I will be making some wood hand planes in the next year or three. There is one thing That seems obvious to me, but I have never seen or heard of it. We all know that any wood 8/4 or thicker never reaches moisture content equilibrium, the inside has a higher moisture content than the outside. Any antique hand plane, made with 12/4 wood will have varying degrees of end grain checking. Over the years, the moisture content difference creates stress, and stress is relieved by cracking. So, for a 12/4 square block, why hasn't any one drilled a long wise hole about 1 inch diameter? That would make for the wood being pretty much the same thickness all around and stress would be pretty equal.....

robo hippy