G'day Speedy ,Mf and Norm
The blade plate is not cracked Mf ,just the design. SupaSwift was another with 3 blades.
Jack has written here about the design with the patent , it's the standard original blade plate, the
Plate Speedy refers to sounds like a later model Pope blade plate.
When the old blades were no longer available people just changed the blade plate.
https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=60056Yes standard practice is for manufacturers to copy one another.
Cheers
Max.