How to Use Hand Planes to Change Thickness
If a board you want to use for a project is too thick, you can shave it down with a hand plane to make it the thickness you need. Traditional carpenters use a scrub plane, followed by a jack plane, for cutting down and then taking the roughness off boards. You can recognize a scrub plane because the blade is slightly rounded so it can cut deeper into the wood. A jack plane has a flatter blade to smooth the surface.
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Instructions
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Sight along the edge of the board to check for warping or cupping. If it's not straight, snap a chalk line along the edge and use that to mark the new thickness. Mark a line around the edge of the board to show the thickness you want it to be.
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Lay the board on a workbench with the end of the board butted against a firm stop. If the board is warped or uneven, work on the high areas first. Grasp the two handles of the scrub plane and stroke it at an angle to the board's grain. The slightly curved blade of the scrub plane will cut into the wood, leaving shallow gouges as it pares off the top layer. You can smooth these out later. Plane using overlapping strokes until you've removed most of the thickness you need on one side, then turn the board over and work on the other side until it's roughly flat on both sides and only about 1/16 inch thicker than the final thickness you want.
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Plane away the remaining gouge-marks and roughness on one side with a jack plane. Adjust the blade so it produces a thick shaving while still sliding comfortably. Grip it in both hands and stroke it diagonally across the grain, smoothing away the unevenness without changing the flatness of the board.
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Raise the blade of the jack plane and plane the board again, stroking with the grain until the surface feels smooth and even.
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Turn the board over and double-check the thickness by measuring the edges. Plane this side with the jack plane set to cut deeper, cutting away just enough wood to make the board the thickness you want. Raise the blade of the plane and plane along the grain to smooth this side also.
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Tips & Warnings
Practice a smooth planing stroke that begins with most of the pressure on the front of the plane, shifts to the center, and then ends with most of the pressure on the back of the plane.
If a plane seems too hard to push or cuts too deep, raise the blade. If it cuts too shallowly, lower the blade. If it chatters or makes a cut deeper on one side than the other, adjust the blade so it's held firmly and even with the bottom of the plane, neither side of the blade extending further than the other.
References
- Photo Credit wood planes from another era image by monamakela.com from Fotolia.com
