The hand plane is one of woodworking’s most iconic tools. Used since Roman times in the Western world, the hand plane fashioned timbers for architecture, furniture, shipbuilding, and instrument making. It works by holding a sharpened iron at a precise angle in a wooden or metal body.
Hand planes are commonly used for flattening and truing board edges, smoothing lumber faces, cleaning up uneven surfaces, shaping or thicknessing curved pieces of wood and making precise cuts for fitting woodworking joints together. This examination of the hand plane will showcase the geometry of the blade and plane body, the four basic types of hand planes, how they each work, and what specialized hand planes can do for the woodworker.
Master Woodworker Gary Rogowski will lead us through a look into this woodworking symbol of hand tool excellence.
