User-made handplane

Stopped by an antique shop today, and picked up this obviously user-made handplane.  I don't **need** another handplane -- but this one appealed to me.

It's a simple, but clever design:  it works. The handle is just a pipe, welded to the base.  The front tote is a truncated wooden cone, with a bolt running down the centre.  The blade is a fairly hefty slab of metal, with a removable bolt with a wingnut holding it in place.

I do wonder, though, why the maker bothered to make it.  It seems like you could buy a used Stanley of a similar size for the amount of labor it took -- rustic though it is! -- to build this one.

Maybe it was built just because it seemed like an interesting thing to do.

I gave it a quick try, and it seems good:  flat sole, sturdy blade.  Reasonably sharp (although it could use a sharpen).

I'm contem-plating flipping the blade so that it's bevel-up, then using this as a high-angle plane:  I don't have one of **those** yet.


--GG