The Hand Plane Technique
Use a hand plane to smooth rough wood or reduce the thickness of a board. To get the most from a plane, make sure the blade is sharp. Planing may feel awkward at first, but with practice you can become more comfortable and recognize how to fix problems by raising or lowering the blade or holding the plane at a different angle to the grain. With special planes, you can also bead or round the edges of boards or create decorative molding, but the basic technique is similar.
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Instructions
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Place the wood on a work bench at waist height, with the side you want to plane facing up. Either clamp it down or place a stop at the end so it won't slide to the left as you plane it. If you're planing it to make it a particular thickness rather than just to smooth it, mark the finished line in pencil.
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Hold the plane with your right hand around the pistol-like handle at the back of the plane. Grasp the knob at the front of the plane with your left hand.
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Stand so your right side is toward the wood with your feet spread for balance. Set the plane on the wood so it's aimed at a slight angle to the grain. If you're planing rough wood, slant it more away from the grain. If you're doing final finishing planing, aim it more along the grain.
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Stroke the plane along the wood, pressing down slightly more on the front to help it cut into the board. A thin curl of wood should appear from the mouth of the plane ahead of the blade. As you near the end of a comfortable stroke, apply slightly more pressure to the back.
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Make another stroke the same way, overlapping the first. Work along the board until the surface is smooth overall. If you need to plane the board down to a line, go back over the surface several times if necessary until you take off the full amount.
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Tips & Warnings
If the plane chatters or vibrates, make sure the blade is tight. If that doesn't help, try raising the blade and taking off less wood with each stroke.
If a plane doesn't have a handle in front or back, cup your hand around the back and hold the front of the plane from above with your thumb on the near side and fingers on the far side.
If the plane seems too hard to push when you begin planing, raise the blade so less shows. If it skims the board without digging in, lower the blade slightly. There's usually a knob behind the blade which allows you to adjust it.
If you're left-handed, try reversing right and left and see if you feel more comfortable planing that way.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit woodworking plane image by Christopher Dodge from Fotolia.com
