Cooper's wooden sun plane, with arced wooden stock and steel blade. James Cracroft used this tool while he was working as a cooper in Kansas from 1867 until his death in 1900. He brought coopering tools from Indiana at the close of the Civil War, first using them in Fort Scott, Kansas, until about 1880 and thereafter at Hartford, Kansas. Coopers use sun planes to level off the top and bottom of barrel so the staves are aligned. The sun plane is arced to follow the curve of the barrel.