Hi, I couldn't help but notice when reading about infill planes, it seems that they are touted as the ultimate plane and I have read opinions by people that usually go around the lines of how they are capable of the finest shavings and a beautiful surface in particularly difficult woods. Well, my understanding at this point regarding hand planes is that the best surface on wood is achieved by having a sharp blade with proper bevel geometry for the wood, tight mouth, optimal bed angle for the wood and a flat sole. So, how is an infill plane any better than a a wooden plane or metal plane if infill/wooden/metal all have the aforementioned tuning equal?
Holtey himself is building fully metal planes like the 98 and 982 because he says that wood doesn't allow him to build to the tolerances he would like due to the movement of the material. I've read that the weight of the infill plane help it with difficult woods, but if this is the case, an equally heavy plane could be made from just metal, or wood if you make it huge. So is this the case of excitement of infill plane users? Are all planes, in equally capable hands, capable of identical performance? Thanks for your time, I appreciate all responses to this issue