A Smoothing Plane, also known as a
'Smoother Plane' is a woodworking tool used for the final stage (usually),
of making a piece of wood smooth, often after another
bench plane(s)
has been used such as after a
jack plane,
fore plane
or jointer plane / trying plane
has been used.
The smoothng plane takes thin shavings off of a piece of wood as the
plane is repeatadly pushed along the surface of the piece of wood until
a lovely smooth finish is achieved, a finish so smooth it can feel
like glass.
The smoothing plane can also be used for other general purpose tasks
such as the trimming and fitting of parts.
The smoothing plane is one of the most commonly used planes, nearly
always featuring in a woodworkers tool kit.
A smoothing plane can take many forms with all having a body with a
sharp blade usually set at an angle of about 45 degrees with the sharp
edge pertruding from a slot through the bottom of the plane in a central
position.
The smoothing plane has a long history dating in some form since ancient
Egyptian times!!
In more recent times of the past few centuries the smoothing
plane has taken some technological advancements.
We will chart the
progress of smoothing plane development in the west from 1700 to the
current day (stating their prime manufacturing periods):
From 1700 - 1950's...
The most common form of smoothing plane used was
a wooden plane in the shape of a coffin. This coffin shape did have
adaptions / regional differences with the most common types of adaptions /
differences being a wooden plane with a handle placed at the rear of
the plane and another adaption with a tote/handle placed at the front
of the plane.
These planes were often made as part of young woodworkers apprenticeships.
Wooden planes were made beyond the 1950's, they are still made today in
fact by a few specialist makers however their popularity had hugely
fallen by the 1950's.
From 1850 - 1950...
The infill plane was an elite plane designed to
last a lifetime. Infill planes consisted of a steel or gun metal outer
shell with high quality wooden inserts.
There were many innovations to the infill plane designs during this
time. Many of the planes from this period are considered some of the
best planes ever made particularly those made by makers such as Norris,
Buck, Mathieson and Spiers of Ayr to name a few famous makers.
The infill planes of their time were very expensive for most woodworkers,
many woodworkers would aspire to buy such a plane and would save for
a long time to buy these treasured planes.
These same infill planes can still command quite high prices. There
are still a few specialist makers of infill planes today who create
some quite spectacular planes.
From 1890's - 1970's...
The transitional plane is a design which bridges
the wooden smoothing plane design with the more modern traditional
iron smoothing planes.
The transitional planes have a wooden body fitted with a blade mechanism
similar to the common iron planes such as the Stanley number 4 smoothing
plane.
The most common makes of transitional plane were by Stanley, Sargent
and Union. The transitional plane continued to made right up to the
1970's in the form of the quite popular William Marples transitional
plane.
From 1860 - Today...
Traditional iron smoothing planes have remained
very similar in design since the second half of the 19th century.
The most common and dominant smoothing plane is the Stanley 4 plane
which has run during this whole period. There have been many, many
manufacturers who have produced iron smoothing planes nearly all of
which have based their design very heavily on the Stanley (Bailey) smoothing
planes.
The iron smoothing plane is still a hugely popular plane today with
many different makes available including some high end planes such
as the
Clifton, Lie Nielsen and Veritas smoothing planes.
Traditional iron smoothing planes are typically 8 - 10 inches in length
fitted with 2 - 2 3/8 inch wide plane blades and usually made from
cast iron with a wooden rear handle and front knob.
The planes with '2 inch' wide blades are generally known as 'number 4'
planes and the planes with '2 3/8 inch' wide blades are known as
'number 4 1/2' planes.
A typical metal / iron smoothing plane consists of the following parts:
The smoothing plane has evolved slowly over the last few centuries, during the evolution a variety of different planes have appeared on the marketplace. Whilst the core design and function has remained the same, the materials and construction of these planes has evolved. Each evolutionary phase coincided with new technological advances which enabled makers to make enhancements or make changes to suit mass production techniques. The below charts the evolutionary stages of the smoothing plane from its early form through to its recent form.
Click on each era of smoothing plane to see the full list of smoothing plane reviews..
WOODEN
The commonly used smoothing planes of the 18th, 19th and the first part of the 20th century were made of wood - however wooden planes in some form date back to at least 100AD!
INFILL
The second part of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th also saw the 'Rolls Royce' of smoothing planes, the infill planes. Some still made today.
TRANSITIONAL
The end of the 19th century through to the 1970's saw the transitional plane; a plane which was half way between a wooden plane and a metal plane.
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