The planes arrived.

[Leandre]

So, the plane arrived yesterday and i'm in awe. its so beautiful.. 
The weight of the 4.5 feels nice in my hands. I hadn't sharpen the blade yet, just tried it out of the box on some pine just to try it out and i got nice curls from the get go. I found the lever cap buckle quite stiff and there was some slight rust on the blade where the circle is ( is this normal? something to be concerned about?)
I also found the adjustment dial to be stiff too but that may be due to me not having much grip on my thumb but the thing itself is...it just..nice. Its like playing an MMO and getting some endgame gear. i might get used to this hand tool thing...

I ordered the Rob Cosman AdjuSTAR to help me dial it in easier and waiting for the sharpening stones to arrive to start.
I opted for the Trend diamond set of 300/1000 and i also got the Shapton 6000 and 16000 and will be following the sharpening guide from Rob Cosman

I also bought a cheap set of chisels from Narex. It was like $60 for 4 and i used them as practice to sharpen. Got rid of the factory lines one the back with the 300 then moved to the 1000. The 6000 is still on route so i used the kitchen water stone i had, that's also 6000. That thing is so brittle (it was an Amazon basics water stone 600/6000 and it cost $21) but the 6k did remove the 1k lines and im seeing if the 16k will remove the 6k fast enough, i really dont want to buy a 8k shapton.  Is this the right thought process? any and all advice is appreciated. thank you

[AHill]

Congrats. What brand of plane did you end up buying?

You may want to save up for a decent waterstone. Amazon Basics branded stuff is usually poor quality. Shapton Pro and Sigma Power are two very good waterstones. Nortons are decent, but I don't think they cut as fast and are softer than the other ones I mentioned.

[Leandre]

Congrats.  What brand of plane did you end up buying?

You may want to save up for a decent waterstone.  Amazon Basics branded stuff is usually poor quality.  Shapton Pro and Sigma Power are two very good waterstones.  Nortons are decent, but I don't think they cut as fast and are softer than the other ones I mentioned.

I ended up getting a LN 4.5 and a rabbet block plane. The amazon water stone was because i was waiting on the shapton stones. i bought the 6k and 16k as well as the trend diamond stone 300/1000 and the Veritas honing guide

[ChuckHill]

You should be fine going from 6K to 16K.  You will spend a bit more time on the 16K compared to using an intermediate 8K.  That is balanced by not having to pay for the 8K and store and flatten it.  I go from a 6K to a 12K with no problem.

I would not be too concerned about the minor rust, it is nothing to worry about.  Steel rusts, you will have to work at controlling it anyway.  The same goes for tables tops, jointer beds etc.  I wipe mine down with an oily rag (Camellia oil, but that is just what I have on hand) after I use them.  Or forget and get slightly rusty fingerprints requiring a bit more work.

Enjoy the new tools!

[blackhat]

With the lever cap loose, turn the screw out a 1/4 turn. The lever should be less stiff to close and blade adjustment will be easier.