Corneel
Member
Registered: 12/28/07
Posts: 1695
Loc: The Netherlands
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Wow, I just read my opinion from April. I've turned 180 degrees in the mean time.
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seekelot.blogspot.com
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AHill
Honored Veteran
Registered: 01/16/06
Posts: 5149
Loc: Antelope Valley, California
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I remember the thread, and certainly remember the last two or three that had pretty lively discussion. While the history part of chip breakers / double irons is interesting, for me, I don't think it makes any difference to how they work. I'm hoping this new thread won't rehash the history part. Now, all that said, what should I take away from the current discussion, and what will make me a better woodworker for it?
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Still Learning,
Allan Hill
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Jeff Burks
Member
Registered: 12/10/10
Posts: 527
Loc: Danbury CT
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Double irons have been available in numerous configurations over the past 250 years, with many design variables that determine their performance. Understanding the history of their use, the reasons for the design changes, and the misconceptions that have arisen since their introduction, is key to understanding why people have so much difficulty with them. By addressing the subject from a historical perspective, and relying on historical facts, rather than meaningless opinion, we might be able to shed some light on the matter.
I'm sorry that I will have to disappoint you by continuing the recent discussion about the history of the double iron.  That thread has not yet expired, and though I have had limited time recently, I still plan to add information to it. I know it may seem boring to some people, but there were still a small number of forum members reading the thread, and I think it has merit. I would argue that the vast majority of posts on this forum will not make anybody a better woodworker. The purpose of my posts here is to help the readers become better informed.
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Bibliophile 13
Moderator
Registered: 09/08/06
Posts: 7079
Loc: South Alabama
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Is it possible that the chipbreaker came into fashion partly because it was easier to manufacture a chipbreaker than it was to manufacture a plane body with a super-tight mouth? The mouths of wooden planes tend to wear out. Did craftsmen decide that it was easier to keep a chipbreaker set up than it was to maintain a tight mouth over the life of the tool?
I'm sure marketing had something to do with it, too. I can imagine that there were plenty of journeyman craftsmen who were very attracted to a salesman's promise of tearout-free planing with the latest gizmo. Not like that would ever happen today. 
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Steve S.
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Tradition cannot be inherited, and if you want it you must obtain it by great labour.
- T. S. Eliot
Tutorials and Build-Alongs at The Literary Workshop
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Gregory of Sherwood Forest
Honored Veteran
Registered: 10/16/07
Posts: 10137
Loc: Fallen UP the stairs 4/2013
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Jeff Burks said:
... but there were still a small number of forum members reading the thread, and I think it has merit.
.
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" The founding fathers weren't trying to protect citizens' rights to have an interesting hobby." I Learn Each Day 1/18/13
www.RUSTHUNTER.com
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Axehandle
No bit---short handle
Registered: 09/27/09
Posts: 2398
Loc: Savannah, Jawja
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In my own mind, I think grinding and polishing a nice steep angle on the CB makes the biggest difference in how my planes perform. Other than that the whole CB thing is purely acedemic.
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wmickley
Member
Registered: 03/05/08
Posts: 967
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I have used the double iron to control tear out for more than 35 years. It takes some effort to learn, but for those of us who know how to use it well, the advantages, both in time saving and surface quality, are overwhelming. Nobody who knows how to use the cap iron would question why double iron planes became popular at the end of the 18th century, when cabinetmakers had to prepare figured and exotic woods.
Warren
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