Plane

[Jo]

Ok, this might sound simple to many of you guys, but it is really giving me some headaches to find out.

What is the difference between Jack Plane and Bench Plane? I know jointer plane is for smoothing the edge for jointing, but jack and bench???????

Thanks in advance.

Rgds, Jo

[Tim W]

Jack plane isn't a precise term, it just means a general purpose plane, medium sized, normally longer than a smoothing plane but much shorter and lighter than a jointing plane.

Tim w

[C & S]

lets try this by analogy

plane/automobile == jointer, smoother, molding plane chisel plane/SUV, pickup, sedan, motorcycle bench plane/car == (#7(jointer),#5(Jack),#4(Smoother)/station wagon, sedan,hatchback jack/mid-sized sedan == (Record #5/honda accord)

A bench plane is your every day basic plane design that comes in various sizes. Bench planes are specifically not: specialty planes like a molding plane. A "jack" simply refers to roughly the middle of that size range.

-steve

[Andy Dingley]

Not much. Both terms pretty much mean "general purpose". Shorter are the smoothers, longer are the fore, trying and jointer planes.

Anyway, aren't all planes "bench planes" ? (barring a few specialists). The whole distinction between joinery and carpentry has been described as, "working pre-squared timber, on a bench, with a plane"

I'd say it was for straightening the edges, more than smoothing them. If you're lucky a good jointer leaves a smooth edge too, but the important thing is that it's straight. You can smooth a straight edge, but you can't straighten a smooth edge without wasting the smoothing work.

[Bob]

A picture is worth a thousand words. Go to Leevalley.com and look up Veritas bench planes.

Here is the direct link:

[Joe]

my understading was bevel down=bench plane; bevel up=block plane (regardless of size).

This is the way LN labels them on their site and, frankly, that makes it good enough for me. by the way, the block planes on their site include low angle jack, iron mitre and low angle jointer, so apparently block plane is not just a 'size' of a plane.

jc

[Larry W]

"Bench plane" refers to specific group of planes; For Bailey type planes, these would be the # 1,2,3,4,5,6,7, & 8, the fractional sizes in this same range like the 4 1/2 or 5 1/4, and some would say rabbet planes of the same pattern such as the #10. It does not include other planes even though they are often used on a bench, such as shoulder planes, block planes, and other rabbet planes like the #78.

Of course, this is a somewhat informal term and others may have different definitions, but this is what I have seen in the literature and in general usage.

[Bob]

Lee Valley broke the rules. They list bevel up smoother planes as a bench plane. The only general characteristic I see for a bench plane is that it has a knob style front handle and a pistol grip style rear handle and its a design derived from Stanley.

Bob

[Perk]

That brings up another question. Why do some planes, most notably a block plane, have a bevel up while others have it down?

Tis a puzzlement !!

Perk (:>) (at least to me)

[Jo]

Perk wrote in news:07WdnfcM0rbPnt3bnZ2dnUVZ [e-mail]:

I don't know if my way of thinking is right or not. But I guess most block planes have a low iron to bed bottom angle, in this case, it would be difficult or taking too much work to hone the blade if the bevel is down (it would take a lot of iron material to make a sharp edge and a too thin edge not to damage it easily).

Just my 2 cents.

Anyway, thanks a lot for all the informations shared here. At least I know the general idea of the plane's naming.

Rgds, Jo

[Andy Dingley]

It shifts the effective angle between the iron and the timber. Putting the bevel up is equivalent to making the frog 25° steeper. OTOH, bevel up also gives the opportunity for support from beneath that's closer to the edge.