Carpentry/Hand Tools/Planes

are ancient tools but very useful tools, if one knows how to use them. In their most basic form they can be thought of as a chisel that is held in a block of wood at a precise angle, called a bevel. Most western planes are oriented with the bevel facing up, and in order to understand why we must know the parts of the plane. The body of the plane can be called the shoe or the body, and the bottom of it can be called the sole. The sole must be very flat, and in wooden block planes a hard wood with straight grain is used most often oak. One can dress a metal plane by using emery cloth type wet dry high grit sand paper, on a piece of glass or marble which are both usually very flat. Next there is a slot in the sole of the plane, this is called the throat of the plane and the blade is fixed so that it is almost perfectly flat and even with the sole when the plane is placed sole down on the work bench. It protrudes maybe 1/16 of an inch or less in most cases unless doing rough planing of stock. The length and size of the plane determine its uses and the longest planes are called block planes, and for planing longer dimensions like boards longer than a foot or two. Smaller block planes also exist and to get started one need only aquire one or two long planes for finishing boards and one small block plane, usually the stanley 110 is the go to because it is cheap and versatile. It also happens to be one of the only affordable or available planes on the market with a bevel down design. When it comes to sharpening one must gain an understanding of the concepts of flatness, bevel, angles and angle of attack. the precise angle one sharpens to varies by species and condition of stock such as moisture age etc but it is more important to focus on maintaining a consistent bevel and flat cutting edge. The use of hand planes involves deceptively large amounts of force and can be tiring. This also makes the use of planes like any sharp tool dangerous, it is advised to consider using, making or buying a leather or other type of wrist guard or protection as in the event of slippage, uncontrolled grain variations or bad technique can lead to slips and this can create very large splinters that are deeply embedded in the palm of the planist. So be careful.