On the shorter tenons, the router plane worked pretty well to trim the tenon to exact width. It couldn't quite span the gap of the 6" tenons on the stretcher, though. I mounted it to a board and could get the bit just low enough if I disengaged the depth control.






It worked ok for fit:


But I lost easy depth control with this approach, and the tenons were really prone to tear-out. They weren't very clean to begin with, because my Dado blade leaves tracks. Fortunately, I had the exact right tool for the job - A 60 1/2 Rabbet block plane.


This is the first block plane I personally purchased, and for a long time, I considered the 60 1/2 the dumbest purchase I'd made in a long time. I thought I could use it as a general block plane, with the added benefit of being able to cut right up to the line. I bought it as an upgrade to the $14 Stanley 220 Craftsman block plane my father gave me for Christmas in the 90s. And every bit of the 60 1/2 was miserable. It has a very close, non adjustable mouth that takes very shallow cuts, making it slow and tedious. The blade had to be razor sharp and perfectly aligned to be effective. I tried using it as a general block plane several times, but gave up in frustration and put it back on the shelf where the Stanley had been. In the intervening years, I learned to effectively sharpen, and bought a much nicer Veritas DX series block plane that was and is amazing and a joy to use. The 60 1/2 stayed idle for years. Then one day I had to shave some broad tenon cheeks, as I do here, and I realized all the things that made the 60 1/2 suck as a general plane made it ideal for the purpose it was actually designed for!

When shaving tenons, you work perpendicular to the grain. Instead of shavings, you end up with a bundle of tiny straws. That close non-adjustable mouth means you get excellent support for even gnarly grain, and you can make very precise adjustments right to the edge of the tenon.






Once I am clear to the shoulder, I level the broader area with my DX60 block plane.


The 60 1/2 Rabbet is not a plane I would buy again. But it had it's use case here, and performed it quite admirably.