Hand planes renovation advice sought

[Benchwayze]

Hi CheshireChappie,
Thanks for such a fast reply. So to follow on:

1. I like the sound of leaving the handles feeling like wood. Is this at a cost to durability? Would this be something that would need to be re-applied every few weeks?

'Hand-grease' is good for giving 'raw' plane handles a nice patina. I don't purposely remove varnish if it's a sound coating, but the flaky ones I clean up and give them a coat of linseed. After that, it's use that gets them feeling nice.

HTH