esther.heller@k... wrote:

> Ascii art alert!!!
>
>    ware     __Bed___
> |             /                 |
> |______/_________|  Both are 55 from vertical, but in
>
> opposite directions.  Or possibly:
>
>  ware         __Bed___
> |             /                  |
> |_____ //__________|  But in this case the parallel part would
> be short vertically.  But I vote for the first picture.

Look at that bottom picture for a moment, and imagine a single
tapered iron in this plane...  Why weren't wooden bench planes
made this way ( i.e. with the lower portion of the ware and the
bed parallel to each other)?  You could joint the sole many many
times without affecting the mouth size in the least.  Would there
be any particular difficulty in its construction?  Or would it result
in the throat jamming too easily on a regular bench plane*?  Seems
to me that as long as that lower portion of the ware weren't too
long, that this wouldn't have to be a problem.

I once bought a wooden plane that was constructed in exactly this
way.   I believe it may be a miter plane; it's the size of an ordinary
smoother but completely squared off on the top.  Don't remember
at the moment the angle of the bed (though I know I measured it
at the time), and I vaguely recall it being slightly, but not a lot, less
than 45 degrees...  The iron was/is missing, but it was a single iron
as there is no mortice in the bed for a cap screw.  What struck me
at the time was the fact that the ware and bed are parallel, and
I'd not seen that before.

*If in fact this is a miter plane, the end grain shavings would
simply crumble if they curled up tightly enough to start to jam,
whereas maybe this would be a problem for along-the-grain
shavings?

Any thoughts/answers from you wooden plane gurus?

Many thanks,
Paul Fuss
(as always, nothing but more questions...)