Rob, I am curious why no plane makers have made 4" wide hand planes? Of course the current ~2" wide planes are great for edge joining, but what about the face of boards? In find wood working, most boards are wider than 2", yet my guess is, most are less than 4" wide. With a finely tuned plane that can easily take .001 - .002" shavings across its width, (possibly a set up jig) I doubt there will be a "force" problem, at least for the avg. size man. How sweet it would be to rid plane tracks.
Have wide hand planes like this ever been made in the past?
Of course, anyone is welcome to respond, I was hoping Rob would offer some insights.....and I am curious if LV ever considered such a plane. It seems all the tools offered today are re-invents of older tools....yet, with modern machining being so precise and cost effective, I would think a tool like this would be very viable, and more importantly, very useful, anyone agree?