A boy buying his tool outfit is often bewildered by the array in the
hardware store. He is further confused by the advice of the salesman,
and his own little store of money.
In selecting planes, only three are really necessary for ordinary work,
and this number may even be reduced to two.
Wooden planes are still the favourite tools of some woodworkers, but
iron planes have largely superseded them. A 15-inch iron jack plane, a
9-inch smoothing plane, and a block plane make a very good combination
for a beginning.
Special planes can be added later, as the finances will allow.
The iron plane with its various parts is shown in Fig. 111. These refer
to either the jack or the smooth plane.
In the block plane there is no cap iron, the cutter or plane iron being
placed with the bevelled side up. There is frequently found on this
tool an adjustment for changing the amount of opening in the mouth for
hard or soft woods.
The plane iron and cap are fastened together with a set screw, and the
cap is removed when it is being ground or sharpened on an oilstone.
This set screw, which is loosened with a screw-driver, or the edge of
the clamp used as a screw-driver, also allows the distance from the
cutting edge to the cap to be changed for soft or hard woods. These two
irons are fastened into the throat of the plane by the clamp.
[Illustration: Fig. 111. The smoothing plane]
The lever (1) is for straightening the plane iron, and the screw _s_ is
for adjusting the depth of the cut.
The difference between the jack and smooth planes, aside from the size,
is in the shape of the "cutter" or "bit." In the jack plane, the bit
is ground with a slightly curved cutting edge. This enables the tool to
remove coarse shavings, but leaves a slightly corrugated surface which
must be smoothed with the smoothing plane.
The jack plane also tends to straighten the work, owing to its greater
length. The greater the length, the more does it straighten. The
old-fashioned jointers were made several feet long for this very
purpose.
If a boy can afford only one plane, it should be a jack plane, but the
cutter should be ground straight to act as a smooth plane.
The block plane can be dispensed with better than any of the others,
because the smooth plane can be used on a shooting board for truing up
end grain, the original purpose of the block plane.
The latter plane has no cap, as it works on the ends of the wood fibres
with a shearing or paring action. This is helped by holding the tool
at an angle with the wood, a position not advisable with the other two
tools.
[Illustration: By the Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.