Earlier this week we took a day, Labor Day, to celebrate laborers and their contributions. But where would these workers and craftsmen be without the tools of their trade? One tool, the plane, is so representative of woodworkers and carpenters that the United Brotherhood of Carpenters (UBC) designed the UBC emblem with a jack plane in the center of the emblem. While some of the tools within the UBC emblem are not widely used, the jack plane continues to be an invaluable tool for woodworkers today.
A plane is a tool used to remove wood from boards to flatten, level, shape or polish the wood. Woodworking planes are ancient tools found to have been in use in 79 A.D. in Pompeii and other parts of the Roman Empire (Britain and Germany).
Very few wood planes from the Roman Empire, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance eras have survived. Information about the tool has been gleaned from wood carvings, art work and manuscripts of those eras. The early planes were made from an oblong block of wood with an iron cutting blade wedged in at an angle in the center of the block.
In the 1700s, the hand plane saw significant improvements intended for ease of use. Better handles were created and improvements to the wedged blade made for a more efficient planing process.
One of the first known American plane makers was Francis Nicholson of Massachusetts (1683-1753). When Nicholson died, he willed his workshop to Cesar Chelor, his apprentice and his one-time slave. Chelor is the earliest documented African American tool maker in North America.
Hazard Knowles of Colchester, Connecticut was the first American to attempt a cast iron plane and his 1827 patent was the first patent in America for a metallic plane (United States patent No. X4,859).
L. A. Dearth received a patent for improvements on the HAND 0R JACK PLANE on May 17, 1887 (United States patent No. 363,213). This invention related to a built-in oil reserve mechanism intended to solve the problem of having to stop work to re-oil.
From 1855 to 1875, Leonard Bailey of Winchester, Massachusetts, was listed as an inventor for at least 15 tool patents. One of Bailey’s inventions, a depth adjuster and lever cap, is still commonly used today (United States patent No. 20,615). In 1869, his company, Bailey Chaney and Company, along with his patents were purchased by the Stanley Rule and Level Company who added their own improvements. These designs became the basis for the majority of modern hand planes. To date, Stanley Black and Decker manufacture designs called the Stanley / Bailey designs.
Today, there are over 20 types of planes, each removes differing amounts of wood. Power tools such as routers, jointers, belt sanders and power planers work faster and have nearly replaced the hand plane. However, for many woodworkers and craftsmen, hand planes are their preferred “tool of the trade”. They prefer the flexibility, precision and end result the hand plane provides.