A proficient occupation like carpentry, furniture making, and woodworking demands ample perseverance, devotion, and most notably, proper equipment. Despite the presence of user-friendly, compact, and cost-effective power tools, skilled makers still rely on certain traditional hand tools. A notable example being a hand plane.
Hand Plane
An indispensable tool in woodworking is the hand plane, which provides the enjoyment of achieving wonderfully sleek surfaces. Essentially, it is a chisel inserted into a sturdy wooden or metallic frame and used mainly for refining edges and smoothing or leveling surfaces.
According to experts, the history of hand planes extends over 2,000 years. However, the fundamental operating principle of planes has remained unchanged throughout the years. As a matter of fact, the blueprint of a relatively modern hand plane goes back to the early 1700s.
The plane has handles located both at its front and back, which allow for easy maneuvering as it slides along the length of the wood. Hand planes come in a variety of types, each suited for specific tasks. These may include Bench Planes, Block Planes, Jack Planes, Jointer Planes, and Smoothing Planes, among others.
Mastering Hand Planes can be a challenging task, as issues with tuning, sharpening, and making other adjustments can arise. If a plane is poorly set up or has a dull blade installed at an unfavorable bevel, it can adversely affect your work. Therefore, numerous furniture makers prefer to steer clear of hand planes entirely.
The use of a finely adjusted hand plane can yield exceptionally polished surfaces and is a highly gratifying experience.
Types of Hand Planes
By browsing a tool catalogue or website, you’ll discover an abundance of diverse hand planes, which may be seen as intricate and intricate chisels. The size, quality, and speed of the shave are all determined by the type and layout of the tool in question.
1. Bench Plane
Whenever hand planes are mentioned, it generally refers to a bench plane, which happens to be one of the most widely used and challenging planes. These planes are primarily utilized on workbenches. It is crucial to note that the term bench planes encompasses a group of tools rather than a solitary one.
Bench Planes are versatile planes that serve various purposes, such as sizing, smoothing, tapering, flattening, and more.
2. Block Plane
A Block Plane is a common and regularly utilized hand tool in woodworking. For beginners, a Low-Angle Block Plane is often the initial hand plane they acquire. With a block plane, hand sanding the board’s edges is a simple task, allowing for fast and easy edge preparation.
You can choose between a 20° angle blade for general use or a lower 12° angle blade for working with hardwood. The block plane will make it easy for you to clean up the surface.
3. Smoothing Plane
We must smooth the joinery once it is cut, and this is where Smoothing Planes prove useful. A Smoothing Plane serves the exclusive purpose of planing a surface to a flawlessly smooth finish. No other hand plane can match the shine, depth, and clarity that Smoothing Planes produce.
By shaving off thin layers at the same time, they show lower aggression and higher grace. The smoothing plane flattens minor rough edges or surfaces, and it has a similar impact to sandpaper. The body is relatively small, measuring only 7 to 10 inches, making it ideal for smoothing small segments of the wood.
The hand plane is designed to fix minor imperfections on a surface and not intended for major alterations. Yet, it is very useful when a particularly refined finish is desired. Smoothing planes typically range from 7 to 10 inches in length and are ideal for achieving a sleek surface that has already been flattened by a larger bench plane.
4. Shoulder Plane
The Shoulder Plane is so named because of its purpose in trimming shoulders. While a backsaw can be used to saw the shoulders and cheeks of a mortise-tenon joint, a precise saw is required in order to accurately trim both the cheeks and shoulders and ensure that there are no gaps in the joint.
Shoulder planes are typically constructed from cast iron, although gunmetal is occasionally used. Due to the predominantly cross-grain nature of its work, a shoulder plane’s blade is angled at approximately 20°. The greatest advantage of using a shoulder plane is its ability to create extremely thin shavings when fitting joints.
5. Router Plane
The Router Plane is a multipurpose instrument that effectively smoothens the lower part of a groove, dados, and creates mortises for both hinges and inlays. Besides, we can use it for cutting tenon cheeks. The contemporary motor-operated alternative of the Router Plane, however, excels in both cutting and refining grooves and recesses.
The blade of a router plane is usually small and square and it projects below the sole. Most router planes have a cast iron body and two knobs (handles) to hold and control the plane. There is also a large throat to see the work and an adjustable cutter.
6. Chisel Plane
The design of a Chisel Plane is unique in that it lacks a forward sole for the blade. This feature poses a slight challenge when using the tool since there is no sole to help restrain the blade from diving, making it more difficult to control.
Chisel planes are not often utilized, but certain catalogs cite them as the primary tools for eliminating glue, refining dovetails and plugs. Moreover, we can utilize this tool for tidying up cramped spaces.
7. Rabbet Plane (Bench Rabbet Plane)
Rabbets play a significant role in the design of furniture, as they allow for cases and cabinets to fit snugly within them, drawer bottoms to fit securely within corresponding grooves, and door frames to be fitted snugly within their respective grooves through the process of rabbeting. A Rabbet Plane is an essential tool for furniture and cabinet makers, as it enables easy creation of step-like cuts along the edges of the wood.
To trim the sides, the rabbet plane’s blade protrudes beyond the face and cheeks of its body, allowing you to cut board sides as broad as the plane’s sole.
8. Plow/Plough Plane
The Plow Plane (also known as the Plough Plane) was one of the first types of combination planes. These are planes specially made for cutting grooves and, with varying blade sizes, one can create grooves of specific widths. Plough Planes are ideal for cutting grooves that secure panels within a frame, hold drawer bottoms in place, or prepare a surface for refinement using a molding plane.
9. Dovetail Plane
The Dovetail Plane shares the allure of a Plow Plane. It serves as a niche instrument that effortlessly creates sliding dovetails and precise tapered cuts. Few manufacturers include Dovetail Planes in their product offerings.
A dovetail plane’s design varies subtly from other planes in that it features a square fence, beveled fence, and four cutters that assist in producing sliding dovetails.
10. Jointer Plane
Jointing is the method of preparing the edges of boards to be square and straight, and it requires the use of a specialized tool called a Jointer Plane. This tool is employed to ensure that the board edges are ready to be glued or joined together.
A Long Plane, or a Jointer Plane, is notably lengthier than other planes with a usual measurement of 22 to 36 inches.
11. Bull Nose Plane
The bull nose plane is named after the resemblance it bears to a bull’s nose. It is a compact hand plane with a slender body measuring 3 to 4.5 inches, similar to a shoulder plane but shorter. The bull nose plane is ideal for work on tenons and other tasks demanding accuracy.
The bullnose plane’s blade is wider compared to its slim frame, ensuring that it doesn’t get caught on the rabbet walls. Some bullnose planes have detachable fronts, allowing the blade to function as a chisel in cramped areas.
12. Jack Plane
The Jack plane is proficient in various wood shaping and smoothing tasks due to its versatility, which is primarily influenced by its size that falls within the ideal range of neither too large nor too small.
The jack plane is a crucial hand tool, particularly for novice users, owing to its ability to take off wood faster than most planes, thanks to its slightly curved blade. Additionally, it delivers a smoother surface than some well-known alternatives such as the jointer plane.
The size of the jack plane varies from 12 to 18 inches in length.
13. Traditional Japanese Plane
Although Japanese planes are comparable to European planes in terms of simplicity and effectiveness, one distinctive feature of a Japanese plane is that it operates on a pulling motion instead of a pushing motion.
Getting accustomed to the hand plane may require some time, but once you become familiar with it, it will feel like any other standard hand plane. Mostly, the Japanese plane is constructed from one type of wood, other than some iron components like the blade. This sole material gives it an exclusive and uncomplicated appearance.
The Japanese plane’s blade is located nearer to the heel, allowing the dominant hand to move freely at the front end. Multiple planes may be necessary to complete various tasks due to the Japanese plane’s distinctive applications.
14. Fore Planes
Fast hand planes known as Fore Planes can tentatively do some surface smoothing. Their size varies from 14 to 20 inches, with their sole’s length presenting a difficulty when working on uneven surfaces with varying elevations.
Ideal for achieving a sleek surface without intricate designs.
A plane utilized for smoothing the surfaces of wood by removing small amounts of material is known as a scrub plane.
The speedy operational capabilities of scrub planes and small, slender hand planes are well recognized. Thanks to their sturdy and robust blade, they are able to rapidly minimize the dimensions of the wood.
Despite its ability to make deep cuts, the scrub plane may also create gouges, making it less effective in leaving a smooth surface. This type of plane is best used for reducing sizes rather than for smoothing surfaces due to its aggressiveness and speed.
Hand Plane Buying Guide
Purchasing a hand plane without any guide among the various hand planes on offer can pose a difficulty. Nonetheless, obtaining the appropriate information can simplify and enrich the purchasing experience. The following are some factors to take into account when buying a hand plane:
1. Material of The Body
Hand plane bodies are generally made of either metal or wood. While metal offers greater durability and wear resistance, it is also heavier. Prolonged use may result in physical strain due to its weight.
In contrast, hand plane bodies made of wood are lighter and enable extended use without inducing exhaustion. Nevertheless, they possess lower resilience. The selection of materials is contingent on the type of wood the hand plane is employed on and the duration of use.
2. Blade Angles
The manner in which the blade is angled can impact the amount and kind of wood that can be modified. For example, the blade in block planes with low angles remove thinner shavings whereas high-angled planes are better for scraping lumber.
3. Type of Frog
The blade supporting component of a hand plane is commonly referred to as the frog. The bailey and bedrock are the two prominent variations of frogs, each with distinct attributes. The effectiveness of the blade relies on the fit and style of the frog.
Notes placed on the margins of a page or document.
Tools known as Hand Planes are captivating. They can be employed for a variety of tasks such as readying and sizing stock, fitting and cutting joints, refining surfaces, creating ornaments, shaping, and more. This manual has introduced fundamental concepts of hand planes, the components of wood and iron cast planes, as well as distinct hand plane varieties.
Obtaining the appropriate hand plane has become simpler with increased information and guidance. It’s essential to understand that relying on one hand plane alone is inadequate for woodworking endeavors. Various kinds of wood planes are at your disposal, and you have the freedom to choose.
Fortunately, the majority of hand planes are reasonably priced, enabling individuals to amass a variety of types in their workspaces.
