Editing Plane (tool) (section)

== History ==
[[File:Planes tools roman.jpg|thumb|Roman planes found in Germany, dating to the 1st to 3rd century AD]]
[[File:Plaina Manual- lado b- Museu da Capitania de ilhéus.jpg|thumb|Hand plane]]
[[File:Plaina Manual- parte inferior - Museu da Capitania de ilhéus.jpg|thumb|Hand plane bottom]]
Hand planes are ancient, originating thousands of years ago. Early planes were made from wood with a rectangular slot or [[Mortise and tenon|mortise]] cut across the center of the body. The cutting blade or iron was held in place with a wooden wedge. The wedge was tapped into the mortise and adjusted with a small [[mallet]], a piece of scrap wood or with the heel of the user's hand. Planes of this type have been found in excavations of old sites as well as drawings of woodworking from medieval Europe and Asia. The earliest known examples of the woodworking plane have been found in [[Pompeii]], although other [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] examples have been unearthed in [[Roman Britain|Britain]] and [[Germania|Germany]]. The Roman planes resemble modern planes in essential function, most having [[iron]] wrapping a wooden core top, bottom, front and rear, and an iron [[blade]] secured with a [[Wedge (mechanical device)|wedge]].  One example found in [[Cologne]] has a body made entirely of [[bronze]] without a wooden core.<ref>C. W. Hampton, E. Clifford (1959). ''Planecraft''. p. 9. C. & J. Hampton Ltd.</ref> A Roman plane iron used for cutting [[Molding (decorative)|molding]]s was found in [[Newstead, Nottinghamshire|Newstead]], England.<ref>Mercer, Henry C. (1975). ''Ancient Carpenters' Tools''. p. 16. [[Bucks County, Pennsylvania]]: Bucks County Historical Society.</ref> Histories prior to these examples are not clear, but furniture pieces and other woodwork found in [[Egypt]]ian tombs show surfaces carefully smoothed with some manner of cutting edge or scraping tool. There are suggestions that the earliest planes were simply wooden blocks fastened to the soles of [[adze]]s to effect greater control of the cutting action.

In the mid-1860s, [[Leonard Bailey (inventor)|Leonard Bailey]] began producing a line of cast iron-bodied hand planes, the patents for which were later purchased by Stanley Rule & Level, now [[Stanley Black & Decker]]. The original Bailey designs were further evolved and added to by [[Justus Traut]] and others at Stanley Rule & Level. The Bailey and [[Bedrock plane|Bedrock]] designs became the basis for most modern metal hand plane designs manufactured today. The Bailey design is still manufactured by Stanley Black & Decker.{{cn|reason=originally claimed for Stanley but the company no longer exists|date=June 2024}}

In 1918 an air-powered handheld planing tool was developed to reduce shipbuilding labor during World War I. The air-driven cutter spun at 8,000–15,000 rpm and allowed one man to do the planing work of up to fifteen men who used manual tools.<ref>{{Cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EikDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA68 |title=Planing Ship Timbers with Little Machines |magazine=Popular Science |volume=93 |issue=6 |issn=0161-7370 |date=December 1918 |publisher=Bonnier Corporation |language=en}}</ref>

Modern hand planes are made from wood, [[ductile iron]] or [[bronze]] which produces a tool that is heavier and will not rust.