Plane (tool)

Generally, all planes are used to flatten, reduce the thickness of, and impart a smooth surface to a rough piece of lumber or timber.

Hand planes are generally the combination of a cutting edge, such as a sharpened metal plate, attached to a firm body, that when moved over a wood surface, take up relatively uniform shavings, by nature of the body riding on the 'high spots' in the wood, and also by providing a relatively constant angle to the cutting edge, render the planed surface very smooth.

When rough lumber is reduced to dimensional lumber, a large electric motor or internal combustion engine will drive a thickness planer that removes a certain percentage of excess wood to create a uniform, smooth surface on all four sides of the board and in specialty woods, may also plane the cut edges.

Early planes were made from wood with a rectangular slot or mortise cut across the center of the body.

The wedge was tapped into the mortise and adjusted with a small mallet, a piece of scrap wood or with the heel of the user's hand.

Planes of this type have been found in excavations of old sites as well as drawings of woodworking from medieval Europe and Asia.

[2] Histories prior to these examples are not clear, but furniture pieces and other woodwork found in Egyptian tombs show surfaces carefully smoothed with some manner of cutting edge or scraping tool.

There are suggestions that the earliest planes were simply wooden blocks fastened to the soles of adzes to effect greater control of the cutting action.

The original Bailey designs were further evolved and added to by Justus Traut and others at Stanley Rule & Level.

[citation needed] In 1918 an air-powered handheld planing tool was developed to reduce shipbuilding labor during World War I.

The air-driven cutter spun at 8,000–15,000 rpm and allowed one man to do the planing work of up to fifteen men who used manual tools.

[3] Modern hand planes are made from wood, ductile iron or bronze which produces a tool that is heavier and will not rust.

It is also good for general purpose work such as taking down a knot in the wood, smoothing small pieces, and chamfering edges.

"Bedrock" versions of the above are simply 600 added to the base number (although no "601" was ever produced, such a plane is indeed available from specialist dealers; 602 through 608, including all the fractionals, were made).