I am looking for a usable rabit plane or a 1/4 groving plane and possibly a set of cheap but usable chisels. I don’t have alot of money but I just sold a few things and think I can swing that.
Regarding the chisels – you can certainly find some good bargains in the used category, but a friend of mine tried the Narex set from Highland Hardware and had some good things to say about them. Here’s the link.
At $50.00, they’re a pretty decent set, from what I’m told. Considering a single Lie-Nielsen is $55+, they’re a good bargain of reasonable quality and will do nicely to get you started. I only recommend the new set because I don’t think you’ll find much better on the used market at that price unless you have some uncommonly good luck.
Another option is to purchase only the sizes you absolutely need in a good used chisel – like a 1/4 and 1/2 Stanley, or Crown or whatever – to save some money.
For the grooving plane, consider waiting to buy one in favor of using a poor-man’s version. Check this link out…
If you add an adjustable fence, you have a grooving plane that will work passably well until you have the money for a good plane. Make it out of hardwood, put a couple slots in it and use some thumbscrews and carriage bolts to secure the fence. Voila. Poor man’s grooving plane. Use the appropriate chisel for the width you want.
Remember – a hand tool doesn’t have to have sex appeal to work well!
What a lot of people do though is fashion one from an old chisel, a piece of tool steel, even a piece of an old lawn mower blade. The $50 plus shipping for the Lie Nielson blades would go a long way towards buying a used combination plane though.
