I would like to introduce myself, and then impose on you all by asking a
couple of questions.

I am a retired lawyer. I worked my way through law school a few decades
ago doing gunstock and gunsmithing work, and since then have done little
woodworking save for occasionally making something in the house worse by
fixing it.

But now I am retired. I built a nice work/tool shed in back and I find I
enjoy sitting toolshed watching the squirrels dig up my bulbs, the birds
peck holes in the house, and the rabbits eat my vegetables.  I have a
son in ollege who is into woodworking, and that has sort of rekindled my
interest.

I don't have any power in the toolshed-- ergo hand tools.

I do have some air dried rough oak planks that are 5/4 x 24' with a few
knots, about 5" to 8" wide.  I have the promise of some more this
spring, along with some cherry planks.

It seems to me that the toolshed needs a better floor than plywood,
particulalry if I put in a wood stove.As I have thought about it a wood
stove seems a marvelous idea.  My wife is very smart and can spot a
bothced job, particularly one made of expensive materials, easily. The
wood stove could provide a simple means of handling the evidence.

So I am thinking about using the oak for a floor.  The advice most have
given me is to take it to the local lumberyard and have them tongue and
groove and plane it.

I also have the carcass of a wood plane.  The front says ---HO TOOL CO.
and then has the number "28"-- which I beleive is the length. It is in
good shape, but is missing the iron and the wedge.

Am I out of my mind to think of jointing these boards with that plane
and a jack plane? (i don't think I am up to tongue and grooving them,
but I do know how to dowel and peg). A rough calculation tells me that
there would be about 900' total linear feet of edge to plane ( and
perhaps an additional 100' to learn on <grin>).

My only comparison is the roof of the toolshed.  That took 4214 nails as
I calculated while sitting on the roof while waiting for my wife to come
back for more nails.  that was too much work, but 900 seems a much more
managable number.

Assuming I am not out of my mind (but I would assume that were I,
wouldn't I?), is there anywhere I could get a new iron for the plane
(Hock seems often mentioned) and is there anything peculiar about making
a wedge for it? If there is more to it than a simple wedge, is there
anywhere I could find a picture or drawing of a wedge to work from?

Many thanks for your kind advice.

-- 
Regards,

John Lederer	
Oregon, Wisconsin

PS.  I also have a vise of some sort.  Cast iron. About 15" tall.  The
jaws are  borad wings about 8" klong, shaped like the clip on a
clipboard.  A very large "95" is cast into the iron frame.  It is made
to be screw clamped onto a table.  SI this a saw vise?