For my other posts about woodworking tools, follow this link.
The plane is one of the canonical tools of a woodworker. In every soft-focus TV ad that wants to convey tradition and craft, you see a shot of a cabinetmaker running a plane along a piece of wood. There he'll be, putting the finishing touches on something with a tool that everyone will recognize. Perhaps in close-up, perhaps in an pan shot, you'll see the gnarled old hands of the master easing the plane forward, a thin curl of wood shavings rising up and away like the breath of an angel sent back to heaven.
I'm here to tell you that when you use a jack plane, that's exactly how it is. I recently had to trim a sticking door, which was square but was sticking because the doorjamb was not. With my jack plane (one of only a couple I own), I angle-shaved one corner until it matched the dimensions of the jamb. When I was done, it closed perfectly. While I was planing the door down, I got a whole mass of those angel curls. So, yes, it's just like in the TV ads.
That is, it's just like in the TV ads IF you have the wood oriented properly with respect to grain and angle of cut, IF you have the depth of the blade set properly, IF you have the backing plate set at the correct angle, IF the blade has been sharpened properly, IF the blade has been set square in the plane clamp, IF you press down with the right pressure (but not too much) and IF you go forward with smooth, steady confidence (but WITHOUT going too fast or too slow).
If any of these are done wrong, the plane bites and binds, taking chunks and pieces from the wood, stuttering and rasping as you shove it along. What you end up with looks like it got caught in a gravel crusher instead of being as smooth as melting ice.
There are a thousand ways to hack a piece of wood up with a jack plane, but only one way to gently remove long curls of wood 1/32" thick. When you see those commercials and watch that old geezer shaving up the workpiece with an expert touch, just realize that it's harder than it looks.
............................
Follow this link to read another blog in the A to Z Blogging Challenge!
||| Comments are welcome |||
Help keep the words flowing.
J is for Jack plane
I'm here to tell you that when you use a jack plane, that's exactly how it is. I recently had to trim a sticking door, which was square but was sticking because the doorjamb was not. With my jack plane (one of only a couple I own), I angle-shaved one corner until it matched the dimensions of the jamb. When I was done, it closed perfectly. While I was planing the door down, I got a whole mass of those angel curls. So, yes, it's just like in the TV ads.
That is, it's just like in the TV ads IF you have the wood oriented properly with respect to grain and angle of cut, IF you have the depth of the blade set properly, IF you have the backing plate set at the correct angle, IF the blade has been sharpened properly, IF the blade has been set square in the plane clamp, IF you press down with the right pressure (but not too much) and IF you go forward with smooth, steady confidence (but WITHOUT going too fast or too slow).
If any of these are done wrong, the plane bites and binds, taking chunks and pieces from the wood, stuttering and rasping as you shove it along. What you end up with looks like it got caught in a gravel crusher instead of being as smooth as melting ice.
There are a thousand ways to hack a piece of wood up with a jack plane, but only one way to gently remove long curls of wood 1/32" thick. When you see those commercials and watch that old geezer shaving up the workpiece with an expert touch, just realize that it's harder than it looks.
............................
||| Comments are welcome |||
Help keep the words flowing.
Haha, great post, and a great reminder that the word "hand" in "hand tools" is the important part!
ReplyDeleteFor some reason that I can no longer remember, I bought a spokeshave plane in high school, and took it with me when I went to college. It came in handy that first day, because the door in my dorm room was binding against the metal frame. Some people, who became fast friends, found I had the tool and did the job without my even asking. They pulled the door off its hinges, and trimmed off the offending wood. Two minutes, and I had a non-sticking door. (And I'm still wondering why I bought that thing, I'm sure I thought I had a use for it back then.)
How did they trim a door with a spokeshave? Those have curved blades. Was it an enclosed drawknife?
DeleteYes, it was a flat blade, which would (I guess) make it an enclosed drawknife. Amazingly enough, Wikipedia isn't completely right. :-)
DeleteI've always referred to this as a plane, but didn't know it was named a Jack Plane. And I can't even remember the last time I used it.
ReplyDeleteIt's called a "jack" plane because it's a basic, jack-of-all-trades plane, used for a variety of planing jobs. This is in contrast to specialized planes like molding planes, flush-cut trim planes, etc. I don't do much planing, so I don't have much need for anything beyond this generalist.
Delete