Carl, I suspect you are referring to my post about a super slider.

I began posting on this forum about a year ago. It is not that I had just then discovered the power tool forum; I'm simply an amateur enjoying building furniture predominantly with hand tools. I have owned and used power tools and machinery for over 30 years, however 20 years or so ago I caught the hand tool bug, and this took me back to the roots of woodworking. If it can be done with a hand tool, then that is the way I go. In recent years I have upgraded my machines, because the ones they replaced were pretty basic and I wanted something that performed more reliably. However they, like my years of hand tool work, have made me aware of how few and how basic the tools need to be to do good work. I have posted many furniture builds where I have only, or predominantly used, a few hand tools. In the last few years I have been selling off or giving away tools to pare down to the essentials. It is quite liberating.

This forum is quite different from the hand tools forum. The hand tools forum is 99% amateur. That makes sense because I think that one needs to be very skilled, very fit, and ever so mad to work professionally with just hand tools ... unless you are building furniture such as Windsor chairs. Machinery makes sense otherwise.

The question is what percentage of the power tool forum are amateur? I suspect that it is about half. I asked the question before how the super sliders and monster jointers, etc make a difference. Well, the answers stated that they do save a lot of time, but I suspect is that this statement is that it is so in areas where parts are mass produced. I do not see how these super machines would make much difference to a single, or small team, of furniture makers building one-off pieces. Building one-off pieces is more typical of what amateurs also do. Further, I know many professional furniture makers who have managed with rather ho-hum equipment. By extrapolation, then, what role do these super machines play for amateurs?

Suggesting that there is a limit to the machines that are "good enough" for amateurs is a really daft statement. Human nature being what it is indicates that there will be those that buy the best there is, those that buy the best they can afford, and those that dream of buying something to get started. The long-and-short of it is that my message is for the latter groups, especially those who are just interested in building and joined this forum: you do not need expensive tool or machines to do excellent work. You need passion, and then you need perseverance, because at the end you will develop skills. Great tools are wonderful (I love them), but they are not necessary.

Regards from Perth

Derek