New hand plane user questions.

[Roger Bullock]

I am in the process of making 1 1/2" table tops from reclaimed barn white oak that is over 100 years old. Most of these former hay loft floor joist are around 2" thick. I've cut to 6 feet in length before milling. Even with this shorter length I have been running into twist and some bowing. Since I didn't own any hand planes and Woodcraft was having a sale, I decided now was the time to jump into neanderthal world and purchased a #4 Smoothing plane and a #6 Jack plane.

Prior to my plane order I read post after post on this forum, good source for info. As recommended here, once they arrived, I spent some time tuning and sharpening. I was amazed at the difference in cutting ability this step provides. OK now my questions.

1. How far back from the cutting edge should the chipbreaker or is it called the cap iron go?
2. What is the difference between a Jack and Smoother, they look the same?
3. My plan is to flatten out one side (remove twist and bow), then run through my thickness planner. What is the your method to remove twist and bow?

[Archie England]

I am in the process of making 1 1/2" table tops from reclaimed barn white oak that is over 100 years old. Most of these former hay loft floor joist are around 2" thick. I've cut to 6 feet in length before milling. Even with this shorter length I have been running into twist and some bowing. Since I didn't own any hand planes and Woodcraft was having a sale, I decided now was the time to jump into neanderthal world and purchased a #4 Smoothing plane and a #6 Jack plane.

Prior to my plane order I read post after post on this forum, good source for info. As recommended here, once they arrived, I spent some time tuning and sharpening. I was amazed at the difference in cutting ability this step provides. OK now my questions.

1. How far back from the cutting edge should the chipbreaker or is it called the cap iron go?
2. What is the difference between a Jack and Smoother, they look the same?
3. My plan is to flatten out one side (remove twist and bow), then run through my thickness planner. What is the your method to remove twist and bow?

Welcome to the hand tool side of the slope!

First: the longer planes (6, 7, 8) use the length of the plane as a ruler-like reference to create surface flatness (avg). So, to remove slight cups, twists, etc., you need to plane those areas out of square prior to smoothing (shorter planes: 3,4,4 1/2) the finished surface to a really fine finish (as much as 3-400 grit from sandpaper). The sharper your blade and more tuned your plane, the better the finish from a smoother (grain patterns matter, too).

More pronounced issues normally require cutting and regluing prior to planing.


I typically place a smoothing plane's chipbreaker 1/32 to 1/16th back from the edge--this definitely depends on how much camber (smoother, very little; jointer, some; and roughing plane, a lot) there is on the blade.

A Jack (typically, the #5)) is to some degree OSFA. It's almost long enough to joint yet nearly short enough to follow the surface and render a smoother-style surface. I have a couple that are fantastic for smoothing and jointing--but that's not the best tool for the job.

To remover bow, I cut my boards and try to salvage the straightest areas; otherwise, I end up with way too thin planks.
To remover twist, I plane off both exaggerated edges, use a cutting gauge to mark for my new thickness (allowed by what's left) and then attempt to re-square the stock on all four sides.

[Steve Friedman]

1. How far back from the cutting edge should the chipbreaker or is it called the cap iron go?
2. What is the difference between a Jack and Smoother, they look the same?
3. My plan is to flatten out one side (remove twist and bow), then run through my thickness planner. What is the your method to remove twist and bow?

Others with more experience may chime in, but for basics:

1. On the #4 - very little - maybe 1/32. On the #6 a tiny bit more, but it depends. For what you are trying to do, the #6 blade should be pretty significantly cambered (radius along the entire edge), which will force you to place the cap iron a little farther back fo let the blade protrude. If that blade is not cambered, this is going to take you a while.

2. The #6 should be significantly longer (almost twice as long) and around 3/8" wider, and much heavier than the #4. That's pretty much it.

3. To flatten one side, you need a straightedge and a pair of winding sticks. Put the board on a bench with the cupped side down. Shim to get any wobble out. Then use winding sticks & straightedge to find and mark the high spots that are causing the board to appear twisted or cupped. Next, camber the blade on the #6, open the mouth of the #6 (if it's adjustable), and start planing across (or diagonally across) the board until your markings are gone. Keep the blade far enough out to get shavings as heavy as you can handle and still maintain proper form. Sharpen when necessary. Repeat the winding sticks - straightedge - cambered #6 routine until your are getting full length shavings across every inch of the board (across and lengthwise) AND the winding sticks and straightedge confirm that you are flat. Next (ideally this is done with a longer #6 or #7) close the mouth of the #6 (a new un-cambered blade would be nice but not necessary) and start planing as above to get the ridges out that were left by the cambered blade. Focus un getting full-length shavings along the length of the board. Because the plane is shorter, you need to use your straightedge a lot to make sure there are no low spots along the length, When you think the board is flat and you are getting full length shavings in both directions with the tight-mouthed #6, move to your #4. The only purpose of the #4 is to smooth out the flat surface left behind by the #6.

[James Owen]

A chip breaker and a cap iron are essentially the same thing. The term "cap iron" often is used when talking about infill planes and wooden planes (particularly older wooden planes with thicker, tapered irons), while "chip breaker" is most often used when talking about Bailey-style metal planes. However, both terms are frequently used interchangeably.

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How far to set the chip breaker back? That's often a matter of personal preference, and is also dependent on your particular plane and iron set-up (what keeps it from chattering, etc.), as well as the wood that you will be planing. There's a lot of room for variation; the important thing is that the setting works for your particular plane. Play with it to see what works best. The following are what I generally use (YMMV):

Smoothing planes: usually about 1/32"; I like just a sliver of the the cutting edge showing; it seems to help eliminate chatter on thinner irons.

Jack planes: 1/16" to about 1/8" depending on the degree of camber to the iron. If the iron is very heavily cambered, then it usually gets set 1/16" to 1/8" behind the corners of the iron.

Trying & Jointer planes: usually about 1/16"; if taking heavier shavings, it might go as far as 1/8". Again, I tend to set it closer to the edge on thinner irons to reduce chatter.

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The essential physical difference between a smoother and a jack plane is length; the functional difference is the set-up of the iron and chip breaker. The jack plane is longer (about 14") to help with the initial flattening of the board, while simultaneously quickly removing unneeded wood; a smoother is shorter (about 9") so that it can follow the very, very slight peaks and valleys to put a smooth surface on the board. A jack plane will often have a (very) heavily cambered iron, while the smoother usually has a very slightly cambered iron -- just enough that it won't leave plane tracks when set to take a very light shaving (.001" or thereabouts).

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Plane sizes of Metal (Bailey-style) Hand Planes:

Smoothing Planes:

#3 -- 1-3/4" wide iron and about 7" to 9" long.

#4 -- 2" wide iron and about 8" to 9-1/2" long.

#4-1/2 -- 2-3/8" wide iron and about 9" to 11" long.

#5-1/2 -- 2-3/8" wide iron and about 14" to 15-1/2" long.

Jack Planes:

#5 -- 2" wide iron and about 14" to 16" long.

#5-1/2 -- 2-3/8" wide iron and about 14" to 15-1/2" long.

Fore and Try Planes:

#6 -- 2-3/8" wide iron and about 18" long.

Jointer Planes:

#7 -- 2-3/8" wide iron and about 22" long.

#8 -- 2-5/8" wide iron and about 24" long.

[James Carmichael]

Are you trying to edge or face the boards?
Please don't take this the wrong way, but that's some pretty rank wood to learn hand-planing with.

[Bill Houghton]

Some useful reading: "Planecraft," which Woodcraft sells for about $14, and which you can get for less on half.com or similar places (get the Hampton and Clifford version, knowing that you'll have to figure out the British terminology, rather than the Sainsbury version); in my opinion, one of the better books on the use of hand planes. And/or "The Handplane Book," by Garrett Hack, which also has good discussions of plane setup and use. The latter may be available in your friendly local library; if not, it's available for as little as $16 used.

[Roy Lindberry]

I am in the process of making 1 1/2" table tops from reclaimed barn white oak that is over 100 years old. Most of these former hay loft floor joist are around 2" thick. I've cut to 6 feet in length before milling. Even with this shorter length I have been running into twist and some bowing. Since I didn't own any hand planes and Woodcraft was having a sale, I decided now was the time to jump into neanderthal world and purchased a #4 Smoothing plane and a #6 Jack plane.

Prior to my plane order I read post after post on this forum, good source for info. As recommended here, once they arrived, I spent some time tuning and sharpening. I was amazed at the difference in cutting ability this step provides. OK now my questions.

1. How far back from the cutting edge should the chipbreaker or is it called the cap iron go?
2. What is the difference between a Jack and Smoother, they look the same?
3. My plan is to flatten out one side (remove twist and bow), then run through my thickness planner. What is the your method to remove twist and bow?

1. It doesn't really matter. This is one of those things where everybody has an opinion, but most of what I've heard, as well as my experience, says that it really isn't that critical. After all, wooden planes were planing wood for years without chipbreakers at all. So I just throw mine on around 1/16 to 1/8 and call it good. I don't worry much about it at all.

2. The difference is in their purpose. The Jack plane (also called the fore plane) is for taking off lots of material quickly. It usually has a heavily cambered (curved) blade and is set to take a very heavy cut. It also helps to have a much more open mouth to handle those thicker shavings. This can often be accomplished by adjusting your frog backward, though some people also file out the front of the mouth. The smoothing plane generally has only the slightest camber and a very tight mouth (frog adjusted forward) so that the sole keeps pressure on the wood until just before it is sheared by the blade. It also has a shorter sole to make it easier to work smaller areas.

3. The general, yet overly simplified, principal is to clamp the wood to your bench, and with the fore plane, hog off some wood across the grain to get rid of your high spots. A set of winding sticks is essential, as they will help you determine the twist in the board. After you have a basically flat (though scalloped from the cambered iron) surface, a larger, try plane or jointer plane is usually used to smooth the surface out. The smoothing plane and/or scraper will give you your finished surface, but I wouldn't use that until you are ready for a finished surface, or you risk marring it when running the piece through the planer.

This video might be of help to you as you look at the difference between some of the planes. Also, if you really want to learn to dimension stock by hand (even if only one side), then I recommend Rob Cosman's "Rough to Ready" video. Also, Bob Rozaieski has a good demonstration of it here.

Actually, this short series from the Port Townsend School of Woodworking is pretty good as well: Part 2, Part 3....you don't need to bother with part one.

[Roger Bullock]

Thanks for all the good advise and explanations. I have looked at the videos listed and have seen additional ones too. After reading and viewing, I have discovered that there are varied opinions as to amount of camber to add to the irons. One which I have tried for the #6 is to apply an 8 inch radius for the camber. Once sharpened and polished, it sure can hog off the material quickly.

What camber do you prefer and why?

[Jim Koepke]

What camber do you prefer and why?

As one who usually doesn't camber blades, my recent dive into the cambering world went unmeasured. Using a flat disk sharpening system my blade was just swung in an arc while honing. It is most likely a 6 - 8" radius. This blade is for a #5-1/4 plane.

The amount of arc or camber radius one wants to use would depend on the wood being worked.

The recent need for this was caused by having some chunks of apple finally getting dry enough to use. The piece was riven with a fro and were a bit rougher than my normal working stock.

Most of the time my lumber is construction grade smooth fir. There really isn't much need for a cambered blade to work these.

Most of my bench planes have multiple spare blades. One of my future projects involves a large hunk of wood that may require cambering a blade to use with a #5 as a scrub plane. That may be another year in the drying.

jtk

[Mark Hulette]

I have just received Chris Swartz's "Handplane Essentials" and it is a great reference for anyone (like me) that needs all the help they can get with tuning, sharpening and using any type of plane. Highly recommend his writing style and the info conveyed.

[Mark Roderick]

A few quick things to add:

1) When straightening boards by hand, I often use a serrated blade in my jack plane, then smooth with a jointer. It goes faster, I think.

2) If you want to see what camber can do, use a scrub plane. That's a plane with a relatively narrow iron that is cambered quite a bit. Promise and warning: it removes a lot of wood very quickly.

3) After straightening a lot of boards by hand I've decided to buy a wide electric jointer.