: I'm in the process of resurecting an old Stanley Bailey #4 that I bought in a
: pawn shop for 8 bucks. For the cost of a blade and some elbow grease, I'll
: have a nice tool.

All my planes are old (at least 40 years) but they work as well as any new tool. And I think a distinction must be made between new Stanleys and old. The old ones were considered high quality, whereas the new ones are little more than toys made in China.
Lie-Nielsen tools are truly excellent, but almost unusable because of their beauty, and Veritas tools are probably the best deal, and very good in their own right, but I find rebuilding an old stanley to be fun all on its own. And they can be bought for very little if you don't care about having the original paint. Rust comes right off in no time.

-Chuck