TomD
Sounds like a good plan. However, as you saw, it took him like 5 minutes to hack out the plane. A few minutes spent on a practice piece are still worth it. I have skills, but I don't use them every day, or even every month. A warm up is useful just to get the body moving. And it is also useful so you can plan out your cuts. A maple plane is still a project, even if it is maybe a lower stress one. Practice, not projects, make perfect.