Thinking how far down the slope I've slid, I remember my first plane. It was a Stanley #4 with plastic handles and a blue frog. This was purchased in the mid 70's. I proudly brought it home and started to work with it. I couldn't get it to work at all. I was clueless as to what was wrong.
I set it aside and let it sit for several years. Early in the 90's, I started seeing on TV, shows that featured hand tools and was given clues on how to improve the performance of my plane. I finally got it to work okay on pine. I got a video that included Mike Dunbar showing how to restore and tune an old rusty plane. That helped a lot but it only referred to the need for a very sharp iron. I worked and worked on that plane to bring it up to what I thought was acceptable. Also, I was very surprised to find that the frog was aluminum.
Later in the 90's I learned Scary Sharp for chisels and Irons and have switched back and forth between that and water stones ever since. That allowed me to use that old plane on hardwood. Then I started acquiring antique planes. The first two, a WWII era #3 and a #5, were inherited from my father. The rest (38 iron bodies, 3 Transitionals and 22 woodies) were purchased or are gifts from relatives. The difference was evident from the get go. All those hours to bring my first #4 up to a barely acceptable level. I have since gave that plane away to my son who is a mason. He has an occasional use for a wood plane. Some how I feel justified in giving that POS to a mason.
I still have the second plane I bought, a Craftsman block plane. That one is so bad I wouldn't give it to anyone. One of these days I'll get tired of holding on to it and will trash it or throw it into the metal bin at the dump. I assume that others have had this experience of purchasing tools in ignorance and getting burned. Thanks to this and other forums I now feel I have a basic understanding of the various levels of quality represented by new and old planes. I also feel I can sharpen and tune most of them.
Now if I can just learn to read wood grain properly. Sorry about the long post but it has been a long road.