"George" George@least wrote in message
...

The back bevel also causes the shaving to curl faster, breaking it over a
relatively shorter radius, depriving it of long fiber strength to tear
out.
http://www.leevalley.com/images/item...s/05p2301e.jpg

Shows the exaggerated view.


Thanks for posting the link. This picture illustates exactly the point I've
been trying to make. That's a picture of a bevel down (conventional) plane.
The Lee Valley Low angle smoother described by the OP is a bevel up plane,
like a block plane. Back bevel does not affect cutting angle on a bevel up
plane, so I don't understand why he got better results unless his plane just
wasn't sharp to begin with.

Bob