I wouldn't dispute this for a minute. Anyone who's making a living with 
woodworking tools has to keep in mind the need to be productive. It's 
like guitarists sometimes say about the tuning of their instruments 
'Good enough for folk.' BUT these infill planes were not a rough 
carpentry tool . They were expensive in their day, and could only be 
justified by work that required a high degree of finish, particularly on 
exotic woods. Clearly someone who's highly skilled can produce a fine 
cutting edge with little effort, and do so consistently. But the 
cabinetmakers and joiners who worked on fine furniture and fittings 
would not have made do with 'good enough for folk', because their 
customers would have demanded better. Certainly there would be a range 
of bevels that would produce good, even excellent work. But to do so 
consistently requires a consistent approach to the sharpening process, 
whatever that might be.

Don

On 2020-07-04 6:27 p.m., Mick Dowling wrote:
> GGs
>
> With Scott Grandstaff on this one.
>
> I’m offering a grind angle of between 25 and 30 deg, and a hone angle
somewhere above that. Not sure if it really matters for a plane.
>
> If you ever have the opportunity to inspect a time capsule tool chest that
some old time tradesman closed the lid on 40 or 50 years ago and hasn’t been
tampered with since, you will likely be astounded at the variety of cutter
angles. Yet apparently the tools worked. If the only grinder available is
manually operated, then nice even grinds at specific angles might not be all
that alluring.
>
> On the other hand, I’ve never used a manually operated grinder, and I do like
to achieve an even grind on cutters, and a nice shiny honed back, so I’m a
habitual tool sharpener. I’ve got to admit that out on site there’s an element
of smug pride in handing a chisel to another carpenter, and having to look him
straight in the eye and give a ‘this is sharp, proper sharp’ warning.
>
> And this might come as a surprise to the non tradesmen members of this list.
Sharp tools on work sites are unusual. It’s probably always been thus, tools
only need to be sharp enough to earn you a wage.
>
> Oh, and in my 40 odd years of work, carpenters were always ‘him’. It wasn’t
until 2018 that I worked with a carpenter that was a ‘her’. Not to disappoint,
her tools were atrociously un-sharp.
>
> Mick Dowling
> Melbourne Australia
>
>
>
>> On 5 Jul 2020, at 5:47 am, scott grandstaff  wrote:
>>
>> Well I am certainly not going to improve on Richard's advice over blade
mechanics.
>> Good one Brother!
>>
>>    I'll just add that I have never measured a bevel angle on a bench plane
blade in my life.
>> Eyeball it and if it doesn't work, oh well. Only takes a minute to grind to
more or less bevel, and hone it out again, anyways.
>>
>>     The only reason I am writing is just to remind us,
>> the fantasy of plowing straight down the face of a plank, with any plane, in
any wood,
>> with no problems?......... is really rare.
>> Yup it does happen but never count on it haahaha
>>
>>    Wood does not care how you want to work it. Wood can only be worked in the
way it can be worked.
>> (kind of like a girl I knew)
>>    Heavily skewed, and attacking from --every-- angle until the right one
shows itself??
>> Is how I plane pretty much all wood.
>>
>>    There is also a little bit of how hard or lightly I press the plane down
as I work. You really do have some control in this aspect, and it matters.
>>    yours scott
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