wrote:

If the scratches are behind the blade it may indicate that something
chipped the blade and that blade fragment then scored the plane.

The scratches run the length of the sole, and line up with the nicks in
the blade.

It has been a long long time since I used a manual plane but isn't a
jack plane designed for very rough removal of wood ?

Are you maybe thinking of a scrub plane?

As for the abilities of the jack, I guess it depends on the plane and
how it's tuned. This is what I have:

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.a...=1,41182,52515

With the mouth closed down tight it is capable of some very nice shavings.

Chris