In the land of the penniless, money is no object.
I do plan on having a lathe and a basic set of turning tools, but that will not be my primary focus right out of the gate. If I do need some elaborate turnings there are a couple of dedicated turners to which I'll....uhh...turn.
I'll be using chisels and a few planes on a daily basis, so I'll definitely have a series of waterstones (+/-300 through 8k) to keep these in top order. Having spent a little time with ScarySharp these past couple of months, I'll probably have that setup as well, but for quick touchups I think a stone will be the way to go. Lapping and flatting will be done on a granite surfacing plate with microabrasive paper. Hell, I'll probably end up with a Tormek at some point! Right now I just don't know what's "best". It sure is fun to put a nice edge on a chisel.
Speaking of which, up until today I've been less than thrilled with the Lee Valley honing guide I've been using. The biggest problem has been that you need to hold the chisel or plane blade somewhat square to the jig while you try to adjust the bevel angle. And then, once you get the bevel angle right, you screw up the squareness by tightening the brass screw. Really a PITA, IMO.
If you don't have the jig, you won't know what I'm talking about but here goes....
Basically I milled a hunk of wood to the thickness such that when you set the honing guide flat on it, and then stick a particular thickness blade in it, it sits dead square and at the appropriate depth for (in my case) a 25d bevel. Remember to set the microadjustment to the top prior to setting the jig. All in all it's a block of wood with a smaller block of wood attached dead square so that a chisel with parallel sides sides at the right depth (and square) for honing.
If Robin Lee is out there, you should think about including a couple of these with the honing system. Shouldn't take but a minute with the CNC capapbilities you guys have - and it'll really make the guide much more effective. It's simply a block of aluminum milled to the appropriate thickness with a square reference edge for the side of your blade.
JP
*************************** The cotter pin thingy is rusting as well.