Jack plane

Submitted by:
Anandakrishnan
Raja I
Arunkumar
Gokul A
 INTRODUCTION
A hand plane is a tool for shaping wood using muscle power to force the cutting blade
over the wood surface.Generally all planes are used to flatten, reduce the thickness of,
and impart a smooth surface to a rough piece of lumber or timber. Planing is also used to
produce horizontal, vertical, or inclined flat surfaces on work pieces usually too large for
shaping, where the integrity of the whole requires the same smooth surface. Special types
of planes are designed to cut joints or decorative mouldings.
Hand planes are generally the combination of a cutting edge, such as a sharpened metal
plate, attached to a firm body, that when moved over a wood surface, take up relatively
uniform shavings, by nature of the body riding on the 'high spots' in the wood, and also
by providing a relatively constant angle to the cutting edge, render the planed surface
smooth.

PARTS
Two styles of plane are shown with some parts labeled. The top of the image is a bench
plane; the bottom is a block plane.

 A: The mouth is an opening in the bottom of the plane down through which the
blade extends, and up through which wood shavings pass.
 B: The iron is a plate of steel with a sharpened edge which cuts the wood. Some
people refer to it as the blade.
 C: The lever cap holds the blade down firmly to the body of the plane.
 D: The depth adjustment knob controls how far the blade extends through the
mouth.
 E: The knob is a handle on the front of the plane.
  F: The chip breaker or Cap iron serves to make the blade more rigid and to curl
and break apart wood shavings as they pass through the mouth.
 G: The lateral adjustment lever is used to adjust the iron by skewing it so that
the depth of cut is uniform across the mouth.
 H: The tote is a handle on the rear of the plane.(Some aficionados object to the
use of the word tote preferring handle).
 I: The finger rest knob Block planes are held in the palm of the hand while the
tip of the user's index finger rests in the indentation on top of the knob. On some
planes the knob is used to adjust the size of the mouth by allowing a sliding portion of
the sole to be moved back or forward to accomplish this.
 J: The frog is a sliding iron wedge that holds the plane iron at the proper angle. It
slides to adjust the gap between the cutting edge and the front of the mouth. The frog
is screwed down to the inside of the sole through two parallel slots and on many
planes is only adjustable with a screwdriver when the plane iron is removed.
 The sole is the bottom face of the plane that slides against the wood.

Material

Planes may also be classified by the material of which they are constructed:

 A wooden plane is entirely wood except for the blade. The iron is held into the
plane with a wooden wedge, and is adjusted by striking the plane with a hammer.
 A transitional plane has a wooden body with a metal casting set in it to hold and
adjust the blade.
 A metal plane is largely constructed of metal, except, perhaps, for the handles.
 An infill plane has a body of metal filled with very dense and hard wood on
which the blade rests and the handles are formed. They are typically of English or
Scottish manufacture. They are prized for their ability to smooth difficult grained
woods when set very finely.
 A side-escapement plane has a tall, narrow, wooden body with an iron held in
place by a wedge. They are characterized by the method of shaving ejection. Instead
of being expelled from the center of the plane and exiting from the top, these planes
have a slit in the side by which the shaving is ejected. On some variations, the slit is
accompanied by a circular bevel, cut in the side of the plane which causes the shaving
to eject to the side through the open body of the plane.

MANUFACTURING
 Iron or Blade:is manufactured by using a variety of processes like
casting,forging,grinding etc.The metal also undergoes heat treatment processes to
obtain hardness.Desired sharpness and finishing is accuired by grinding process.
 Body:is made mostly using wood.For wooden jack planes,the wood used undergoes
seasoning.The wood is then shaped to desired dimensions manually or by using
machines.Some jack planes use iron parts in the body.The body is made using
casting,forging,grinding etc.
 Lever cap:manufacturing of lever cap involves heat.
 Other manufacturing process involved in making a jack plane are wood
working,hardening,polishing etc.

DESIGN FOR X

DESIGN FOR ASSEMBLY

A lever cap is provided to assemble the iron or blade.The blade can be replaced or
rearranged by adjusting the lever cap.The slot provided in the body of the jack plane is to
insert the blade into the jack plane.The depth adjustment knob and lateral adjustment
lever enables the correct positioning of blade in the jack plane.

DESIGN FOR MAINTENANCE

The sole is fixed to the bottom of the jack plane using screws. Hence the sole can be
polished and waxed whenever necessary.The iron blade is hard material and hence is
durable.

DESIGN FOR AESTHETICS

The knob is designed in a variety of shapes.Spherical knobs are most common.The tote is
also designed in such a way that it provides maximum comfort and good aesthetic
features to the jack plane.The body is also polished and painted to improve the aesthetics.

DESIGN FOR ERGONOMICS

The tote is designed in such a way to provide smooth handling of the jack plane.It will be
sufficiently big enough for the hands of the worker.The knob used will also be smooth
and polished to avoid discomfort to the worker.The sole is made perfectly plain and
smooth to allow easy motion over the work piece.The body will be devoid of projections
and it will be smooth for handling.

DESIGN FOR FUNCTION

The slot provided to insert the blade should be sufficiently big to allow easy and
continuous chip flow.The depth of the blade can be changed using the depth adjusting
knob for plain different depths.

ECONOMIC ASPECT

Jack plane is available in wide range of prices.Cost of an average jack plane is 825
rs.About 30 percent of cost is covered by blade.Wood is available at cheap rate.Other
accessories add on to the cost.The blade needs to be replaced according to the usage.