What Tool (Power or Manual) is your most valuable and which could you not do without?

[Jeff Duncan]

That is exactly what got me thinking of this conundrum. One person never uses a certain tool, while another uses it all the time.

WHY????????

Well b/c we all work wood different ways. I build a lot of different things so I have a fair amount of machinery. However if I only wanted to build one thing, say frameless cabinetry, I could eliminate a bunch of my equipment. Or someone who enjoys turning may just invest in a really good lathe and tooling, and have no or little use for other equipment. What you buy and what you use is dependent on what you build and how you like to work. So someone like John doesn't use his shaper much and may get rid of it, whereas my shapers are used all the time! I currently have 3 in use and if I had the room I'd be awful tempted to add more. Their just so flexible and open up so many possibilities! I guess Rod and I share a brain on this one, though I still put my table saw first, the shaper has become a necessity for me to the point I'd be bummed if I could only have one

good luck,
JeffD

[Paul McGaha]

In my case the table saw, miter saw, jointer, planer, dust collector and air filter are the core of the shop and I guess pretty much equally important.

Sorry for not being able to pick just one.

On the other hand, when it's cold I guess the heater would be the most important.

PHM

[Shawn Pixley]

I thought about this for a bit. I don't think there is a tool I couldn't do without. I think I would find a different way of working given any tool becoming unavailable. However, I think I would miss the tablesaw the most (or maybe the the jointer plane). I built an architect's office worth of furniture with a skill saw, straight edge, eggbeater drill, hand plane and a chisel. I think we could all adapt. Probably we would make our tools first.

[J.R. Rutter]

Widebelt sander - I could make do without it, but would never want to. The tablesaw is the most versatile, but even as expensive as it was, that sander has paid for itself several times over.