Is my hand plane technique wrong?

The better question to ask first is how are you sharpening your plane iron?

-- The mark of a good carpenter is not how few mistakes he makes, but rather how well he fixes them.

You’ll get plane tracks anytime you sharpen the iron straight across. If you’re going to be sanding after planing you’ll save yourself a lot of work by taking some time now to increase the camber. I have something like a 12” radius on my #5 and that seems to work quite well. It won’t do super heavy work, that’s for a scrub plane. I find that I can also take very thin, controlled, albeit narrow shavings if I back the iron off accordingly.

Take some time to experiment with it. Good luck!

your smoother will proppebly take care of them with one or two passes
just remember to round your corners on the smoother iron

Dennis

You’re doing it right. Dub off the corners of your iron gently
if you want. Grind a real camber if you want but it’s not
really needed. You can go in and scrape off the ridges
later. An no. 5 is best at establishing a flat surface.

I’d finish with a no. 4 with a cambered iron. The shorter
sole helps even out the ridges left by the longer plane.

Most things you read recommend adjusting the iron by
eye, but I use my fingers to feel it.

I grind flat and dub off the corners to prevent lines and ridges.