DIY Network

Choosing a Bench Plane From "DIY Tools & Techniques" episode DIT-234

Christopher Schwarz with Popular Woodworking magazine, joins host David Thiel to offer tips on choosing a bench plane.

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	Hand planers have many advantages over power sanders.
	Figure A
	Figure B

• Hand planers have many advantages over power sanders. One advantage is they're actually faster than power sanders. Also, hand planers don't create as much dust in the air and it's not nearly as noisy. The finished look from a hand planer is more desirable than with a power sander. Power sanders can abrade the surface of the wood.

• The smoothing plane is a useful plane. You can use it to trim doors or drawers, smooth out edges or finish a wood surface. The smoothing plane takes off about 1/1000 of an inch with every pass.

• The low angle of a block plane allows you to trim end grain. It's small size and ease of use makes it a useful tool.

• Shoulder planes (figure A) are useful for trimming the ends of tenons in joinery. The blade goes up to the edge of the material so there's no offset.

• Use longer planes like a 22 inch smoothing plane (figure B) for bigger projects such as door fronts and tabletops. Numbers one through eight classify bench planes from smallest to largest.

GUESTS :

Christopher Schwartz
Popular Woodworking Magazine
4700 E. Galbraith Road
Cincinnati, OH 45236
Phone: 513-531-2690 ext. 1407