David Barnett
"Do you find that metal planes work better?"

I would suggest it's premature to question wood versus metal bench planes following a solitary trial of your very first home-built plane, and that top performance will be had by thinking things through then adjusting things to prove the quality and accuracy of your thinking -- that is, maybe slow down when cornering the learning curve. Read and think about the advice from TomD, Bill Houghton and others before jumping to conclusions.

"If so, why did I work so hard making this plane?!"

I would hope that most of us would build our first wooden-bodied plane to enjoy the process of making, learning, improving and using. Maybe slow down and enjoy the process, experience the joys of successive refinement. Do you really need total gratification and success on your first try?

Don't give up. But don't expect your first attempt to perform like a Primus or a Williams or a well-tuned Krenov smoother.