... Buy Chris Schwarz's book "The Anarchist's Tool Chest", and buy the $12 DVD that goes with it. In the book, he gives an absolutely excellent guide for putting together a minimalist set of tools necessary for the generalist hand tool woodworker. In the DVD, he discusses the specific brands of the tools that he recommends, as well as several good explanations for why he chose them.It will be the best $50 you ever spent, and will save you hundreds and hundreds of dollars buying tools that you won't actually need:
http://www.lostartpress.com/books_s/12.htm...