The jack allows you to smooth a wooden surface.
The etymology of garlopa takes us to the Occitan language, more precisely to the word garlopo . The term is used to refer to a brush that is used to smooth a wooden surface that has already been previously brushed.
There are two main types of garlopa. The manual jack requires the user to apply force to move the tool over the wood, while the mechanical jack is a machine that has a rotating drum.
Characteristics of the garlopa
The plank allows you to work wood by hand. It is a type of box that is flat in its lower area and whose height decreases towards the ends.
Reaching the back of the club, the fist appears, which makes it possible to press the utensil to propel it. In the middle, meanwhile, is the port where the wedge and the iron are located: this opening is wide in its upper sector, while at the bottom it ends in a slot. The iron, on the other hand, has two leaves , rests on an inclined surface and is secured with a wedge to the port.
Use of the tool
Thanks to the planer it is possible to plan, trim, level or rectify the surface of the wood . The wood in question needs to be dry for the jack to work correctly.
To use the tool, you must fix the wood on the work table and then push the jack on it. The edge of the blade has to point in the same direction in which the movement is made.
It is important to regulate the cutting depth accurately . If you make a pass that is too deep, the hammer can dig into the wood. Additionally, the blade will dull faster than inching.
There are different types of garlopa.
Club classes
Among manual jacks there are several variants. The semi-claw , for example, removes thick chips.
The counter-grain planer , groover , jack , and miter jack are other types of jacks, each intended for a specific task .
To use this type of device, it is suggested to use glasses since splinters and shavings can fly. Gloves , on the other hand, are not recommended because they can make it difficult to control the pressure.
Differences with guillame
At this point it is important to refer to guillame . Many times garlopa and guillame are used as synonyms, although the Royal Spanish Academy ( RAE ) identifies differences between both concepts.
The guillame, according to the RAE , is a brush that is used to specify recesses that cannot be made with the planer. This means that the work these tools do is different.
The mechanical jack
In the case of the mechanical jack , it has at least two blades that are installed on a drum located between two plateaus. This drum, cylindrical in shape, rotates at high speed in the same direction as clockwise.
It is essential that the blades of the mechanical jack are securely screwed to the drum. Otherwise, the centrifugal force produced by the rotation of the machine may expel them.