The Plane

The first to use it were the carpenters and craftsmen of Ancient Greece. In those days, it was not complicated to build one: the starting point was a hardwood parallelepiped, which was given an ergonomic shape to facilitate the strenuous manual labor, consisting of continuous alternating movements of the arms back and forth.

A wedge held the iron—the blade of the plane—in place inside a compartment to withstand the pressure transmitted by the hands and resist the friction that the rough, unfinished surface of the wood exerted on the sole of the tool. This shape and composition has survived the centuries and remained unchanged to this day, with only a few variations in size and detail to accommodate different types of planes.

The roughing plane, for example, is up to 35 centimeters long and roughs out boards after sawing, removing large amounts of material thanks to its flat sole and curved blade. Larger carpentry tools are needed to smooth large surfaces: the large plane is up to 70 centimeters long and, after roughing, works on uneven areas of the wood to highlight the flatness of the board. To finish it, on the other hand, we move on to the small plane, no more than 25 centimeters long, with a blade with rounded edges to follow every dip along the grain.

Before starting to work with the plane, adjust the protrusion of the iron with respect to the sole and the position of the counter-iron with respect to the blade, based on the type of result you want to achieve from planing, without forgetting that the direction of its movement must coincide with the direction of the wood fibers. The blade must therefore be tightened as much as possible so that it does not vibrate during use, and the counter-iron must be placed against the iron so that the shavings do not clog the tool, reducing its multiple functions: correcting irregularities, removing shavings, smoothing surfaces, squaring sides, and smoothing corners.

In short, where the plane passes, the surface will no longer be the same, and the effort of planing the character of the wood will be rewarded, to the point that you can enjoy a personal satisfaction equal to that which we obtain when we try to smooth out the rough edges of our character to express the best part of ourselves.