You might be tired of me posting about parts for the Record 043, and that’s okay. This one is less new, but more about how I can quickly make a durable and good-looking fence for a little Record 043 I’m refurbishing.

Thee Record 043 planes with different wooden fences.
These are three Record 043 planes I've cleaned up that are looking for new owners.

Making a fence is pretty straightforward, and even moreso if you have a good starting point. I like to start with a pen blank, which you can usually find in exotic woods for under $5 here in the USA. This fence is a $5 cocobolo blank I picked up alongside some “bacon padauk” I found at my local lumber supplier. The other advantage to using a pen blank is that you get two tries if you screw up the first. When starting out, I often needed both because I’d overdrill a hole or end up planing the piece too thin (this is easy to do!). In addition to a pen blank, I use a Number 4 plane, eggbeater drill, carcass saw (filed rip), 1/2” chisel, slotted scredriver, and some #4 3/8” long slotted brass screws from Rockler.

Woodworking tools including a handplane, saw, chisel, and screwdriver on my bench.
The toolkit needed is pretty small, and this is a great starter project.

First, start with planing your blank smooth and square. Square is more important than smooth, because if the fence isn’t square, it’s not going to correctly guide your grooves and dados. This freshly sharpened Number 4 was taking feathery shavings from the cocobolo blank.

A number 4 handplane with shavings next to a cocobolo pen blank with wispy grain.
Perfectly square, and ready for ripping.

Next rip the pen blank in half. I just go right down the center. You can use a marking gauge to guide your cut, and we’ll be planing off the saw marks when you’re done.

A closeup of a cocobolo pen blank with a kerf sawn down the center.
When ripping, go slow and flip it over more often than you think you'd need to.
A freshly sawn cocobolo pen blank.
Look at the purple hues hidden inside!
A pen blank mounted on the bench with a freshley planed face.
And just like that, the saw marks are gone and our fence is taking shape.

Now we’ve got a square and smooth fence for our 043, we need to mount it. Place your metal fence on top of the wood and use a pencil to mark out the screw locations. I use a 1/16” drill bit in my eggbeater drill and a painter’s tape flag to keep me from drilling too deep of a pilot hole. After drilling, I use a countersink bit and manually twist it around 4 or 5 times by hand just to give myself a bit better of a “target” for starting the screw.

Two pilot holes drilled into the wooden fence.
Using the metal fence as a guide, we now have two pilot holes in just the right location.
A countersink bit next to a slightly chamfered hole.
A countersink bit creates a chamfered edge around the hole. No need to overdo it, just a few twists.

Time for a test fit! Have a hard time clocking your screws? Make sure to always start both screws in the same orientation. If you start both screws with the slot the vertical position, you should be able to clock them to both be vertical or horizontal. With the fence on, make any adjustments to the length of your fence, and also trace out the cutter slot with a pencil.

A wooden fence screwed onto the Record 043 with a square and pencil.
This one was a bit long, so trimming it up.
A pencil line marking the location of the cutout on the wooden fence.
Mark the location of the cutout now, too!

I actually stop here sometimes. Once you’ve got a good fitting wood fence, that’s all you need. However, if you want to do an odd size rebate, you might need to let iron overlap the fence, and to do that you need to cut out a notch. With everything marked up, we can dismount the wooden fence, add a chamfer on all edges, and get to final trimming.

A Number 4 handplane next to a wooden fence mounted in a tail vise.
And I use my number 4 to chamfer the ends. You can use a block plane if you wish, but I prefer the control of having two hands on a plane.
The wooden fence with the notch cut with our carcass saw.
Trim the sides of the notch with a carcass saw, just like you were cutting the tail of a dovetail.
A chisel and pen fence on the workbench. A notch has been chiseled out of the fence.
Chisel out your waste and clean up the saw marks wit your chisel. You can add a bit of chamfering around the notch with the chisel.
The wooden fence with chamfers cut around the notch.
You don't have to be perfect with your chamfers, just don't go too deep.

For a finish, I prefer something fast and easy to maintain. This is a beautiful rosewood with nice grain I don’t want to darken, but I want to bring out the richness of the wood. So I am using Walrus Oil Cutting Board Oil. The oil and beeswax mixture will create a very smooth and good looking finish. I rub on just a few drops by hand. I’m not trying to soak the fence, just create a nice finish. The beeswax in the oil creates a really nice, soft finish when it’s had a chance to soak in. The fence will also resist sweat drops nicely.

A wooden fence rubbed with cutting board oil next to the other half of the pen blank.
The cutting board oil will soak in over the course of a few hours. You could just use wax, but I really like the feel of cutting board oil on the fence.

Once your finish has a chance to soak in, buff off any excess. Here I usually add a coat of Alfie Shine wax, wait another hour, and buff that off as well. You can keep building up coats of Alfie Shine if you wish, giving yourself 3 days between coats… but I’m not that patient.

The wooden fence assembled with the Record 043 fence.
The cutting board oil has soaked in and this was given another coat of Alfie Shine for a soft finish.
A record 043 plane resting on its back with the wooden fence fully visible.
And now you're ready for use!

That’s pretty much it, the whole project takes me probably 30 minutes to an hour cut the pen blank, the notch, chamfers, and apply the finish. It’s mostly about having fun making both a beautiful and functional addition to the 043.