Smooth...

Hi Folks
Been a tough few days - my daughter has been ill. That means four sleepless nights. Yes, I am a little rattled (and Mrs Philly is exhausted too) Hopefully, little one will be back on her feet soon. Hate to have to eat all those chocolate eggs......... ;)
Now, I did grab the odd moment in the 'shop. And this is what I came up with - a coffin smoother.
Named due to the curved shape of its body, not its purpose, it is very comfortable to hold and the timber (Pau Rosa) is very heavy. Perfect!
I'm pretty happy with this plane - it feels like I'm making progress. The smoothing plane is a bit of a holy grail of hand planes. A tight mouth and sharp iron are only part of the story. Feel. How it feels to hold and how it feels in use. The feedback it gives.
I immediately had the thought to make another one with a tote. But using the coffin smoother tells me it just isn't needed. The lack of a handle allows you to hold it in many ways - there is no rigid "you hold it like this" technique, just a tool that can be used the best way for the purpose in hand. Kind of reminds me of Jim Krenov's planes - he made a similar point about not having a tote.
So what next?? Guess I should do some woodwork? Mind you - there's always a plough. Or a panel raiser, or chamfer plane, etc, etc, etc....... :)
have a good weekend,
Phil