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 () 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