...are the Veritas low angle block plane and the Lie Neilsen block plane (the small one without the adjustable throat). The Veritas is a great tool for the money. It's far superior in fit, finish and blade quality to the low-end Record and Stanley planes, but priced lower than the high-end planes such as Lie Neilsen. The L-N is a great little plane, but I would probably buy the new Veritas Apron Plane if I were doing it now, since it's more adjustable and less expensive. It wasn't available when I bought the LN.

The big differences between these medium priced planes and the low-end stuff are:

- Much less tuning required. They are machined to tighter tolerances and assembled to higher standards. You don't find rough edges, warped soles and paint slopped all over the place.

- Much thicker and harder blades (irons). There is no comparison here. The thicker blades reduce chatter and vibration. The harder steel holds an edge much longer. Even when working on soft woods like cedar, the cheaper blades dull surprisingly quickly.

- You can use them right out of the box. Although I would recommend honing the blades on a 4000-6000 grit water stone first, the factory edge is usable. I've had to spend hours trying to flatten and hone cheap plane blades and I can tell you that it's NOT fun.

Speaking of sharpening, get yourself a good honing guide and a waterstone. They're not expensive and you'll get much better edge. There are 1000/4000 grit double sided stones that are a great value. You can use sandpaper on glass or whatever you prefer to get a good basic edge, but a final polishing on an ultra-fine water stone makes a big difference in the sharpness and durability of the edge. Also, don't cut corners by not flattening and honing the back of the blade. Both surfaces need to be mirror polished, not just the bevel.