Paul Womack wrote:
>Has any galoot made, (or own a factory made) wooden equivalent?
>
>After all, lustworthy though a 51/52 is, we're woodorkers,
>right? Nuno and I discussed (and Nuno made) a wooden
>"carriage" for a Bailey (#5 from memory).

If you were going to go this route, you might also consider spending time
looking for a Record T-5[*].

This is your basic #5[Jack] with two differences that make them handy for
shooting.  First, the cheeks (which are "flat-topped") are a bit taller to
afford a better bearing surface when laid on the side.  Second, they have a
(removable) handle that comes out perpendicular from the cheeks (i.e. the
handle points straight up when the plane is laid on its side) which makes
them easier to control.

(Also, at least in the case of the one I have, it certainly lives up to
Record's reputation for good cheek-to-sole squareness.)

You can see a picture of one at Jim Barker's site:

   http://www.azstarnet.com/~barkerj/T5.htm

(BTW, if you've never seen it before, if you click the arrow on this page,
it takes you back to a page with a nice cross-reference for the
number/names used by the various manufactures of bench planes; i.e. a
Stanley#4 == a MF#9, etc.)

Nichael

[* aka the "Technical Jack"; so-called, I believe, because they were
originally used extensively in schools.]
---
Nichael Cramer
nichael@s...                           nulla dies sine linea
http://www.sover.net/~nichael/