AZN-Catalog2014

THE PRO'S ADVICE

MARK SMITH CARPENTER

THE RIGHT PLANE FOR THE JOB

TRY PLANE, JOINTER/FORE PLANE

SMOOTHING PLANE

Ideal for truing the long edges of timber in readiness to join the edges together to produce a wide board as for a tabletop. The long plane sole bridges all of the high spots on the timber and ensures that these are removed first. The cutter must be absolutely square across its width.

Perfect for producing a fine finish to the surface, particularly if you are working in a hardwood with interlocking grain, that is when the structure flows in both directions and is roughed up by the plane at the same time as it is being smoothed just a few millimetres to the side. Its compact size also makes it a good general-purpose plane for trimming and fitting on the job site, but it tends to follow the undulations of the timber and so cannot be used to create true long surfaces.

BLOCK PLANES

Designed to accurately plane end grain. In this situation with a bench plane the cutter tends to vibrate or ‘chatter’, which can mark the surface, whereas with a block plane the vibration is reduced because the cutter works with the bevel uppermost. The range of 5 planes differs mainly in the type of adjustment offered. Stanley’s top two products are fully adjustable for depth of cut, cutter alignment and mouth aperture, an often-overlooked feature but which is critical to controlling the fineness of the cut. Other block planes in the range will work just as efficiently as the fully adjustable models but you will need to take more time to adjust them manually.

THE LOW ANGLE BLOCK PLANE

This is the best specialist end grain plane and it is also perfect for trimming the edges of decorative laminate; although you will need to hone the edge more frequently.

JACK PLANE

DUPLEX REBATE PLANE

The best choice for stock removal and preparation of timber from the sawn condition. To function properly the cutter is honed to a slight convex shape between 0.5 and 1mm at its maximum for rapid stock removal.

So called because of the two cutter positions (standard and bull nose), it is designed to produce rebates.

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