Musings on historical plane lenghts.

[David Carroll]

Who knows how authoritative these authors were, but to dismiss the information and then resort to guessing as our best next tool to discuss this topic is pretty absurd. If I don't know, I don't know, I wouldn't try to imagine what was going on then.

Huh, I LOVE trying to imagine what was going on then! Typically any project of mine starts off with surfacing wood with all of the planes mentioned. It takes a long time, but gives one a fair bit of time to ponder such questions while ankle deep in shavings.

Since woodies have been around longer than mass produced metal planes, I assume that there was already a pretty mature nomenclature already in place before metal planes came into common use. But, I imagine that the names varied from place to place, in the same way that long sandwiches can be called subs, grinders, hoagies, or wedges, depending on where you're from. People argue pretty fiercely about this topic as well. The correct answer is 'Grinder" by the way.

I don't think the Nomenclature was universal. But generally, I think the names referred to the function of the plane and less so to its length. The one glaring exception is the Jack Plane. So I did some digging into the the term "Jack" plane. I found this quote:

"The term (Jack of all trades...) is used derogatorily to describe a multi-skilled person with average efficiency. He is therefore a “Jack of all trades, but master of none”. The term’s origin goes back to when Jack was used as a generic name for any general representative of the common people. Usage of the phrase dates back to the 14th century and an example is found in John Gower’s Middle English poem Confessio Amantis (1390).

It's interesting to me that the original phrase originally didn't include the last bit, "but master of none" until the 18th century, so at the time Moxon wrote his book, there wasn't the derogatory association with the phrase in the way there is now.

So applying this to a plane suggests that the jack plane was a common multi-use tool, less specialized than smooth planes or jointers. This seems to fit.

Still musing...

DC

[steven c newman]

Hmm..Jack Tars ring a bell?

Jack was not the only name used this way.....common nickname my ancestors were called? "Paddy" of course...

A "jointer" plane...mainly used by those that were called "Joiners"......working as Carpenters during the spring through to Harvest season..then stayed inside and built furniture for people.

BTW: look up about the French Journeymen Carpenters...as they are still around, and working to rebuild a church in Paris that suffered a bad fire.....Notre Dame, ring a bell...

[Rafael Herrera]

I also like to imagine what it was like, but I also try to keep my own preconceptions and ignorance out of the story.

Regarding the jack plane purpose. Given the description on how to setup and use it given in the Nicholson book, I interpret the allusion to "jack of all trades" as to mean it was a plane capable of being used for different purposes, provided you set it up accordingly. I had thought at some point that the plane could do all kinds of tasks as is. That's obviously wrong, if setup for softer woods and heavy removal, then it can't be used to shoot edges on short boards, for example.

The term jack is used in so many contexts, "jack stud" in architecture, "jack tar" to refer to silors, jackass, and many more. Who knows if the plane actually has any connection to "jack of all trades" at all.

Nicholson's book on woodworking was first published in 1812 and drew from his experience as a cabinetmaker in the 1780s. The name of the planes and their use, it seems to me, and as listed in the book, have not changed much in the English language world. A smoothing plane was called the same 250 years ago.

Jack and fore planes naming issue, it was indeed the name given to the same type of plane in different trades. Moxon, 1693, https://archive.org/details/bim_eigh.../n213/mode/1up. How a fore plane became a Stanley no. 6? who knows. Would I give more weight to Stanley on this subject? No.

The "long plane", that name definitely fell in disuse.

Rafael

[steven c newman]

Aka..Gluing Plane?

[David Carroll]

I also like to imagine what it was like, but I also try to keep my own preconceptions and ignorance out of the story. Rafael

I guess that's why internet forums are not Academic Journals. There's room here for preconceptions and ignorance. The burden of proof is thankfully less. It's why people participate, I suppose. The great thing is how friendly and instructive it can be.

DC

[Rafael Herrera]

I was referring to myself. People can say whatever they want, but should also be willing to be shot down by anyone else. People can say that I'm full of s**t, if I can learn something, that's worth it to me.

[Jim Koepke]

Re: Jack of all trades:

It's interesting to me that the original phrase originally didn't include the last bit, "but master of none" until the 18th century, so at the time Moxon wrote his book, there wasn't the derogatory association with the phrase in the way there is now.

Back in the 1970s, I recall people who could tackle many tasks were also referred to as being a "Renaissance Man." Instead of buying pre-fabricated items, they would make their own. They could work wood, metal or glass. They would do their own car repairs and were capable in many other skills.

Some of them made a good living buying a derelict house and repairing the structure, replacing windows, fixing plumbing and wiring along with pouring concrete for driveways. In essence, they were a Jack of all trades.

jtk