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      Figure 1-10. This coffin-shaped plane is typical of smoothing planes of the 1800s. This one dates probably to before the 1860s.

THE BLOCK

      The basic block, or body of the traditional wood handplane has evolved into a few variations.

      There is, of course, the basic block shape that is used for all the different types of these planes—jack, jointer, smoother—and on the larger versions, with an added handle or two. This shape may literally be a simple block with straight edges and sharp corners that appears to give no accommodation to the hands. I collected such a plane (the Goldenberg plane I mentioned earlier) because of its unusual blade and chipbreaker set-up, but also because its severe geometry seemed not just uncomfortable, but possibly damaging (Figure 1-8). It appears well used and taken care of, but it has all its straight rectangular corners intact, giving no suggestion of how you could push this plane—in the manner we are used to, like with a Stanley plane—without bruising your hands. This befuddled me. Then, just recently I saw (again) a video of the Swiss cooper Ruedi Kohler, filmed (coincidentally by Rick Mastelli, the technical editor and photographer of my first book) in 1992. In the film I noticed Herr Kohler used a series of hollowing planes to curve the inside of the staves. These planes were a plain block, not shaped, like the Goldenberg I had. But instead of using the planes one hand in front of the blade, the other behind, he gripped the planes on both sides, thumbs behind the blade and first fingers down flat on either side ahead of the blade. Mystery explained. This is very similar to the grip used for cross-handled Chinese and Southeast Asian planes. Without the cross handles it doesn’t seem to be a grip of great power like you might want in a jack plane to remove a lot of stock, but it provides sufficient power for smoothing and light shaving, especially in softer woods. The position also seems to give good control. It is most comfortable to use, however, when pushing straight ahead on short pieces; standing to one side as you might do when a piece is dogged onto the bench is more awkward with this symmetrical grip (Figure 1-9).

      For smoothing planes that require more power, the coffin shape was developed (Figure 1-10). This configuration works pretty well for shorter smoothing planes, directing the energy efficiently forward and down, and giving wide distribution on the hand, even on the older planes that have not been particularly rounded off. The only real improvement I can see making here is to add a “thumbpiece” behind the blade to catch the crotch of the thumb and first finger; otherwise there is a tendency for the hand to ride up and chafe on the back of the blade.

      Figure 1-11. Razee fore plane, 15" (38.1cm) long The term Razee derives from the French vaisseau rase, a wooden warship with the upper deck cut away. Razee planes have the top of the body cut away behind the blade, lowering the handle and reducing the weight.

      The Razee (from the French vaiseau rase, a wooden warship with the upper deck cut away) style of plane has the top of the body cut away behind the blade, lowering the handle and reducing the weight (Figure 1-11). These were often used to train students and apprentices because it was felt the full block versions were not only heavy (you have to remember these kids were 13 to 15 years old and mostly pretty small), but also easier to control than the full-block versions. This is because the high position of the handle on the jointer plane, while initially awkward, once mastered, gives greater feedback as to the angle of the plane to the work when shooting an edge. This is basic geometry: the further away you are from the face of the work the more exaggerated the tilt must become in order to maintain the same angle. Thus it makes it easier to tell when you’re going out of square.

      I find the reduced weight of the Razee style useful for preparatory planes such as the jack and fore plane. I also find it useful for my panel plane (more on this to come), because not only is it lighter, the low position of the handle gives good feedback when smoothing.

HANDLES

      Larger planes are fitted with handles or “totes.” These can be either open or closed, though functionally it makes little difference to the hand. The closed tote is perhaps a bit stronger, though if you’re pushing hard enough to break one of these handles, you’re working too hard! It may make it easier to pick up a larger plane for the return stroke as the larger planes almost always have a closed tote. The older planes are usually meant to be used with a three-finger grip, so they may be a little small for the modern hand or someone who prefers a full grip. Modern versions usually are larger and meant for a four-finger grip.

      The larger planes also no longer have a front handle. Moxon depicts a bent-over curlicue of a handle that I could never figure out and have never seen an example of, even in a museum, but such a handle has not been used for at least 300 years, so it must not have been very effective. Occasionally, longer Scandinavian planes would be fitted with a horn or variation of the horn handle up front, similar to those they used on their shorter planes, but this is also uncommon now.

       Figure 1-12. Horned Plane with a Lignum Vitae or Hornbeam Sole

      The bigger planes are intended to be used with the forward hand gripping the block cross-handed with the thumb toward the user, though they can also be used with the hand on top, the thumb on the far side of the plane. You can see long planes in the Tool Museum (Maison de l’Outil) in Troyes, France, where the block is worn to the shape of the forward hand and its thumb, and while perhaps some of these may have been shaped, it is believed that this is a result of wear. One of the planes is nearly worn through where the thumb would be (you can see light coming through!). That’s a lot of time spent holding on to that plane.

      Northern and Eastern Europeans developed the “horn” for the forward handle on their shorter planes, the back of the block nicely rounded to fit the whole of the hand with a thumbpiece to keep your hand from riding up and chafing on the blade. I like this plane a lot for heavy work. I think the horn is a successful design (Figure 1-12).

      While the cross handle today is most widely used on planes from Asia, antique examples from Europe can be found, particularly on two-man planes and larger one-man planes. It’s a pretty effective grip that can apply a lot of downward pressure, necessary for very hard woods, though this power dissipates pretty quickly the further you lean out as the stroke progress. Again, it is better to have the work in front of you than to one side, but it’ll work in that position too.

       Figure 1-13. Traditional Smoothing Plane of China and Southeast Asia

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