When the arms of connecting-bars and levers are forged large enough to require planing, it is done after the bosses are bored, faced, and short adjoining portions of the arms also shaped. These short parts are the junctions of the bosses with their respective arms, and are reduced to the desired finished thickness of the bar; consequently, a superfluous lump is left extending from each broad side, to be planed off for finishing the bar. A connecting-bar having such superfluous projections, is denoted in Fig. 743. This bar is fastened to the table with a bolt and washers to each boss, and if both bosses are of the same length, their faces are in immediate contact with the table, as in the Figure; but if one boss is shorter than the other, the short one is packed up, in order to raise the bar sufficient to place the two finished junctions at equal distances above the table, the adjustment being aided by a scriber-block whose point is applied to the upper surface of each junction. After being properly placed, a few slightly tapered wood blocks are gently pushed beneath the bar to prevent it bending while in contact with the cutting tool. For a large bar, it is also necessary to apply two or three poppets, to bite the bar's edges, the number of poppets used depending on the length of the bar. For removing the metal, facing-tools are employed, and the smoothing is effected with soapy water. When only one or two such bars are to be planed, they are fixed with their lengths parallel to the direction of the table's motion, as shown in the Figure; but to plane a number of bars at one fixing, they should be placed with their lengths across the table, if it is wide enough.

After the broad sides of such bars are planed, they are marked on their broad sides to prepare them for planing the edges; and this is effected either by gripping them in a vice-chuck of sufficient length, or by bolting each bar with one of its broad sides in contact with a face of an el-chuck. If fixed to an el-chuck, the plates and bolts are attached in a manner similar to that shown for fastening a key in Fig. 698, the number of plates required depending on the length of the bar to be planed.