My 5-1/2 is a Stanley, one of the newer ones made in England with plastic handles. The chip-breaker is as close as it can get to the edge of the blade. the blade is slightly cambered, just enough so it doesn't leave plane tracks, so the chip-breaker is set so the corners are immeasurably close to the corners of the blade, there is only slightly more blade exposed in the middle. I get beautiful fluffy shavings from curly maple, i just cant get tearout free results in the walnut where the grain changes direction.
It's actually more like an extra $100 . Woodcraft has a 10% coupon they email you when you sign up, and the extra blade is $20. LN is 245 plus 40 for a blade and shipping . Veritas is about the same, but they are out of stock till september
I hadn't considered the veritas bevel up smoother, but it is also up there in price. By the time i buy an extra blade im close to $300. Id consider a plane with a different angle frog, however, that also ups the price out of my budget.
with a 62 i can get the 40 degree blade and put a 5 degree secondary bevel on it, for a total of 57 degrees. from what i've learned, that should tackle difficult grain more easily.
It may very well be that its my blade and chipbreaker that limit me, but im limited with how much i can alter them between uses. I use the 5-1/2 for basically everything. It's my fore plane, my smoothing plane, my everything in between plane right now. I want something that i can leave set up for smoothing all the time. a Dedicated smoothing plane or a 62 where i can easily switch blades and close down the throat, fit that bill.