Planes are the most complicated of the ordinary woodworking tools and a more detailed explanation than was considered desirable in the text will now be given.

Jack-plane

To take this plane apart, raise the lever Q, Fig. 24, then slide up the cap L until the enlarged opening in it will allow it to be slipped over the head of the screw passing through it. The double plane-iron may now be removed. Great care should be used in removing and replacing this double plane-iron, that the sharpened edge be not injured by coming in contact with the other metal parts of the plane. The plane-iron is a steel blade about one-sixteenth of an inch thick; its general shape is rectangular, and along a portion of its length extends a slot with an enlarged circular opening at one of its ends; its sharpened edge is formed by a bevel across one end. To the surface of the plane-iron that is not beveled the plane-iron cap is attached by means of a screw passing through the slot in the plane-iron. This plane-iron cap serves to stiffen the plane-iron and also to break the shaving, so that in wood with irregular grain the shaving will not act as a lever and break ahead of the cutting edge, thus leaving a rough surface. In adiusting this cap to the plane-iron, its thin end should be tight against the plane-iron and usually about 1/16" from its sharpened end. For cutting thick shavings, when using the plane-iron ground as in Fig. 98, this distance may be as much as 3/16" When smooth work is desired in finishing a piece with irregular grain, the plane--iron, ground as in Fig. 99, should be used with the cap set less than 1/32" from the sharpened edge, and should cut a thin shaving. When placing the doubl ■ plane-iron in position, the circular disc on the end of the lateral adjustment lever should enter the slot in the plane-iron; the end of the lever operated by the adjusting nut should enter the small rectangular hole in the plane-iron cap; and the plane-iron itself should be in contact with the frog. To hold the plane-iron in this position, the cap L, Fig. 124, is slipped into position and the lever Q pushed down as shown in Fig. 24.

Block-plane

Several of the parts of the block-plane shown in Fig. 26 serve the same purpose as those in the jack-plane, but there is no plane-iron cap; the adjusting nut is placed in a different position, and the cap S is fastened by a lever moving sidewise, instead of in a vertical direction. The plane iron is placed with the bevel on top instead of underneath, as in the jack-plane, and on its under side has a series of grooves extending crosswise. It is necessary that the proper one of these engage in the teeth of the adjusting lever or the turning of the adjusting nut will not bring the shaq>ened edge of the plane-iron into the correct position for planing.

Some block-planes have a device as shown at W, Fig. 26, for the adjustment of the width of the mouth. Bv loosening the thumb screw slightly, the earn lever is released so that it may be moved to the right or left, thus varying the width of the mouth. A wide mouth is better when taking a heavy cut, especially in soft wood, and a narrow mouth is better when taking a light cut, especially when working with hard wood.

Sharpening

When the planes or chisels require considerable force to operate them or if the surface produced when using them is not smooth, it indicates that the tool needs sharpening. Unless the bevel on the tool is considerably rounded or the edge badly nicked it will be sufficient to sharpen it on the oilstone. This is done as follows; Place a drop or two of sperm oil on the oilstone and hold the chisel or plane-iron as in Fig. 100, with the upper end so low' at first that the sharpened edge is not in contact with the stone. Now raise the upper end until the bevel barely comes in contact with the stone. This position may be easily determined by noticing that the oil is squeezed out from under the bevel as it is raised to this position. It should now be moved with a circular motion on the surface of the stone, the upper end of the tool at all times being kept the same distance above the top of the oilstone. It is best not to continue this sharpening very long at one place on the oilstone. To determine when this part of the sharpening is completed draw the fìnger along on the surface of the iron that is not beveled lrom near the end of the slot to the shaqiened edge. It a fine turned-up edge of steel is felt as the finger reaches the sharpened edge this part of the sharpening process has been continued long enough. The surface of the iron that is not beveled should now be laid flat on the stone and the iron moved with a circular motion until the turned-up, or wire edge, as it is called, seems to be ground off. There still remains a fine wire edge which is very difficult to see. For removing this, a piece of leather fastened to a flat surface should be provided, and the iron held upon it as in Fig. 100, and drawn toward you several times. It should then be turned over and treated in a similar manner. This strapping should be repeated several times until the fine wire edge has disappeared. With careful work the iron may be made sharp enough to cut a hair.

If, when the bevel on a tool is tested with a straightedge, as the chamfer in Fig. 39, it is found to be considerably rounded or if the sharpened edge has become badly nicked, the tool should be ground on the grindstone. To do this, hold the tool, as in Fig. 101, against the front side of the grindstone, with the stone revolving toward you. In order to bring the tool to a correct position for this grinding, it is advisable to hold the unsharpened end of the tool low, when first placing it on the stone; then gradually raise it untill the sharpened edge of the tool is nearly but not quite in contact with the surface of the stone. If you stand close .to the stone and lean the body over above the tool you can see this opening between the edge of the tool and the stone, appearing as a fine dark line; and watching this, you may keep the tool in this same position by keeping this dark line the same. It is essential that the tool be kept at the same angle with the surface of the stone during the entire sharpening process, and if removed from the stone it is necessary that it be returned to the same position. A slight swaying motion of the tool from right to left is also desirable. Beginners should concentrate their attention on keeping the tool in the correct position, and should not apply too much pressure to it. When grinding chisels or planes, except as in Fig. 98, it is essential that the edges be straight, and to insure this a straight piece of wood should occasionally be used to test the edge while grinding it. When this grinding is completed, if the test shown in Fig. 39 is applied, the bevel will be found to be straight, and by drawing the finger toward the edge on the surface that is not beveled, it will be found that a wire edge has been formed; this may be removed on the oilstone as explained above, and then the entire directions for sharpening on the oilstone should be followed. When sharpening a plane-iron as in Fig. 99, about 3/16" on each end of the sharpened edge should be rounded back slightly before applying it to the oilstone.