Waxing philosophical - hand planes
I started down the slippery slope about 3 years ago and I have planes, chisels, spokeshaves, backsaws, marking gauges and marking knives - plus a TON of sharpening stuff. For me, I think the biggest single game changer for my woodworking are my planes. I have the full variety. But each and every one of them lets me do something I couldn't before - take very controlled cuts to improve the fit and/or finish of each project I build.
I can tune the fit of a drawer, improve the way my boards glue up, smooth the surface to near perfection without sandpaper and improve the fit of dados and grooves beyond what my (:eek:) tablesaw can ever do.
Yeah, my chisels and backsaws are great. But for me, learning to sharpen and use handplanes has made a huge difference.
What tool made the difference for you?
Fred