Tools Central

All About Hand Planes, Rasps and Files

Planes are used to shave fairly small amounts of wood off of long wooden boards. Rasps and files have functions similar to planes, but remove material in a different way.

Excerpted from Do It Yourself Home Improvement

Compact Block Planes

Block planes are smaller than smoothing planes and are capable of finer shaving because the iron is set at a shallow angle. The iron is positioned bevel-up in a block plane, but bevel-down in a bench plane. A block plane is normally used one-handed, but pressure can be applied with the other hand if necessary. The block plane is particularly useful for planing the end grain.