The Hierarchy of Workshop Tools

I have tools I use every day, tools I use once a month, and tools I own purely for the comfort of knowing they exist. The daily ones become extensions of the hand. The monthly ones require a brief reacquaintance each time. The comfort tools — the beautiful spokeshave, the set of Japanese paring chisels — are rarely touched, but their presence on the wall matters to me in ways I cannot fully explain.

A good tool is one that disappears in the act of working. When a knife is properly sharp and fits the hand well, you stop being aware of it as a separate object. The cutting happens, and the tool is simply the means by which it happens.