Larry Williams
The facts:
1. Chipbreakers work.

I don't think that's the debate. The issue is whether cap irons are the most effective and efficient way to deal with difficult grain with a hand plane.

2. Some people have known that chipbreakers work.

Again, not much debate here.

3. Some people have not.

In most cases cap irons cause more problems than they cure. I certainly understand why any hand plane user would give up on them.

4. The information has been around for a long time.

Yep. I was at your site a long time ago and watched your video. I followed a link on Steve Elliot's page. He does a lot better job of explaining things and has tried a lot of different stuff without trying to sell anything. His information is a lot more applicable to hand planes.

5. The information was not hidden or secret.

No, I've pointed people to Steve's site for a lot of years.

6. Some of you didn’t do your homework.

You mean like notice that this is a hand tool woodworking site. Why come here promoting a machine that's most efficient at putting a finish surface on full-length stock that then must be reduced to usable lengths? Isn't this best done with automated CNC equipment that eliminates shop and bench wear that would spoil the finish left by the machine?

Or maybe that homework could be a working knowledge of steeper pitched planes which you don't seem to have any experience with. You even seem puzzled by the depth adjustment of the Super Surfacer that actually changes the effective pitch of the blade to a higher cutting angle.

Are you aware that with judicial burnishing one can very nearly duplicate the cutting geometry of the Super Surfacer and the 80º cap iron bevel with a Stanley #80? The heat generated makes for a short edge life. My guess is those irons for the Super Surfacer have a high speed steel lamination for the edge to withstand the heat generated by that configuration.

Hand planes have issues the Super Surfacer doesn't. The mouth and shaving clearance is one. I read your post about back beveling the mouth and it suggests to me you haven't used a hand plane enough to experience the common mouth wear issues. Back beveling makes the wear quicker to open the mouth and the wear will happen quicker because there isn't as much mass to dissipate the heat at the edge you create. This doesn't even get into the issues of wooden planes where the iron is secured by a wedge. The horns or points of the wedge, the abutments, and the high spot on the cap iron all need to line up at the same point when the wedge is set or you create a shaving trap that chokes the plane. This complicates the set up a lot and this includes almost all planes made before the mid 19th Century. The most common cure was to camber the iron so that it only cut in the center section of the iron leaving the user wielding a plane that was a lot bigger, heavier, and more clumsy than necessary.

Thanks for the lecture, BTW.