Robby,
A York pitch frog has a bedding angle of 50 degrees, whereas a standard bench plane has the frog at 45 degrees. The steeper angle means that with a tight mouth, the downhill grain fibres are broken right off instead of "running" into a tearout. My HNT Gordon is bedded at 60 degrees, and will do curly maple from either direction. But, a metal plane is quicker and easier for me to adjust. It is only on the most difficult of woods that I reach for the Gordon.
The Handplane Book, bu Garrett Hack, is probaby the standard text on handplanes.
Alan Turner
Philadelphia Furniture Workshop