Hello,
For experimenters in planing performance, these will be brilliant! Exact comparisons of cutter performance has always come down to a lot of conjecture, due to lack of parity from plane to plane. These could give us some real evidence as to how cutters perform under different circumstances, since for the first time we have a universal body that can plane with or without a cap iron, with fine or open mouths, achieved with a SIMPLE adjustment, and many variations on pitch from interchangeable frogs. Anyone wanting to test and document the results would have a useful resource of data, which could be much more relevant than some of the recent scientific studies we have been offered.
Since I have too many tools already, I cannot justify owning one of these. I am seriously considering offloading some of my tools to make space for one, though. I think the idea is great. I was never totally happy with the line of BU planes, since making a low bedded plane to achieve a high EP by sharpening the blade with a high bevel, always seemed a bit contradictory to me. These new planes are a much better solution, and if I was tooling up for the first time, I would be buying these.
Mike.