low angle smoother

[Jacob]

Niall, as mentioned earlier, better construction and materials (such as ductile iron) made the re-introduction possible. The early Stanley #62 (I have one) were fragile and the mouths would chip owing to the thin grey iron construction. These early planes were only intended for planing end grain, such as chopping blocks.

That's probably why they didn't catch on; end-grain planes easily with a sharp enough typical jack plane and in any case chopping blocks are generally straight grained (cheaper, easier to make, work well).

 

[RobNichols]

I'm very much enjoying the input from woodworkers who are far more experienced than me. However, one trivial comment to add:

Low angle planes really made me appreciate how great the lateral adjuster works in the Bailey design.

 

[Jacob]

I'm very much enjoying the input from woodworkers who are far more experienced than me. However, one trivial comment to add:

Low angle planes really made me appreciate how great the lateral adjuster works in the Bailey design.

Exactly. And vice versa, they made me realise how inadequate the Norris adjusters are on any plane. They look clever, neat, simple, but just don't work as well as the brilliant Bailey design.
The revival of back-catalogue retro designs could be seen as a speculative venture, but then they all were at some point.