pinkiewerewolf

Asa, I support you as the editor and applaude you for explaining your thoughts. I think your comments were misinterpreted but you did the /honorable/intelligent thing and cleared up the misunderstanding.
I've read a lot of ranting on this episode and in past rants (on youtube and on internet forums) about how the magazines are out of touch with the average woodworker and how the mags are "in bed" with tool/machinery makers. I disagree with that statement if they are targeting FWW.
I'm a hobbyist woodworker I find the magazine and this site very useful. I began with the series for beginning woodworkers where you took us through building shelves and a workbench without pushing brands or the use of industrial woodworking machinery. (High-end tablesaws, etc...)
FWW brings expert woodworkers to the masses, something that wouldn't happen otherwise and this is inspiration for guys like me. I also get inspiration from some of the woodworking post on youtube and other internet sources but I have to glean through them to find, what I consider to be, useful, safe, knowledgeable information. I appreciate FWW doing that for us and that why I always rely on FWW for dependable solutions.
Keep up the great work.

If I had it all to do over again, I'd have bought a sawmill and stayed on the farm. Keeping it small and dealing with local customers wanting local species. What better career than dimensioning raw timber into useable stock?

First, I enjoy these discussions. I can remember a time when the answer would have been" a Radial Arm Saw", no questions asked.
Second, I cheated and went with a 1950's Shopsmith for my first "tool".
5 tools in 1 machine and it even came with a bandsaw and a jigsaw.

Before the Shopsmith I built some nice furniture like a crib with the basic hand tools, circular saw, jig saw, cordless drill and some sandpaper but the addition of the Shopsmith and the portable planer has taken the possibilities to new levels.

Shelves cut from different boards are now planed to matching thicknesses and I save money by buying rough lumber.

I'm not going to saw much wood with a hand saw but I will take advantage of the planer and the benefits associated with its use. I can see where the author is pointing us in this discussion, toward a tool that would seldom be considered for the first tool but packs some serious time and money savings into its ROI.