What are Japanese hand planers for wood?

	Traditional Japanese carpentry planers, also known as kanna, are simple in construction. They have a rectangular section hardwood body and a cap that goes behind a steel cross pin to hold the iron in place.
	What makes these planers particularly different from other wood planers is that they cut with the pull moving as the planer is pulled back towards the carpenter. The iron is usually placed a little closer to the heel than in a conventional planer, so that the carpenter can grip the front of the body or stock with the dominant hand while resting the other hand on the iron and the heel or back. shares.
	In a traditional Japanese workshop, the workpiece is placed on a wooden beam, which rests on a triangular support at one end, and rests against the wall at the other end. In the Western world, joiners using Japanese planes often place the workpiece on a regular workbench.
Hira kanna - airplane bench
	Hira kanna means "ordinary planer" - the equivalent of a Western planer, designed for turning, straightening and smoothing wood. There are several different planes of hira kanna, the three main ones are: Ara-shiko - roughly equivalent to a jack planer used to reduce and initially straighten - level and square - wood.
	Chu-shiko - rather like a jointer, it is designed to level the wood to perfection, enough for the edges to join together without gaps.
	Jo-shiko is the Japanese equivalent of a planer, which makes the wood silky smooth, much better than sandpaper, which tends to scratch and erode the grain.
Specialized Japanese aircraft
	There are also several specialized Japanese aircraft, including rebate ones. . .
	. . . and special chamfering planes for 45 degree chamfering or decorative chamfering on wood edges.
What are they made of
	The stock or body of a Japanese aircraft is usually made of Japanese red oak or Japanese white oak.
	Irons are usually made from hand forged hardened steel.
Japanese aircraft tuning
	The tuning of Japanese hand planes is very similar to that of traditional wooden planers made in the Western world.
	Adjusting the irons—setting the correct depth and keeping the cutting edge perfectly level with the sole—is done with a small mallet or mallet.