The planes being in good order, the wood to be planed must be laid on the bench, the stop, S, fig. 1, being adjusted so as to stand about one-eighth of an inch below the general level of the plank. If two opposite corners of the plank be higher than the other parts, the board is "in winding;" and if the edges or the middle be the most prominent, it is said to be "cast." If the plank be thin, it may be somewhat straightened by holding one end firmly on the bench, and twisting the other in the opposite direction to that in which it is distorted. If the wood be too hard or thick to admit of this treatment, the prominences must be removed by the plane.

The proper way to hold the jack and similar planes is shown in fig. 14. The toat or handle is firmly grasped by the right hand, while the left is placed about half-way between the front end of the plane and the mouth. The thumb of the left hand is towards the workman, and all the fingers are placed on the off-side of the tool. The principal part of the force necessary to urge the plane forward is transmitted by the right hand through the handle or toat, the left hand acting more] as a guide, and to keep the front of the plane down to its work, than as a motor, though it does undoubtedly assist in that way to some extent.

Fig. 14.

If the plank be either "cast" or "in winding," the prominent parts must first be cropped off by running the jack-plane over them respectively, until the plank is made roughly level. The plane must then be driven from one end of the board to the other, if its length be under four feet; at all events, the shavings should be at least two feet six inches or three feet in length, to insure the accurate working of the tool. The plane requires to be kept firmly down to its work, which is done more by allowing the weight of the body to rest on it through the arms, than by any direct muscular effort. If the plane be making a good continuous shaving, the workman should endeavour, by moving the plane with a steady and uninterrupted motion, to carry it to the end of the work. This after a little practice is not difficult to achieve, for if the plane be in good order, and the "stuff" is tolerably straight, the workman after starting the cut can walk from one end of the work to the other, and keep the plane moving at the same uniform rate. It is not unfrequently found that the wood planes more smoothly from one end than from the other; it is therefore desirable to reverse the plank end for end if the grain "tears up," notwithstanding the use of a finely-set iron.

On the return stroke, the plane should not only be entirely relieved of all downward pressure, but the back end or heel should be slightly raised to prevent useless friction on the sole. When planing short pieces, the plane is generally lifted some little distance off the work.

When the rough exterior is removed and the plank has been made tolerably flat, the jack-plane should be laid aside for the trying-plane. If our readers do not possess this tool, which is similar in character, only considerably longer, than the jack-plane, they must reset their jack-plane and fix the break-iron very close to the edge of the cutter, and adjust this latter with a very fine cut. After a few strokes have been made over the general surface of the plank, the work should be tested with a straight-edge, which is simply a thin bar of hard wood (mahogany or metal), which has been very carefully made, so as to insure an edge as accurately straight as possible. If the work be lower in the middle than at the ends, the straight-edge will only rest on the ends and not touch in the middle. This want of truth in the work is readily detected by the line of light which is seen between the edge of the straight-edge and the work, where the latter is "hollow." The curative treatment is obvious; we must lower the ends of the plank by planing a little off them, and so reduce them to a level with the lowest part.

If the work be highest at the middle, the straight-edge will rock as on a centre, owing to the ends being unsupported. If the discrepancy be so slight as to occasion neither a decided rocking nor to show a line of light, the seat of error may be discovered by holding the straight-edge at the centre between the forefinger and thumb, and twisting or rotating it slowly backwards and forwards for a short distance. If the highest part of the work be immediately under the centre of the straightedge, it will be plainly felt at that point, and the ends will move quite freely; but if the straightedge rests on two or more points on either side of the centre, the fact is made apparent by the increased resistance offered to its movements.

In the preparatory stage, before the work has become sufficiently true to require the severer test of the straight-edge, its approach towards accuracy is tried by placing the edge of the plane obliquely across it in the manner of a straightedge. The workman also raises one end of the work to the level of his eye and glances along it, or if the work be too large to be conveniently lifted, he stoops to attain the same relative position, and in this way at once discovers the undulations which are to be rectified.

If the work is to be planed on both sides it should now be "gauged to thickness," and turned over, as the second side must be made true before the final finish is put on the first. It will be almost invariably found that the board will cast a little on the removal of the rough outside: it would therefore be a waste of labour to complete one side before touching the other; in fact, the endeavour should always be to carry on the work so that the opposite parts may balance each other as nearly as possible, and thereby avoid distortion.

The two sides or "surfaces" of the board being now true and flat, the edges must next be "shot" or planed. To do this conveniently the board should be fixed in the screw-chops of the bench (0, fig. 1). Fig. 15 illustrates the manner of fixing the wood and handling the plane. The front end only of the plank can be held in the chops, the other extremity is therefore supported by a small iron bolt, which is slipped into one of a series of holes made for that purpose in some convenient part of the frame of the bench. It will be seen that in "shooting" an edge, the left hand is differently applied to the front end of the plane to what it is when surfacing. The thumb is allowed to rest on the top of the plane, and the fingers are bent under the sole to support it, the narrow edge of the board not affording sufficient base to keep the plane steady. The truth of the edge can be tested longitudinally by looking along it, and also by trying it with the straight-edge. The edge not only requires to be straight in the direction of its length, but it must also be made square to the sides.