Jack plane
Encyclopedia
A jack plane is the general-purpose bench plane
, used for general smoothing of the edges, sizing of wood
and jointing edges. Jack planes are about 12-15 inches long, and the blade can have either a slightly circled edge for smoothing stock, or a curved edge for jointing stock.
In preparing stock, the jack plane is used after the scrub plane
and before the jointer plane
and smooth plane. The name is related to the saying "jack of all trades". Jack planes perform both the work of smooth planes and trying planes
.
A jack plane came to be referred to as a "No. 5" plane or a "Bailey pattern No. 5," at the end of the 19th century. Prior to that, all but the blade was made of wood in bench planes. The "No." nomenclature originally used by Stanley Tools to label its Bailey pattern plane products continues to identify planes made by various manufacturers. Not all manufacturers of the era had the same number scheme for their planes. Millers Fall and Sargent had different numbers to refer to the same planes.
Plane (tool)
A hand plane is a tool for shaping wood. When powered by electricity, the tool may be called a planer. Planes are used to flatten, reduce the thickness of, and impart a smooth surface to a rough piece of lumber or timber. Planing is used to produce horizontal, vertical, or inclined flat surfaces on...
, used for general smoothing of the edges, sizing of wood
Wood
Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...
and jointing edges. Jack planes are about 12-15 inches long, and the blade can have either a slightly circled edge for smoothing stock, or a curved edge for jointing stock.
In preparing stock, the jack plane is used after the scrub plane
Scrub plane
The scrub plane is a type of plane used to remove large amounts of wood from the surface of lumber, such as when eliminating cup or twist in the first stages of preparing rough stock, or when reducing the thickness of a board significantly...
and before the jointer plane
Jointer plane
The jointer plane is a type of hand plane used primarily to straighten the edges of boards in the operation known as jointing. A jointer plane may also be used to flatten the face of a board. Its long length is designed to 'ride over' the undulations of an uneven surface, skimming off the peaks,...
and smooth plane. The name is related to the saying "jack of all trades". Jack planes perform both the work of smooth planes and trying planes
Jointer plane
The jointer plane is a type of hand plane used primarily to straighten the edges of boards in the operation known as jointing. A jointer plane may also be used to flatten the face of a board. Its long length is designed to 'ride over' the undulations of an uneven surface, skimming off the peaks,...
.
A jack plane came to be referred to as a "No. 5" plane or a "Bailey pattern No. 5," at the end of the 19th century. Prior to that, all but the blade was made of wood in bench planes. The "No." nomenclature originally used by Stanley Tools to label its Bailey pattern plane products continues to identify planes made by various manufacturers. Not all manufacturers of the era had the same number scheme for their planes. Millers Fall and Sargent had different numbers to refer to the same planes.