These debates always leave me shaking my head. Of course you don't need to surface grind a plane to make it perform well. People got along fine in the past. We didn't really need metal planes at all, people got along just fine with wooden ones. We didn't need to invent the car, people got around fine with horses and buggies. We didn't need the telephone, the mail worked just fine. The list goes on.

Progress moves ever forward. I appreciate the attention to precision that surface grinding gives to fine old user planes. I also appreciate folks who figure out (or were taught) to take a block of wood and a tapered iron and use it to make wood smooth, flat, and lustrous. They're all impressive skills that I admire. They are just different paths to a similar goal. To make useful items, that often times are beautiful.

Thanks for the pictures Tom, my experience with surface grinders is limited to making a gauge block as the final exam for my industrial arts class 50 years ago. (I got a B. I was within 2 tenths off in width and length, but my thickness was half a thou short- still kinda miffed about it after all of these years).

DC