What is a voorloper?
In Dutch construction, the word voorloper has three meanings: a plane, a lifting chain, and a movement or person that heralds a later architectural style.
1. Voorloper as a plane
A voorloper is a plane that sits between the block plane and the try plane (jointer) in length. It exists in wood and in metal. With the voorloper you first plane a rough surface reasonably flat and smooth, before using the longer try plane to make the surface completely flat and straight. In English this type is called the jack plane.
Tips:
– When rough planing, set the iron slightly coarser and plane diagonally across the grain to remove material quickly. Then work with the grain.
– Keep the iron sharp: a blunt iron tears out the wood fibres.
2. Voorloper as a lifting chain
A voorloper, sometimes called a kettingvoorloper, is a lifting chain with a large eye at one end and a special hook at the other. The eye goes into the crane hook, and the hook goes to the load or the slinging gear.
Working safely:
– Only use chains with a legible working load marking and take into account the angle between the legs: the larger the angle, the lower the permitted load.
– Have lifting gear inspected periodically and never use a deformed, stretched or nicked chain.
– Leave lifting of large or unknown loads to someone who has been trained for it.
3. Voorloper as a movement
In architecture, a voorloper (forerunner) is a movement or person that already shows features of a later, better-known movement or architectural style.
In practice
Which meaning is intended is almost always clear from the context: at the workbench it is the plane, on the building site the lifting chain, and in architectural history the movement.
Related terms
- Block plane
- Try plane
- Lifting beam
- Architecture
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