Rabbet Plane is Just The Ticket

Woodwork satisfies in many and unexpected ways. One which may be peculiar to me is a lifelong desire for a bus conductor's ticket machine. When I was 5 years old and travelling to my Gran's on a Southdown Queen Mary with my Mum, the conductor's Setright ticket machine was the thing I most wanted in the world. I'd marvel at the conductor's expertise in setting the fare on the knurled wheels and then, of course, the magic moment when he turned the handle and the ticket came spiralling from the machine.
Half a century later this is exactly what I think about when this 1930s Steadman of Birmingham rabbet plane pares out a rabbet as crisply as a knife through a Cox's Orange Pippin, sending out the curled shavings like Southdown bus tickets.
The iron is skewed, imparting a shearing cut that leaves a clean surface while generating sideways pressure to keep the plane tight against the shoulder, and the escapement - where the shavings emerge - is cleverly tapered to guide the shavings to the side. Although a simple tool - just a block of beech wood and a sharp edge - its design is exquisite.