>Question, the overwhelming opinion of this group is that the Norris planes
>are much better at final smoothing than the Stanley's. The question is, why?
   In my opinion it's the solid bed and thick blade that gives the
better performance.  The Norris has a long wood bed for the blade to
rest on.  This along with the higher pitch of the blade is the reason.
The adjuster is no bargain.  I have just as much trouble setting the
blade on my Norris as I do on my wood planes.  
  This is just an opinion.  I'm certainly no expert on planes.

Lawrie