QA

Question: How To Assemble A Hand Plane

Which way does blade go in hand plane?

Most scrub and bench planes are bevel down – that is, when the blade is secured in the plane, the bevelled edge is on the reverse side of the blade, facing down towards the workpiece.

How does a hand plane work?

A hand plane works by shaving off thin layers (shavings, or chips) as it is pushed along or across a piece of wood. This reduces the wood to the required size, levels it, puts a smooth finish on the surface, or cuts a recess that can be used in joint-making (joining pieces of wood together).

What angle should a hand plane be sharpened?

The primary bevel for chisels and plane blades is normally 25 degrees (a time-tested angle). If you look at the blade diagram above its perfectly acceptable, from a sharpness perspective, to hone the primary bevel flat and hone the back of the blade flat and where these two meet you can achieve a sharp cutting edge.

What is the difference between a bench plane and a block plane?

The blades on bench planes are angled at 45°, and they are positioned with the bevel side down. A chip breaker lies on top of the blade in a bench plane; it directs wood shavings up and away and helps to reduce the stuttering or skipping movement known as chatter.

What is a block plane best for?

A block plane has many other uses in woodworking. Typically, it is used for cleaning up components by removing thin shavings of wood in order to make a component fit within fine tolerances. Chamfering (angling square edges) and removing glue lines are some of the other uses woodworkers find for the block plane.

What angle should a block plane?

The standard block plane (#9-1/2) has a bed angle of 20 °. Since the blade is used bevel up, if we put a standard 25 ° bevel on the blade, we will end up with a cutting angle of 45°.

What is a chisel plane?

A Chisel Plane is not meant to function as an ordinary plane because it has no support ahead of the blade. However, as a clean-up tool, with the blade set flush with the sole, this plane excels at removing glue, trimming plugs and dovetails flush and also for working into hard-to-get-at corners, rabbets, etc.

How many hand planes do you need?

Most people opt for a number 4 size plane (pictured above). If your hands are a bit smaller, then a number 3 works great (pictured below). If you prefer a heavier smoothing plane to give more power to your planing, then a number 4-1/2 size smoothing plane is ideal (pictured below).

Which tool is used to make the surface plane?

For making the surfaces plain, metal jack plane is used.

What are the 3 steps for sharpening a plane blade or chisel?

You gotta stay sharp! Step 1: Sharpening. Flatten the bottom of the chisel by holding it flat to your sharpening stone and working it back and forth lengthwise on coarse, then medium, then fine grits. Step 2: Honing. After sharpening, honing brings the edge to a finer point. Step 3: Stropping.

What is paring chisel?

Definition of paring chisel : a long-handled hand chisel having a short thin blade for paring wood surfaces.

What is the best chisel angle?

Sharpen bench chisels with a 25° bevel angle for best results. If you want to add a microbevel (a thin, secondary edge right at the tip that makes touch-up honing easier), then go with 30° for O1 and 35° for A2. Paring chisels should be used only for hand-guided work, never struck with a mallet.

What Is a Number 4 plane?

The No. 4 smoothing plane is historically the most common size. It is an excellent balance of sole length and cutter width to be useful for typical furniture parts.

Can you hand plane across the grain?

Depending on how much material you need to take off, you could run it through a drum sander, or do the hand tool route and you a hand plane. Either way, you do not want to send parts through a planer cross grain. It is unsafe, bad for the tool, and will not produce a satisfying product in most cases.

What is a jack plane used for?

A jack plane is a general-purpose woodworking bench plane, used for dressing timber down to size in preparation for truing and/or edge jointing. It is usually the first plane used on rough stock, but for rougher work it can be preceded by the scrub plane.

What is a woodworking plane?

A hand plane is a tool for shaping wood using muscle power to force the cutting blade over the wood surface. Generally, all planes are used to flatten, reduce the thickness of, and impart a smooth surface to a rough piece of lumber or timber.

Can you use a block plane on plywood?

A block plane might work but you’re going to have a very tough time taking down 1cm of wood over such a long length. If you do use a plane, go in small increments and make sure you keep your blade as sharp as possible. A belt sander will work better, provided you use 40 or 60 grit sandpaper.

Are low-angle planes better?

Low angles tend to be better for end grain, and high angles better at avoiding tearout. That said, be careful when comparing “low angle” planes to others. Flip the same blade over so its bevel faces up and lay it down on a low-angle 15-degree bed, and the cutting angle is still 45 degrees.