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I have a cheap Silverline No4 bench plane that I though originally was total garbage but then watched the Paul Sellars video on restoring planes and followed most of what he was doing (sharpening the blade, cleaning up the body, taking off sharp edges where they would cause a nuisance etc) and now it's more than adequate for my capabilities.
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By a Post war sheffield made bailey or Stanley...they can easy restored and last a life time. Can be had for cheap on Ebay or car boots.
They probably out lived there first owner. -
The biggest advantage with LN and Veritas is they can pretty much be used out of the box. Other than that you pay a premium for branding.
As @stevo_com and @wildwest have said a bit of work on old bailey pattern planes will give you a great tool for relatively little outlay (all the LN stuff is high end modern reproductions of bailey pattern planes anyway).
If you really want a new plane look at the Axminster Rider range (still need some set up) or Quangsheng planes. Both are decent quality tool steel but come in at a much lower price point than Veritas or Lie Nielsen
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Definitely get something off ebay then restore if needed. I picked up a beautifully looked after number seven on ebay for £30 a few months back.
A luthier I follow runs this webshop - I've not bought from here, but have from his other business and it might be worth a look :
http://www.vintagetoolshop.comI'm no hand tools expert, but a evening college course I went on a few years ago for guitar building spent about the first two week just learning how to sharpen the iron - if you can summon the patience to do that properly you'll have a fantastic tool.
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stevo_com
wildwest
Bobbo
christianSpaceman
@Colm89
Hand planes for hobbyists - is it really worth splashing out on a veritas or LN? Or is there anything more mid range worth buying? Specifically looking for a low angle jack plane