# Confusion over plane functions - flattening board



## Shesho (Jun 12, 2012)

Hello,

I'm getting a bit confused despite researching about the functions of different planers, in the context of flattening a board. Im intending to buy some soon.This is what im thinking so far. 

Scrub plane - Used first if needed for fast stock removal, very basic flattening ability.

Fore Plane - Faster at taking stock away than a Jointer no7 plane not as long and doesnt create as flat a surface.

Jointer - Longest of three, produces flattening surface as wont ride over small humps in wood.


What i'm wondering is...

Whats the function of a jack plane as i'm sure ive heard some people saying they use them for flattening. I cant see where they would fit in though.

Also why couldnt you just go straight for the jointer no7 plane? After a scrub if it was necessary.


Any help would be appreciated, thank you.


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## firemedic (Dec 26, 2010)

You are correct in all but the foreplane. It's really not any quicker than the other bench planes. Quickness of stock removal is a function of iron depth and mouth. Quickness of task completion is technique.

You are absolutely correct in saying it makes sense to go from scrub to jointer. That would be your quickest avenue to a jointed board. In some cases you might use an aggressively set jack plane prior to the jointer to knock down some of the troughs from the scrub.

A smoother would be your last plane unless you then use a scraper plane such as a 112 or 87.

Coming back to 'quickness,' the scrub is obviously the most aggressive. The difference in the other is the order in which you use them and the technique used. Think of the unjointed board as the country-side made up of peaks and valleys. The longer jointer plane will take all of the mountain tops off and not remove any of the valley. Were a smaller plane used the plane will ride the sides of the mountain and remove a bit of the valley meaning more waste and more work.

I commend your forethought on the subject, you'll have a definite advantage in deciding what tools you want to start with.

I left out actual technique but this was a simple primer on it.


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## Shesho (Jun 12, 2012)

Thanks, I think different people might do it different ways. I will most likely try some flattening with just the scrub and no.7 and see how it goes. The peaks and valleys analogy is nice. 

I would imagine in terms of investing for quality, i imagine the no.7 would be the priority.


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## firemedic (Dec 26, 2010)

I failed to directly answer your question about the role of a jack plane, sorry. A jack plane is a 'jack of all and master of none' plane. It's the middle ground between jointing and smoothing. That said it's one of the most used planes in my shop. Well, in all honesty I probably use a 5-1/2 the most, but if I did not have it then the 5 would fill that slot. I keep one set pretty aggressively as a scrub of sorts but I don't use it as a scrub in the sense of flattening. I typically start with the jack when edge planing to knock down the high spots and remove the saw mill fuzz. I also use it for face jointing smaller pieces of lumber. It's most efficient to joint lumber after it's been rough cut rather than as a long board as you end up with less waste. Small board = small plane. There is no sense in jointing a 10"x8" drawer side with a No 8. A Foreplane (6) maybe but a large jointer is overkill. You will find that the size of the lumber, mostly, dictates the size of the plane when speaking of rough lumber prep.

You are correct in saying people have different methods, however my first post represents the 'generally accepted' method employed by most. 'the hand plane book' by Garret Hack mentioned in another recent post is indicative of this and may be a good place to center some of your research. Also, Swartz is very proficient with teaching the use of hand planes and is worth a look. In that same thread I suggested watching Roy Underhill's show "the Woodwright shop" and I'll recommend it to you as well as a good starting point for this endeavor.

Good luck! 

ps. When you have a minute stop by the intro section and tell us about yourself.


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## Shesho (Jun 12, 2012)

Thank you.

Would there be any harm in using a longer no.7 for a smaller board if thats all you had?

I'm going to have to make a part which will require the board to be a little over 60cm long and it needs flattening, im using the same board for a few parts so might extend that up to around 1 meter. Do you think a no.7 would be too long for that? It seems to me longer is better as long as you can handle it fine, I dont mind putting up with harder work untill I can get additonal planes if thats all the drawbacks of using a longer plane is.

At the moment all I have is a block plane, fairly long but narrow wooden danish scrub with crowned blade. I've been thinking the next step would be to get myself a no.7 as although it might not be as light and easy as a smaller plane such as jack, it can get flattening/edge jointing jobs done for more or less any size im likely to need (unless i'm mistaken).



> I also use it for face jointing smaller pieces of lumber. It's most efficient to joint lumber after it's been rough cut rather than as a long board as you end up with less waste.


Thanks for the tip, I hadnt thought of that. I have got a couple of books, cant remember their names, tbh they dont really go into really fine details which is dissapointing. I think the section dedicated to flattening a board is like 4 pages.

I'll try and get round to doing an introduction soon.


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## firemedic (Dec 26, 2010)

If the plane is shorter than the board it's not too long for it.

As for a large plane being used on small stock, it's not really a disadvantage other than a larger plane can be more difficult to manage and a difficult to manage plane can make for a bad result if not careful. Otherwise though, yes a 30" long plane can be used to joint a 3" long board.


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## Shesho (Jun 12, 2012)

I'm finding it hard to choose between buying a good 5 or a 7.

I have a scrub plane which i've tried out and I think its really been able to remove the bit of warp in a beam I had very nicely. The concave side seemed easier though.

What i'm not too sure of is whether I should do the whole beam which is just over a meter in one go or cut the lengths im using then surface them?

The longest length I see myself needing in the near future is 1.3 meters. Shortest pieces are 26cm long. Using a no 7 on a 26cm long piece seems weird but I guess the answer would be just do the whole board then take parts out after? Oh and I also want to join edges with a plane.


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## firemedic (Dec 26, 2010)

To be frank you are going to be best served by both. I'd suggest you start with the jack or # 5. You'll eventually want a smoother as well... A #3 or 4 or 4-1/2 and a few card scrapers.


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## Mribar (Apr 29, 2012)

As stated above and I agree that if you wanted to by 1 plane a good #5 would be a good choice and handle most tasks with satisfactory results. 

I use my #5 which was passed down from my Dad as my scrub plane and this puts it in the fore plane classification. I have ground a pretty aggressive radius in the blade and it really works well in hogging out a lot of wood quickly and faster than a scrub plane. I find no pleasure in the rough flattening a board so the faster the better. 

I have a #8, & #5 1/2 that use after the scrub plane to finish the surface depending on the size of the board. I believe the bigger the board the bigger the plane and for the furniture I build these are the the 2 go to planes I use to smooth out boards. I have couple block planes and a couple small planes for small projects. I am of the mind set that all properly tuned planes are smoothing planes and the size of the task dictates the size of the tool.


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## woodbutcher360 (Jul 1, 2012)

just to add to your confusion; then you have to consider the angle of the plane. The lower the angle the better it will plane end grain, wild grain and knots and it will cause less tear out. Hope this helps:smile:

Go to your library and get "The Handplane Book" by Garrett Hack. This is a go to source to answer your questions about hand planes.


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