Jack or fore plane

1775-1875

Materials

Beech

Credit Line

Historic Odessa Foundation

Accession Number

2009.55

Inscription

The maker's stamp is illegible.

Condition Notes

The plane is missing a steel blade or iron and a wood wedge.  A longitudinal split in the plane body has been repaired with iron fasteners at each end.

 

Comments

A jack plane is a general purpose wood plane for initial shaping of rough timber into desirable boards. Also called a fore plane because it was used first among the many different types of planes, it is probably the most common form of woodworking plane.  It changed little if at all over time.  The steel blade, called an “iron” (and missing on this plane), had a slightly rounded blade and was held in place by a wood wedge (also missing).  To adjust or sharpen the iron, the user typically struck the front top of the plane.  This plane has a reinforcing bolt of some kind in that location to withstand repeated blows.  The handle, called a “tote,” at the rear is a separately shaped piece of wood that is tenoned into the plane body.

Early planes were often stamped by the makers on the front of the body.  The mark on this plane is illegible.