437 The Smoothing Planes
We wrap up our discussion of the bench planes today with a discussion about Smoothing Planes. Next to the Jack Planes, the smoothers are probably one of the more common planes in the shop. In the Stanley Numbering System, the smoothers are the lowest numbers, 1-4. But you can easily recognize them by their smaller size, as they’re usually no longer than 9-1/2 inches in length and 2 inches wide for a model like the No.4. This is also true for the bevel-up versions of smoothers.
While I prefer to use my smoothing planes primarily for final prepping of my stock for finishing, they can easily be used much like you would a Jack or Jointer plane on small stock. It’s only when it comes to working large stock that they’re not ideal for flattening or roughing the pieces.
To learn more about the world of Stanley Hand Planes visit Patrick Leach’s website “Patrick’s Blood and Gore” at www.supertool.com.
Filed in: Hand planes • Videos
Hey Matt
What happened to the video? It was hanging just a few minutes in but the audio kept going.
John
A nasty little glitch, but it should all be taken care of shortly.
Great stuff, Matt! I’m definitely going to be looking into acquiring a smoothing plane now. Thanks!
With those words “straight to finishing” that has its appeal to no have to sand….