JohnSeybold

The big surprise for me, as a beginning woodworker, is how often I reach for a hand plane. I use my planes all the time - to joint boards flat and square, to trim wood after a saw cut to get super-precise dimensions and invisible glue lines, to shave down tenons, to trim dovetails and flatten glued up panels, and to eliminate, almost completely, the thing I like least: sanding.

But it's not just that a plane is often the best or even the only tool for a job. It's that a well-tuned plane brings me closer to the essence of woodworking than anything else. I often work at a local shop that is stuffed full of power tools, but more and more I choose to face- and edge-joint my own lumber, because I can actually feel the wood that way. I don't know why that matters to me, but I guess part of it is enjoying the process of making something, and not just rushing to get to the end product in the quickest way possible. There's nothing like the sound and feel of that shaving curling smoothly off the blade and the clean smell of the fresh cut wood.

So I would say, after you buy the bandsaw, get a really good plane (I started with a 7-1/2 jointer, which is maybe a little unconventional) and learn how to sharpen it. You might find a whole new way to enjoy what you're doing - and that's a great thing to get from a tool.