a rabbet takes the cabinet’s back panel. Make it as wide as the back is thick (here 6 mm plywood) and deep enough to leave a sturdy lip (here 9 mm deep in a 16 mm side). The back drops in flush, its edges are hidden from the sides, and pinning or screwing it into the rabbets pulls the whole case square.

(b) Other ways to cut a rabbet

Tool	How
Rabbet or shoulder plane	A rabbet plane with its fence and depth stop cuts long edge rabbets in a few strokes; a shoulder plane trims the cheek and shoulder of a sawn one dead true.
Router	A bearing-guided rabbeting bit follows the edge, or a straight bit runs against a fence. Take it to depth in two or three passes.
Table saw	Two cuts at right angles, one on the face and one with the board on edge, or a single pass with a dado stack buried in a sacrificial fence.

(c) Rabbet or butt joint?

	Butt joint	Rabbet joint
Glue area	End grain against a face: little real glue strength.	Two glue faces, the cheek and the shoulder, with long grain on the cheek.
End grain	The full end of one board shows on the outside.	The lip hides the front’s end grain on one face.
Assembly	The parts slide about while you glue and nail.	The step locates the front; it holds square while you pin it.

§ 6

The model for study

Turn the corner over, scrub through the six operations, hide the tools, and look through the lip with the X-ray.

Interactive 3D model of the rabbet joint, cut step by step

· Drag to turn · pinch to zoom

0:00

§ 7

Common uses

Wherever a step can locate one part and hide an edge.

Box and drawer corners
The quick, tidy corner for boxes, crates, carcases and the backs of drawers.
Cabinet backs
A rabbet along the back edge of each side takes the back panel, flush and hidden.
Picture-frame rebates
The rabbet behind the moulding holds the glass, the mount and the backing board.
Door panels and lids
A rabbet round a panel or a lid lets it sit flush or drop in and stay put.

How to cut a rabbet joint in 6 steps: mark the rabbet, saw the shoulder, saw the cheek, clean to the line, test fit, glue and pin

For the workshop wall

All six operations on one plate

Pin the plate, or print it and keep it above the bench for your next box.

Pin it

End of Lesson VIIIknotandoak.comp. 87