A beginner with a hand plane learns by feeling. A beginner with a power tool
learns by watching a mistake appear at 3000 RPM.
The feedback loop
Hand tool: You push, the tool bites, you feel the resistance, you adjust
the angle, the shaving comes out perfectly thin or you adjust again. The
feedback is immediate and the correction is immediate.
Power tool: You switch it on, it runs at one speed, you push, it does its
job or destroys the thing. The feedback is too late.
What you learn with chisels
- How sharp matters
- How grain direction matters
- What “I have enough material” means, which is the one thing you cannot buy
back - That skill and speed come together, not one then the other
What you lose with a table saw first
All of the above. You buy a saw, you make sawdust, and three years later you
are still buying expensive wood to learn on.
The workshop I know
Five hand planes. Two chisels, sharp. A tenon saw with fresh teeth. A marking
gauge. A workbench that does not move. Nothing else.
Two years with that kit and the maker is ready for a table saw. One week with
a table saw and the maker is past the point where understanding helps.
The real cost
A good hand plane costs half what a table saw costs. Five hand planes cost a
fraction of what wasted lumber costs.
The expensive thing is not what you buy first. It is what you buy when you
do not yet know what you are doing.