The Veritas combo is definitely heavier but it’s not a behemoth like the 55, it’s closer to the 45. I like the idea of being able to do reads, flutes, etc but I’m also currently needing them for boxes I’m making so it’s a much smaller scale of work. I’ll report back what I end up going with and any insights I have if anyone’s interested.
I ended up going with the box makers plow with a full set of metric blades. When I need the larger plane I’ll probably skip the regular plow and just get the combo. That way I’ve got something for the small work I tend to do more often than not.
Have you found the plow works fine regardless of grain direction? I can’t imagine you really need to have left and right hand models since it’s typically for a joint that will be hidden anyways but curious what your experience is.