DID YOU KNOW…

The descriptive terminology used by planemaker’s and collectors can be somewhat confusing to the beginner. For example there was never any real standardization of the various parts of a plane as such, but the names tended to follow the same general pattern.


Specialty Wooden Planes And Scrapers

This is the final installment regarding the description and purpose of woodworking planes by W.F.M. Goss in the book “Bench Work In Wood: A Course Of Study And Practice Designed For The Use Of Schools And Colleges”. This book was first published by Ginn & Co, Boston in 1888 when all wooden planes were being steadily replaced with cast iron planes made by Stanley and other makers. W.F.M. Goss was a professor of practical mechanics at Purdue University in Lafayette, Indiana.

Much of the information contained in the book is still quite relevant today, even though the publication is now over a hundred years old. Advancements in tool steel technologies and the introduction of plastics are the main differences that have occurred over that time, handplane-wise. Many of the same tools and techniques described within the book are still being used today, albeit on a more limited scale, just as they were back then.

This final section briefly describes some of the more “specialized” bench planes used by the makers of the day.

Specialty Planes

Rabbeting-Planes have narrow stocks. The cutting edge is set in the face of the plane obliquely, and the iron is wide enough to extend beyond the sides of the stock, as shown by Fig. 101. Rabbeting-planes are designed for use in interior angles. The oblique position of the iron produces a shearing cut which promotes smoothness in action.

The shaving of the rabbeting-plane instead of passing through the stock is turned in such a way as to be discharged from one side; an arrangement common to matching-planes, beading-planes, moulding-planes, and plows.

Matching-Planes are used to form a tongue and a groove, as shown respectively by a and b, Fig. 102.

Wooden matching-planes, Fig. 102, are sold in pairs, one plane being fitted with a single cutting edge, to form the groove, the other with a double cutting edge, to form the tongue. Both are guided by the “fence” C, which moves in contact with the working face of the piece operated upon. The groove and the tongue should both be carried to as great a depth as the plane will cut.

An iron matching-plane, designed to serve the purpose of the two wooden ones, is now in general use. Its fence is pivoted to the face in such a way that it can be turned from end to end; in one position two cutters are exposed and the plane is adjusted to form a tongue; when its position is reversed, the fence covers one of the cutting edges, and puts the plane in shape for marking the groove.

The size of matching-planes is indicated by the thickness of the material they are intended to match.

Hollow and Round are terms applied to such planes as are shown by A and B, Fig. 103. They are used, as their forms suggest, in producing hollows and in rounding projecting edges. Their size is indicated by a number, or by the width of the cutting edge.

Beading-Planes are used in forming beads, and they may be single or double, that is, form one or two beads at a time. For beading on the edge of work, they are provided with a fence, A, Fig. 104. For use away from the edge, they are made to form three or more beads at the same time, and have no guide, in which case they are known as reeding-planes, Fig. 105. The first three beads are made with the plane guided by a straight-edge temporarily fastened to the surface of the work; the remainder are formed by using those already made as a guide, the plane being moved into new work at the rate of only one bead at a time. Other beading-planes, more complicated than those described, are constructed on much the same principle as a plow. The size of a beading-plane is indicated by the width of the bead it will form.

Plows are used in making rectangular slots or “plows” of any width, depth and distance from the working-edge of the material.nThe width of the cut is ordinarily determined by the width of the iron used. A set of irons is supplied with the tool, which is shown by Fig. 106. A plow wider than the widest iron can, of course, be made by going over the work a second time. The depth of the cut is regulated by a little shoe (not shown), which is raised or lowered by the screw A. When this is adjusted, the tool can be used until the lower surface of the shoe comes in contact with the face of the work, after which the cutting ceases. Care should be taken that the full depth is reached at all points along the length of the work. The distance between the groove and the working-edge is regulated by the fence B, which is adjusted by nuts C acting on the screws D. When ready for use, the fence should be parallel to the narrow iron face-piece E.

Combination Planes which may be used in place of the plow, beading-plane, rabbeting-plane, etc., are found on the market, and many of them are serviceable tools.

Scrapers. — Hand-scrapers are made of saw-plate — material of about the thickness of a panel-saw blade, and having the same degree of hardness. They are usually rectangular, and about 4″ x 5″, but may be of almost any size and shape. The cutting edge is most easily formed by the production of a surface at right angles to the sides, as indicated by ab, Fig. 107, thus giving two cutting angles, cef and dfe. When a more acute cutting edge is desired, the form shown by Fig. 108 may be adopted; but, as a rule, there is little gained by the keener cutting edge, and double the labor is required to keep it sharp.

Scrapers are sharpened by filing or grinding. If smooth work is to be done, the roughness of the edge may be removed on an oilstone, but the rougher edge will cut faster and, generally, will be more satisfactory.

Fig. 109 shows a scraper mounted somewhat like a plane. The scraper blade A, by means of two nuts B, B, may be changed from a position inclined to the face, as shown, to one perpendicular to the face.

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