david weaver
Maybe part of the problem with this (aside from the comments I made elsewhere that are probably not that well received) is that most of the people doing writing are doing it to bring beginners into the hobby.

There has to be some point where a lot of people decide they've gotten enough from WN, SMC, here, Pop wood, fine woodworking, etc. and they become bored and look for something more specific and challenging. I know all of us could use our time better than talking on forums, but we do it anyway.

At any rate, teachers who starting with teaching the beginners who apparently (from the comments of instructors and tool makers) have a ton of trouble just getting functional sharpness...

... maybe some of the more knowledgeable folks who do understand the initial (as you describe, set it tight and then move it back as you can), and the later ( as warren describes, a reflexive initial looser set based on knowledge of what's going to happen, anyway ) just choose not to be involved with anything other than satisfying a later curiosity. Especially if it can't be described in 5 words or less. ("get a higher angle plane"), ("get a harder chisel set"), ("buy an expensive marking knife")

And there are others (I would be in this group) who always thought setting the cap iron as close as you need to to completely mitigate tearout on a functional basis was tedium, because I only did it three or four times a year, and then didn't like the feed pressure of the plane - only to learn the feed pressure is normal if you need the CB working close, and tedium goes away with repetition.

Long winded way so far of saying that maybe it didn't get as much play in the current era because it's not suitable for immediate consumption by beginners. Beginners are the easiest sale, and probably have the largest monthly budget allocation on tools.

I was talking to someone about a year ago who asked me what they should buy to sharpen, and I said "a cheap grinder, a medium stone and a fine stone, doesn't matter what any of them are - and some cheap ebay leather if you'd like". And they said that I was intentionally giving them bad advice because LN cautioned against using any high speed grinder in a video. (why would anyone use an extra thick very hard iron and forego power grinding? Anyone perhaps other than a beginner?)

So if someone comes out teaching beginners and says "the steeper the better", and they are attached to pop wood, LN, whatever...then why would the person who has 30 years of experience even bother with it?

I often wonder why folks like warren even read these boards. It's not like he's going to change something he does, and he's not selling services to any of us. He probably doesn't learn much or anything, either.