I've never used hand planes much in any of the work I've done so the fact the one in my toolbox was a cheap foreign jobbie never concerned me before. However after I saw a rather talented relative of mine(basically does a perfect job on any craft he turns his hand too) fitting and hanging new doors in a property my brother recently bought I have come to the conclusion that doing it the way he was ,using hand planes ,is much quicker and gives a better end product. as a consequence I will soon be seeking to add a few planes to my tool box. I have done a bit of reading and seen that really good quality planes are going to cost a lot of money which I can't really spare just for this. However am I also right in thinking that older planes manufactured in GB are of good quality and it would just be a matter of fettling if I could get hold of them?
If so , there is an auction near to here where old tool boxes and tools regularly come up and I have seen plenty of planes in them(including wooden ones) . Is there anywhere I could look to research what makes , which planes etc would be best to look out for and how to tell an old good'un?