The ONLY time taking a .00001" shaving is even needed is the LAST pass with a smoother. If you want those thin shavings every pass, you will be there at the bench until you retire.
Sometimes, thin just don't count
Those scallops were from a scrub jack, a Corsair C-5 with the iron ground to an 8" radius, ala C. Schwarz.
Not sure IF an Low Angle jack could even do this sort of work. Shavings of 0.0001 ain't going to cut here.
Panel is getting flat and smooth. Plane is a type 17 Stanley 5-1/2 Jumbo Jack. Took about 20 minutes to smooth this 16" x 36" panel, with about one knot per every six inches of plane stroke. Won't even try to figure out how long it would take with something limited to a "See-through Shaving".....
A Look at what the iron body "arsenal" I have on hand..
Stanleys and Millers Falls, with a Union made DE6c on the left edge. All have been tuned up, and special attention to sharp was given. All but the Corsair C-5 Scrub Jack can do the see-through stunts, but, I need planes to do the work, not just show off how thin they can cut. I do not intend to spend hours fine shaving a board down to flat & square. I need the tasks done as fast as they can be made. "No messing around.." as C. Schwarz would say.
Started off with a #4 smoother, and a #110 block long time past, My #7 is a wood bodied, 100+ year old Scioto works #81, 22" long, with a 2-3/8" wide, non-cambered iron. Cost was around $15 or so.
have a few jack planes, most were around that same $15 price point. Each of them have a slightly different grind to to the edge. From a full 8" radius, down to just barely at the corners. Have a T-4 Millers Falls #14 that can take full width, see-through shavings IF I need a smoother that long
The Smooth Planes are mainly Millers Falls. A pair of #9s are set up just a hair different. The #8 feels almost like a feather. And can take a full width see through anytime I need it to.
Have ONE low angle block plane, See-through is easy, IF it is sharpened up. The adjustable mouth blocks are the 9-1/2 sized ones. The 9-1/4 non-adjustable can also take just as thin of shavings, though. The low angle is a Millers Falls #1455. Bought it "New in Box" for about $25 + S&H. The others block planes averaged ….$5.
Seem to have a rep of taking old junk planes and making do. I do rehab the old junkers, but I also sell them to get the ones I like. The Millers Falls #9 with box was $17.
Not only does a plane's sole flex a bit in use, but the board you are working on will flex as well, and then rebound back up. Then in a couple days, the wood has moved yet again. IF the humidity rises or falls, the boards will swell or shrink with it. Wood is something you do not need measurement in the 0.001" range. Wood will move more than that during a session of work with a plane. You will expose wood to the elements by taking off the weathered top layer. Wood will react to this. Grain will rise up to laugh at you…
Was the old time planes flat on the sole to the "nth degree"? No. But, they were flattened enough to do the jobs they were meant to do. What you'll see on the older planes is not a lack of machining, but a lot of wear from use. Those new planes with their 0.002 flat soles? Comeback in 10-20 years of use, and check the soles again. Heck, come back in 5 years, even. Iron will cut wood, but wood will wear away iron. Or Bronze. Hey, you think there was a reason they quit making Bronze swords and started to make ones of Steel???
Anyway, a $300 dollar plane that does it all out of the box? Well, what happens down the road when it no longer does? Like when the edge gets dull…..Maybe LN will resharpen it for you? Or, just go and buy a new iron, throwing away the "dull" one as "junk"?
Rant is now over.