Hand Planes for Home Projects

The woodworker's favorite that never goes out of style

You can finally see the light at the end of your floor-refinishing project, but there's a stubborn gap between two floorboards that you can't ignore. Or perhaps the frame you painstakingly mitered for your neighbor's oil painting is just right except for one uneven joint. Or you have a perfectly good board of white oak, but you'd be much happier if you could give it a new surface to knock off a few nicks and bring out the beauty of its original grain.

Planes to the rescue! These handy tools can be as simple as their name or as complex as table saws. The key is choosing the proper plane or planer for your project.

Form and Function

The purpose of all planes and planers is to shave, shear, reduce, or smooth a wooden surface. There are several categories of planes, but this guide focuses on hand-held planes, with a brief detour into motorized portable planers.

In the case of floorboard gap, a length of veneer with glue on each side can be wedged into the space; after the glue dries, a simple block plane can shear off and level the extra wood. (The same system works for split tabletops.) For an unevenly mitered frame corner, a block plane or jack plane will repair small gaps; use it front-to-back. Wider planks can be refinished by using a succession of hand planes or by bringing out the big guns: a thickness planer, either table-mounted or "portable" (expect these to be heavy enough to warrant temporary mounting).