Folks,
Thanks for all the good advice. I think I'll try the Lee Valley Low
Angle Block Plane first, since it seems to match my hazy vision of what
I need a plane for. It's not out of reach price-wise and shouldn't
require a lot of tuning to be useful. If I have a religious experience
as a result and convert to neander, I'll look up the other
recommendations to start my collection.
Thanks again and Merry Christmas!

DonkeyHody
"Every man is my superior in that I can learn from him."