Quote Originally Posted by Stanley Covington View Post
Avoid any tool sold at a Department Store or Big Box Retailer, especially if it is made in China.

This rule will help you avoid developing the following 2 Bad Habits.

Bad Habit Number 1: Wasting hard-earned money on reasonably-priced, attractively designed tools that are packaged and displayed with style, incorporate obviously clever improvements, but are junk the minute they are out of the packaging.

Bad Habit Number 2: Throwing tools in the garbage (see Bad Habit Number 1 above).
Caveat to buying the cheap BORG tools... Those tools can be made to work, and work quite well. I bought THIS $15 block plane. Out of the plastic packaging it is definitely a sub-par plane by every conceivable means. The sole was out, every edge on every component (stamped and cast) was rough, the blade was dull and not square, the mouth... I can go on. I also bought THIS file set. So now I'm $40 committed to one of two things: 1) a cheap lesson in futility. 2) A learning experience in rehabbing a plane with cheap files. I am now the proud owner of a cheap block plane that will take .002 shavings on a variety of woods. I have about 1.5hrs of hand work in it. Like most of my tools, it's another "ugly betty" that works quite well.

So the day that I happen to come across an old plane that needs a little TLC, I'll be ready.

I happened across Young Je's video of tuning a brand new Kobalt block plane. That is what prompted me to take the chance.