Gary Roberts wrote:

> Randy Roeder... where are you??
>

I'm still around.

Gary and I had a royal battle over this when the list was still young.  As time
has passed, I've begun to come around to Gary's way of thinking (though not
entirely).

Currently, I don't use anything on most of my my wooden planes. If I absolutely
can't stand the color     of a plane, or want to touch up an area that has been
scratched and doesn't match the rest of the tool...
Well, then, I might put to or three drops of a dilute oil/mineral spirits mix
on a
cotton rag and very lightly go over the tool. Two or three drops of  such a mix
is
enough for an entire molding plane-- endgrain is approached with extreme cautio
n
because it goes dark right away.

I really enjoy the look of raw beech that has never been treated with anything