: Looks interesting. I am looking at the grain orientation. It looks strong at
: the cutter mouth, but do you think the handle attachment points will take
: it? Custom tools the boats....I like it. - Scott

Hi Scott, good observation. Grain orientation was an experiment. The grain should not go against the work and I exaggerated that spec to see what would happen. I don't think I'll do it again. I'm not so worried about the handle (tote) but I did lose a piece under the iron where it meets the sole (the bed?). It's in a shadow. I may repair it if I have performance problems. I still have some other shaping to do on the sole; it's not curved enough yet.

I put that tote on mostly for looks. Maybe next time I'll make it pivot out. Kind of like handles on the LN rabbet planes.

This was fun a fun side project. I guess I look at it almost as a fancy jig - something that can be easily modified or even sacrificed. I'm not yet at the stage where it goes in a glass case - maybe some day. I once read that in Japan, Woodworking Apprentices' first task is making a set of their own tools. I always liked the idea and figured: if a Japanese teenager could do it then so could I

BTW, making planes is great practice for cutting mortices - you learn really fast when the penalty for screw-ups is so high