Hi all:

I'm a newby in wood working (interested mostly in furniture making)
and I have some questions I hope someone could be kind enough to
answer, perhaps some guidance. Any comments are greatly appreciated.

I have a Stanley smother plane (#4), which has been tuned (almost)
according to information I've found on books and on the web. Sadly,
after the iron was honed to a mirror finish and the sole was
flattened, I discovered that the base of the frog (where the frog
seats on the sole) was completely out of alignment, making the iron to
"rest" diagonally instead of horizontally on the mouth of the sole. I
tried to fix this with a file and now the blade position "looks"
better, however, ¼ of the rear of the base of the frog do not rest on
the sole (it came like this) and I'm afraid to continue reducing metal
from the base of the frog. The plane works, but I'm afraid that it
might not be performing at 100% due to the lack of proper support of
the frog.

I was thinking to purchase a low angle block plane from Stanley or
Record (I'm not very fond of Stanley right know) for planning end
grain. But now, thinking that my bench plane may not be working at a
100%, I'm tempted to leave the plane as it is and purchase a better
bench plane. What do you think?

In case I decide to purchase another bench plane I've reduced the
possibilities to the following, any comments?:

ECE smother bench plane with adjustable mouth.
ECE jack plane English pattern
Record #5
Clifton #5

Note That I have not included some brands, as they are not available
in Europe. LN planes are available but they are way out of my budget
and considering that I need to purchase in the near future some good
chisels and a good dovetail saw I will require the extra money.

Thanks in advance

Luis