Using A Jointer Plane

Posted by Easy WoodCraft on

Aug 29, 2016

The long body of a jointer plane makes it the ideal plane for flattening boards. Unlike shorter-bodied planes that would ride up and down in the hollows and high points on a board's surface, a jointer plane will span these hollows and will quickly knock off the high points to produce a flat surface.

Basic use

The general rule of thumb for planes is, the longer the body the wider the blade. This means that larger jointer planes are capable of taking a large "bite" out of the wood surface. To prevent this, it's important to keep the blade razor-sharp and take light cuts. Note that when you first start leveling a board, it will probably feel like you're not removing much wood and you won't be. All you're doing at the beginning is lopping off the high spots. As they level out, you'll find the plane taking bigger shavings. As with a jack plane, this will require considerable physical effort. It's important to keep a firm but relaxed grip, and use your entire body, not just your arms.

Upside down

If you flip your jointer plane upside down and clamp it in your bench vise, you'll find that you've created a miniature hand powered version of an electric jointer. This is handy for planing long, flat edges on thin or narrow stock, or any workpiece that would be difficult to clamp in a vise for planing. Use steady even pressure, and skew the work piece slightly to produce more of a slicing cut.

I've always found that jointer planes do a better job of flattening or smoothing thin stock than smaller planes. That's because the long body of the plane often applies pressure over the entire length of the work piece when planing. This helps prevent the thin work piece from buckling under planing pressure. For really thin stock, I temporarily attach the wood to a flat base (typically MDF) with double sided carpet tape. Cover the entire underside with tape any gaps can allow the stock to deflect, resulting in a scalloped cut. Shop Tip: To free the thin, delicate stock from the base afterwards, drizzle some lacquer thinner on the base and let it seep under the work piece. The lacquer thinner will dissolve the adhesive, letting you pull up the thin stock without breaking it.

Edge-jointing

One of my favorite uses for a jointer plane is to joint edges of boards to be glued up. There's just something truly satisfying about watching a 4- or 5-foot continuous shaving curl out of the top of the plane. One of the challenges here is that you need to walk along with the plane as you work. The trick is to keep your elbows locked at the same height as you move your body alongside the plane. With a little practice you'll find that this is a very natural motion.

LOW-ANGLE PLANES

Patterned after the Stanley No. 62 low-angle plane, the low-angle jack plane shown here is manufactured by Lie-Nielsen Toolworks, Inc. (www.lie-nielsen.com). It's sort of a hybrid of a low-angle block plane and a jack plane. It took only a few passes with this beauty for me to realize it would become one of my favorite planes. It works extremely well on squirrelly and troublesome grain, and I've even used it to plane the end grain when making raised panels with no shoulder.

WOOD AND TRANSITIONAL PLANES

Before metal bodied planes became the norm, wood and wood/metal hybrids known as "transitional" planes were the standard. Although you can still find some modern wood planes, most wood and transitional planes are antiques, gathering dust on shelves. That's too bad, because there are plenty of shavings left in these classic tools.

Wood-body planes

The advantage a wood-bodied plane offers over a metal plane is more aesthetic than technical. Some woodworkers (including me) appreciate the warmth and natural feel that a wood sole offers. And it seems less harsh to the work piece. The downside to a wood sole is that wood moves. Wood-bodied planes need continuous attention to ensure the sole is flat; fortunately, it's a lot easier to true up then a metal sole. Additionally, adjusting the blade is cumbersome.

Transitional planes

Transitional planes were designed to bridge the gap between wood-bodied and metal planes. They combined a wood sole with the convenient blade adjustments of a metal plane. I tuned up my great-grandfather's old Stanley No. 132 jointer plane years ago. Although it's a bit finicky, I use it all the time.

Blade adjustment

The big difference between a wood plane and a transitional plane is how the blade is adjusted. On a wood plane, the blade is held in place with a wedge. Tapping the heel or toe of the plane raises or lowers the blade, respectively. With transitional planes, the blade rests on a metal frog and is adjusted up and down by a knob or lever.

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