What tool made you a better woodworker?

[Rollie Kelly]

The ones I didn't have.
Rollie

[Greg Hines, MD]

Learning how to use a router and make jigs for it is easily the most useful set of tools that I use.

Doc

[John TenEyck]

I'm like Glenn, no one tool made me a better wood worker, they all have. I bought them as I needed them for a new project and learned the skills needed to take advantage of them. The one that was a quantum leap, however, was my vacuum bag system. I built it (bought a pump, but built the bag and control system) when I wanted to start making curved laminations, big ones, and that was a game changer. I started seeing every new project in curves rather than rectangles. It also allowed me to start making my own veneered panels, both flat and curved. Not having to rely on commercial veneer plywood has been a huge benefit.

John

[Yonak Hawkins]

I started seeing every new project in curves rather than rectangles.

John

I can relate.

[Rod Sheridan]

Sharpening stones, and learning how to use them.......................Rod.

[Terry Beadle]

How to think like a good wood worker....ie. videos David Charlesworth videos, especially the ones on sharpening, planes, and chisels made a huge difference in
obtaining non-fire wood results...;-)

Least we never forget Jim Kingshott. He pioneered instructional furniture making that made a huge difference.

[David Nelson1]

This is a cop out answer but its the truth.... a new pair of glasses so that I could see my Stanley combination square was not. You have no idea how many 3' X 3' pieces of plywood I used trying to figure out why everything I did was skewed! I check it against a known good Engineers square and never saw the defect till I got the glasses!

[Mark Blatter]

I suppose for me it was my Japanese hand saw. It made me stop and think about what I was doing (typically cutting dove tails) and to take it slower. It could be that it wasn't the tool itself, but just the time when I was learning more and thinking more precisely about what I was doing.

[Erik Christensen]

hand planes (after I learned how to get them adequately sharp), rail saw (so I can handle 3/4 sheets solo) and domino

[Von Bickley]

Not a tool, but what has helped me the most in my shop is a simple router table, an out-feed table for my miter saw, and an out-feed table / assembly table for my table saw.

[Mike Henderson]

My powered jointer. Prior to buying it, I prepared stock by hand. The powered jointer can do it better and faster. And properly prepared stock makes a better project.

Mike

[Jim Dwight]

Well I will comment on a couple tools. First, my current Ryobi BT3100 table saw. I had a couple table saws before the Ryobi but they wouldn't consistently keep the rip fence parallel to the blade and had other issues affecting accuracy. The Ryobi is not a high end tool but it is capable of good work and helped mine.

My other revelation was a shoulder plane. I have a benchtop mortiser (Jet) but I could do good mortises with my PC plunge router so it was not that much of a game changer. But I had lots of trouble getting tenons to fit consistently. Cutting them with jigs on the table saw would not work real well because the stock I was starting with varied a little in thickness. So one tenon would be perfect and the next a little loose or tight. Shoulder plane fixed it. I cut slightly big and then trim to fit. This made a big difference in my mortise and tenon joints - a staple for chairs, tables, and beds.

My HF dovetail jig on it's homebuilt stand and with a Grizzly template guide has really helped my drawers. I can make dovetails about as easily as anything other than glue and screw or glue and nail joints. I always could make drawers that work, it is just now they can have dovetails (admittedly half blind obviously machine cut).

[Andrew Hughes]

My 166 oliver jointer improved my work and attitude.That it for me.

[John Lankers]

Most of my tools made me a better woodworker in one way or another, but it was small tools like card scraper, good quality sharpening stones and a 50 deg. Veritas plane blade that come to mind first.

[Steve Beadle]

Although I currently love to work with unpowered hand tools, I would have to say that the one tool that made me a better woodworker, back in 1980, was my Shopsmith. It gave me a whole new set of capabilities.