patriarch qwertyuiop'd:
A numbah 8 isn't just for those of us who can balance one on our galootish fingertips. If your bench is at the proper height, and the sole is waxed-up properlike, you'll find the extra mass of a #8 (not to mention the wider blade) to be more boon than bane. Myself, I keep my type 5 #8 (a pretty darned old 24" jointer plane, Jeff) set to a very fine cut, and use it for final truing of an edge or the face of a board. The bulk of the rough work is done with a jack plane or a fore plane.
A #8 in hand is easily worth three #7's lurking in some relative's garage ;o).
Humbly submitted, O'Deen