In woodworking

Woodworking

Woodworking is the process of building, making or carving something using wood.-History:Along with stone, mud, and animal parts, wood was one of the first materials worked by early humans. Microwear analysis of the Mousterian stone tools used by the Neanderthals show that many were used to work wood...

, a moulding plane (molding plane in US spelling) is a specialised plane

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 making the complex shapes found in wooden mouldings

Molding (decorative)

Molding or moulding is a strip of material with various profiles used to cover transitions between surfaces or for decoration. It is traditionally made from solid milled wood or plaster but may be made from plastic or reformed wood...

.

Traditionally, moulding planes were blocks of wear resistant hardwood, often Beech

Beech

Beech is a genus of ten species of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia and North America.-Habit:...

 or Maple

Maple

Acer is a genus of trees or shrubs commonly known as maple.Maples are variously classified in a family of their own, the Aceraceae, or together with the Hippocastanaceae included in the family Sapindaceae. Modern classifications, including the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group system, favour inclusion in...

, which were worked to the shape of the intended moulding. The blade, or iron

Iron

Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...

 was likewise formed to the intended moulding profile and secured in the body of the plane with a wooden wedge. A traditional cabinetmakers shop might have many, perhaps hundreds, of moulding planes for the full range of work to be performed. The late nineteenth century brought modern types which were all metal affairs such as the American Stanley

Stanley

Stanley may refer to:- Australia :* Stanley, Tasmania* Stanley, Victoria* County of Stanley, Queensland- Canada :* Stanley, British Columbia* Stanley, New Brunswick* Port Stanley, Ontario- Falkland Islands :...

 No. 55 Universal Plane and the English Record

Record

A recording, Record, Records or The Record may mean:An item or collection of data:* Gramophone record , mechanical analog audio storage medium* Record , a data structure...

 No. 405 Multi-Plane with a wide variety of interchangeable cutters, integral fences, and "knickers", small cutting edges which score the grain fibers when working across the board.

Large crown mouldings required planes of six or more inches in width which demanded great strength to push and often had additional peg handles on the sides, allowing the craftsmans' apprentice or other worker to pull the plane ahead of the Master who guided it.

While generally considered outdated, a modern furniture shop doing reproduction or restoration work might keep a collection of moulding planes to match original work, or to build in an authentic manner.

The earliest known record of a moulding plane is a moulding plane iron of Roman origin unearthed in Cologne, Germany.

In modern industry, the work of the moulding plane has been taken up by the electrically powered spindle moulder

Moulder

A wood moulder is a machine used to shape wood with profiled cutters. The profiled cutters are also known as knives, and blades. Tooling refers to cutters, knives, blades including planer blades, and cutterheads. Most moulders require the blades to be secured into a cutterhead that mounts on the...

 or wood shaper

Wood shaper

A wood shaper, usually just shaper in North America or spindle moulder in the UK, is a stationary woodworking machine in which a vertically orientated spindle protrudes from the machine table and can be spun at speeds typically between 3000 and 10,000 rpm. Cutter heads may be mounted on the spindle...

. On a smaller scale, the hand-held or table mounted electric router allows the use of interchangeable router bits of a wide variety of profiles and is readily available to the small business or home craftsperson.