Congragulations John on your purchase please let us know how it works out when you recieve the plane (pics!!!).
I just read this whole thread. Dang guys. I am happy there are companies like LN and LV around. There are some LN planes you can buy for less than the vintage versions (ever price a vintage 212, 85, 62, or chisel plane???) If you have the money I suggest buying a LN or LV.
Plane tuning is overrated and made too complicated. No.5 edge jointing and flattening.
I sharpened the blade to 30 deg with a microbevel.
Now its ready to go. Very versatile plane. Started out with rough piece of walnut I needed to prepare. First its jointing the edges since it is a short piece I just used the 5. Started out with thick shavings to get it straight.
Once it was straight, I set it for thin shavings to smooth it out.
Next take a slight bow out of the face by going diagonal to the grain. Removing the high spots.
This is how the board face looked at the start
And after.