I was working on two end tables this weekend that I'm building for the church. The legs are tapered on two sides and since they will be painted, I made them out of some soft maple that I had around. After cutting the tapers on the TS I took them to the bench to clean up with a plane. Every plane I used caused tear out in this maple. I used my 4 1/2 LN, LA smoother, and Stanleys. All caused some tear out. Then I remembered reading somewhere to hone a bevel on the back side(the side thats normaly flat). I dug into my parts drawer and found an old iron for a #4. After 5 minutes on the diamond stones I had a roughly 5 degree back bevel. I put it in an old Stanley #4 low and behold it worked. I finished the legs without having to resort to sanding (which I hate). I quess this is the same as a high angle frog. Has any body ever tried it?