Planes (Hand tools)

A hand plane is a tool for shaping wood using muscle power to force the cutting iron (blade) over the wood surface. Some rotary power planers are motorized power tools used for similar tasks, but are less suitable for fine-scale planing, where a hand plane is used. Generally, planes can be used to flatten, reduce the thickness of, and/ or impart a smooth surface to a rough or non-flat piece of lumber or timber. Special types of planes are designed to cut joints or decorative moldings. Hand planes are the combination of an iron (cutting edge, blade), attached to a firm body at an angle, such that when moved over a wood surface it will remove relatively uniform shavings, by nature of the body riding on the 'high spots' on the wood, and also by providing a constant angle to the cutting edge, rendering the planed surface smooth. A cutter that extends below the bottom surface, or sole, of the plane slices off shavings of wood. A large, flat sole on a plane guides the cutter to remove only the highest parts of an imperfect surface, until, after several passes, the surface is flat. When used for flattening, bench planes with longer soles are preferred. A longer sole registers against a greater portion of the board surface which leads to a more consistently flat surface or straighter edge. Conversely, using a smaller plane generally allows for more localized low or high spots to remain. Though most planes are pushed across a piece of wood, holding it with one or both hands, Japanese planes are pulled toward the body, not pushed away. Woodworking machinery that perform a similar function as hand planes include the jointer that flattens one side of a board and then flattens a side 90 degrees to the initial side, and the thickness planer, used after the jointer which mills the opposite side of that milled by the jointer parallel to the jointed side. The job of these specialty power tools can still be done by hand planers and skilled manual labor as it was for many centuries. In this process, rough lumber is transformed to the dimensional lumber useful for furniture making.