Hey Malcom -

I regard a plane as a hardworking tool that is meant to put up with a fair amount of abuse. Consequently, I'm reluctant to spend a lot of money buying a high end plane. For the price, and I'm sure you know this, you can get two or three restored sweetheart Baileys. The same thing kind of goes for the blade. A plane blade is a consumable and I'm not sure the Hock is going to give you enough of an edge in performance or life to justify the expense.

For really nasty grain, I'm thinking of a project with some twisted white oak I am working on, I use card scrapers, a block plane and finish with a #4 Bailey smoothing plane. I've read that low angle planes are good for this but don't own one yet.

There is a good article in this months Fine Woodworking that describes using the same plane to create four different angles of approach that you might find useful.

If you've got the free cash flow, indulge, but if you're on a limited budget, I'd save the cash.

- Eric