Rabbet

Cut recess or groove, often in wood

A rabbet (American English) or rebate (British English) is a recess or groove cut into the edge of a piece of machinable material, usually wood. When viewed in cross-section, a rabbet is two-sided and open to the edge or end of the surface into which it is cut.

An example of the use of a rabbet is in a glazing bar where it makes provision for the insertion of the pane of glass and putty. It may also accommodate the edge of the back panel of a cabinet. It is also used in door and casement window jambs, and for shiplap planking. A rabbet can be used to form a joint with another piece of wood (often containing a dado).

Rabbet joints are easy to construct, but are not as strong as some other joints. Nails and screws can be added to help increase the overall strength.

Etymology

The word rabbet is from Old French rabbat, "a recess into a wall",^[1] and rabattre "to beat down".^[2] According to the Oxford English Dictionary, "In North America the more usual form is rabbet".^[3] The form "rebate" is often pronounced the same way as "rabbet".^[3]

Methods

A rabbet router using a straight or rebate bit
Rabbetting or rebate plane or a shoulder plane
Circular saw with multiple passes (depending on width and depth)
Dado set in a single pass
Spindle moulder
Hand saw and chisel
Jointer equipped with a rabbet ledge

References

^ Harper, Douglas. "rabbet, n". Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
^ "rabbet". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
^ ^a ^b "rebate, n.2". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)

External links

"Rabbet" . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911.

Woodworking

Overviews

Occupations

Woods

Soft	Cedar (Calocedrus, Cedrus) Cypress Douglas fir Fir Juniper Larch Kauri Pine Rimu Spruce Yew
Hard	Afromosia Alder Andiroba Anigre Ash Apple Aspen Avodire Balsa Beech Bilinga Birch African Blackwood Australian Blackwood Boxwood Bubinga Camphor Cedrela Cherry Chestnut Cocobolo Cumaru Ebony Elm Eucalyptus Hazel Hickory Hornbeam Idigbo Imbuia Ipê Iroko Jarrah Jelutong Lignum vitae Linden (lime, basswood) Lovoa Merbau Mahogany (American, African) Maple Meranti Oak Padauk Pear Plum Poplar Purpleheart Ovankol Ramin Red Quebracho Rosewood Rubberwood Sapele Teak Totara Utile Walnut Wenge Willow Zebrano
Engineered	Cross-laminated Glue laminated Hardboard MDF OSB Particle board Plywood Wood-plastic composite

Tools

Abrasives Axe Adze Burnisher Chisel Drawknife Drill Fence Float Gimlet Gauge Impact driver Janka hardness test Jointer Mallet Milling machine Mitre box Rasp Router Shaper Sandpaper Square (Carpenters, Combination, Miter, Speed, Try) Thickness planer Timber-framing Veneer hammer Vise Warrington hammer Winding sticks Wood scribe Workbench
Clamps	Band clamp C-clamp F-clamp Flooring clamp Gripe Holdfast Mitre clamp Pipe clamp Sawbuck
Saws	Backsaw Bandsaw Bow Bucksaw Chainsaw Circular Compass Coping Crosscut Frame Fretsaw Hand saw Jigsaw Keyhole Miter Ripsaw Scroll Table Veneer Whipsaw
Planes	Bedrock plane Block plane Chamfer plane Compass plane Finger plane Fore plane Grooving plane Jack plane Japanese plane Jointer plane Moulding plane Razee plane Rebate plane Router plane Scrub plane Shoulder plane Smoothing plane Spokeshave Surform

Geometry

Joints	Birdsmouth Biscuit Box Bridle Butt Butterfly Coping Crown of thorns Dado Dovetail Finger Groove Halved Hammer-headed tenon Knee Lap Mason's mitre Miter Mortise and tenon Rabbet/Rebate Scarf Splice Tongue and groove
Profiles	Bead Bevel Chamfer Ogee Ogive Ovolo
Surface piecing	Binding Edge banding Intarsia Marquetry Oystering Parquetry Purfling