Silvan wrote:

I have one, just as you described more or less. It's the new #4 with a
broken old lever cap that has no spring, the mouth is wide open, and it has
a vicious ugly ) blade in it. It does nasty things to wood, and does it
fast. But it doesn't get anything flat.

Hmm...well, "flat" is a kinda funny word. You should be able to get a
board pretty flat with a scrub plane, where flat is defined as all the
planing ridges lie in the same plane. It will not be smooth, but will
be mostly flat. Make sense? The switch planes for real flat and smooth.

PK