Mike wrote: 

>.. a dado in this thin area and I assume Scioto Works felt 
>such a joint would have weakened the plane and possibly 
>caused warping...

I agree with Mike: razees "feel" better in the hand, balance,
directions of trust, etc. I had a new old stock tapered double
iron 2 1/4 wide and wanted a 55 deg. bed to plane quirky woods
so I made one:

http://www.geocities.com/cottonsox.geo/tools/bsjointxcut.jpg

It's not near a C&W but it works great!!! Sole is 9" long, bed 55
and mouth .007. Could have been smaller but I screwed up when
shaping the wear... I considered making the tote integral but that
would have meant wasting a lot of precious beech that has been
drying for 7 years. The rear area of the sole is 1" thick an the dado
for the tote is 1/4 deep. Because that area is only 2" long and 
narowing towards the back I don't think warping will be a problem.

The other possible problem, I only realized after completing the 
plane, is the sole becoming thinner and thinner because of the
regular wear and truing the plane after seasonal changes. There's 
only 3/4" at the rear but the wear area of the mouth is also 3/4.
Since the plane is not my work horse it should last if I don't true 
up the sole too agressively. 

By the way, what is the wear angle on a C&W 55 deg. bed?
Checking if I was close to the real thing in my plane.

Bon rabotage,
Louis Michaud