A few weeks ago I posted here asking about buying a first hand plane and if it was worth dropping ~$400 on a Lie-Nielsen one.
After all of your comments about getting an old Stanley I kept an eye on Craigslist, Ebay, and FB Marketplace for a little bit and ended up finding someone selling a collection of pre-WWII Stanley planes about an hour north of me. Including, specifically, a 4-1/2 and a 5-1/2 which was exactly what I wanted.
Knowing that the 1/2 sizes were less common than the round numbers and since the guy was local I jumped on it and ended up buying both for $40/each. The linked to album is the before and after of the 5-1/2 after cleaning it up. It’s all tuned up and works beautifully. All in, I’m at $80 for two planes, $15 for cleaning materials, and $35 for a whetstone sharpening kit; way cheaper than a new Lie-Nielsen and I got two planes! Thanks everyone!
I just watched the Paul Sellars video about restoring planes, highly recommend his no nonsense approach!