Hi Pete, I have been using my fillister plane on a seperate project lately and it seems like it has cut a slight concave depression in the material... then the blade starts riding too high above the work and it stops cutting altogether - frustrating. That's the first I've heard of this technique but I can see how it makes sense. I'm going to test it out when I get home. Thanks.

: Hi,.. I arrived here kind of late, and first, I'm sorry about the broken
: fence. Once it's whole you'll have fun with it. I've owned one for a long
: time and read somewhere that, especially when cutting hollows, you should
: start with short strokes on the end furthest away from you, and work back
: along the piece. Once the groove is establised it's pretty easy to work
: back along the length and the cutter follows the path you've cut. You just
: establish a little more hollow with each new stroke. Hope this helps.
: enjoy!

: My #45 arrived with a broken fence. The lady that sold it to me apparently