: We
: literally and I mean LITERALLY had a conversation, "Do you
: think we should just move back to the US where you can just go
: have a workshop built for $10k, and you can walk down to the
: nearest woodworking store and get a sharpening jig, t-tracks, a
: router bit set, and rare woods all in the same store?"

Aren't you in the US? as for the continental 48 states, Florida is closer to you than it is to me.

: Perfect- I will call you when the next hurricane comes by! LOL

That will be fine. It's just wind. We had a 3.8 magnitude earthquake last week. As much fun as a roller coaster, but only lasted 7 seconds.

: Actually I also picked up the latest edition... or the one before
: the latest... of "Shop Notes" (excellent publication
: by the way) and they have an article on making planes. I've
: often considered it, and do have some handmade wood planes by
: other craftsmen.

Yeah, I got that one, too. Had it in mind when I mentioned building a plane.

: I didn't want to get long-winded in my post,
: but another reason I asked about the Hock blades was that I am
: intending to make two or three wood planes- one being a shoulder
: plane, and yes, one being a convex plane which I dearly need
: right now. I even already have some beautiful rosewood and lots
: of leftover mahogany and flamed maple, so for once I have a
: project I can do with little investment.

We just got a sale flyer from Lee Valley in today's mail. They had a couple pages of planes, and they have two grades of steel in the replacement blades. Depending of the plane the cost of the replacement irons was in the $18. to $32.50 range. That's half what you were talking about with the Hock. If you are thinking of building a plane, get an iron from Lee Valley and build the plane around it. Their big catalog has a couple of paragraphs expalining the difference between the two grades of steel used. That may be on their website, too. The sale flyer also had a new book on planes which includes plans on building a few: Woodworker's Guide to Handplanes, by Scott Wynn $26.50, published 2010, 317 pages. Lee Valley's catalog number on it is 49L.50.71 You might check Amazon.com and see if they have a few pages online which you can browse.

Just a thought.

PGJ