My Daughter is getting married next month, and the father of the groom is quite a woodworker. I thought I might offer up a little gift to commemorate the occasion so I ordered him a LN Bronze #4. So as not to feel left out, I ordered myself a #4 1/2 smoother, as my stable was lacking one. Both were a delight for the eyes right out of the box. Unfortunately though, the tote on the 4 1/2 had a flaw on one side. It was an inclusion of sorts, probably a pitch pocket. I shot them an email with a photo and they shipped out a replacement tote immediately with their apologies. Not that I expected less, but it's nice when a company responds like that.
As an aside, the 4 1/2 takes great shavings right out of the box. I'll spend a little time honing the blade and tweaking the mouth opening tonight and see how thin I can go.