>       Tom Holloway wrote:
>       Note the mention of raw oil.  I think boiled would begin to cure
>and stiffen before soaking in fully.

I have done this using boiled oil.  If you fill the throat with linseed
oil, beads of oil will appear on the endgrain at the ends of the plane in
less than a day.  I have treated beech, maple and oak planes this way.

I should add that I did this in warm New Mexico weather.  If you try this
in your unheated shop in Maine around Feb.  things may be a little different.

Adam