The hand plane belongs to the main group of carpentry tools and has been used for centuries. With them you get flat wooden surfaces, moldings, recesses, slats and other results that make the hand plane a basic tool of every craftman.
It is made with a rectangular wooden box with a blade inclined in the interior, similar to a chisel. The blade is attached to the box by a wedge fitted to the opening. According to the degree that the metal sheet protrudes, the cut will be more or less deep. Today there is a wide variety of such tools, some of them very elaborate.
Types of hand plane
– Hand jointer: one of the oldest and most used tool. It has a long brush and a width between 5 and 8 cm. There is has a handle, always located near the blade. In this way, it is possible to control the impulse.
Thanks to its length, the hand joiner allows long and straight brushing. That is why it is the best option to flat surfaces.
– Jack plane: it is the small brother of the previous one, with a width inferior to 4 cm and is used to devastate surfaces, especially if they have knots or irregularities.
– Rebate plane: this is a smaller brush than the traditional hand planes, but with a blade that covers the whole width. Its function is to low entrances in the wood, for example, of a door. Thanks to this shape of the blade, it is easier to reach the corners by maintaining a right angle.
– Toothbrush. Although the name confuses, it is not the one you use in the bathroom. This brush is characterized by its almost perpendicular blade and a cutting edge with very close and tiny teeth. Thanks to these, the toothbrush makes splints on the wood.
– Handle metal brush. AUnlike the previous ones, this type of brush has a metal box. They are usually made of iron or steel, which increases their cost. Even thought, they offer more lightness, something to consider if we are going to use them frequently.
It should be said that its use requires a certain technique and a lot of pampering. Their adjustment, being more precise, is more sensitive to possible misalignments, so they require more attention than other carpenter brushes.
Special hand planes:
– Curved hand plane. If you have to level a concave or convex surface, this is your tool. Thanks to its flexible steel blade and its nut system, it is possible to regulate the curvature of the foot and the depth of the blade.
– Bevel-up jointer. Apparently it is almost the same as a rebate plane, but with a ruler fixed to the base that can be graduated. Depending on the position of the ruler, we can determine the depth and width of the cut of the blade. Thanks to this, the jointer is a precision tool, very used in brushing works that require great detail.
– Plow plane. If we need precision, this brush could not be missing. It is used to make grooves in the wood, also called “channels”. This brush allows to change the blade, according to its width and depth. In this way, with the same box, we can have as many types of slot as we have.
– Modular hand plane. Do you know how they made the moldings before the electricity existed? They used this brush. It has the same dimensions as a normal brush, but the blade and the base has a profile with the negative of the molding. In this way, when we brush with a corner, the wood will take the form of the molding.
In this case, it will be necessary to have at least one brush for each type of molding / drawing. To ensure a clean cut without splinters, the blade should be perfectly sharp and the base of the brush clean and square. Any imperfection can annoy the project.
Tip: if you are starting carpentry, the best options are a hand jointer and a rebate plane. With them you will be able to cover the majority of works that require brushing or recessing of the wood.
Remember that it is very important to get a good cut. Before starting to use the brush, clean it and remove any impurities in the box or in the blade. Make sure the blade is sharpened, otherwise you will be making more force than necessary and you may end up splintering the surface or breaking the blade. They are precision tools and require a lot of attention and care.
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