Hand planes are hand woodworking tools used to smooth surfaces of wood.
Hand planes are generally the combination of a cutting edge, such as a sharpened metal plate, attached to a firm body, that when moved over a wood surface, take up relatively uniform shavings, by nature of the body riding on the 'high spots' in the wood, and also by providing a relatively constant angle to the cutting edge, render the planed surface very smooth.
Planes are ancient, going back hundreds, if not thousands, of years. Early planes were probably made with wooden bodies, a hole cut in the center of the body, and the cutting blade fixed in place with a wooden wedge, pounded in with a mallet. This type of plane had been found in excavations of old sites as well as drawings of woodworking from medieval Europe and Asia. In fact wooden planes can still be bought from modern planemakers. As time went on, though, some people began to make plane bodies out of cast iron or even bronze. Wood is still popular among some though for various reasons of personal taste, and in any event, the wood can be smoothed however which way one chooses to go.
Several types of planes exist, such as the
Finger plane:
Used for smoothing very small pieces such as toy parts, very thin strips of wood, etc.
The block plane:
Can be held with one hand and is used for general purpose stuff such as taking down a knot in the wood, smoothing up small pieces, making the end of a sawed board square and smooth, etc.
The bullnose plane:
Has no 'front' on its body, and so can be used in tight spaces like the backs of drawers or on large joint-knobs and whatnot.
The jack plane:
Is small enough to be wielded comfortably, but large enough to leave a pretty even surface on a board. Often has a 'rounded' cutting edge for various finessing of the cutting by the user.
The joiner (or jointer) plane:
Very large plane used to prepare large boards for fitting together very tightly, such as in long slats used in a tabletop.
Rabbet plane:
Used to cut 'rabbets' (a sort of stairstep) in the ends of boards, which can then be joined together.
Router plane:
Before modern 'power routers', this was the 'router', and consisted of a body with a small cutting edge extending far down from it... Thus enabling it to cut long grooves into planks of wood, as might be used for attaching shelving or whatnot.
And many many others.
One of the most famous manufacturers of planes was Stanley, of England, which implemented a patent by a man named Bailey. The planes were generally of cast iron body, and are still produced to this day, although in greatly reduced numbers and types. Some of these planes are now collectors items and fetch large sums from people who obsess over them.
