Planers are tools used in carpentry and woodworking. Hand planes shave wooden surfaces to make them smooth and even. Jointers make straight edges and flat surfaces along the entire length of a wooden board. Thicknessers make boards of uniform thickness. They can be manual or electrically powered.
There are several types of planers, but the term usually refers to a carpentry tool or woodworking machine. Hand planes, or wood planes, are hand carpentry tools used to shave wooden surfaces to reduce their thickness and make them smooth and even. A jointer, called a planer in British English, is a type of planer used to make straight edges and flat surfaces along the entire length of a wooden board. While manual joints are available, the term usually refers to a woodworking machine. A thicknesser, called a thicknesser in British English, is a similar woodworking machine used to make boards of uniform thickness.
A hand plane consists of a sharp cutting blade or sharp metal plate attached to a solid body with a handle on top. The blade extends underneath the body and, by passing the tool over a wooden surface, removes fine wood chips, smoothing the surface and reducing the thickness of the material. Usually, a plane is pulled away from the body, although Japanese planes are pulled towards the body instead. The blade is often adjustable to control the amount of material removed with each pass. Electrically powered wood planes, sometimes called power planes, are also available.
Joints are so called because they are commonly used to make the edges of wooden planks flat and smooth, before joining them together to make wider planks. When a piece of wood or lumber is fed into this woodworking machine, it passes over a cutter consisting of two or three sharp planer blades that spin very fast, removing a small amount of material. The machine is adjustable to control exactly how much material the cutter removes with each pass. Jointers are also available as hand tools and are therefore called jointer planers.
Thickness planes are similar to surface planes, but in a thickness planer the cutter is positioned above the wood rather than under it. A board must already be flat on one side and must be placed with that flat side down, for this machine to be able to produce an even surface on top of the wood. Some woodworking machines are combined planer and thicknesser. The wood is first fed through the machine over the cutter to create a level surface. Then the wood is turned over and passed through the machine again, this time under the cutter, making the material uniform on both sides along its entire length.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
