Handmade tools. All are for sandcasting except for the spatula, which is a nice sculpting tool. I forged it out of a strip of truck spring. The blades have been ground and sanded until they are thin enough to flex a little. It's sharp - you have to be careful with it, but boy is it useful.
As you might imagine, it takes a lot of tools to do the things I do. Being on an artist budget, I usually acquire them used or make them myself. Used tools are sometimes quite used and have to have some time put into them. I once bought a nice big pair of metal shears at "Rocky's Trading Post" in Lincoln, AR for a couple of bucks. Well, when I got them home, I discovered that they wouldn't cut anything. They were so loose and dull that a piece of metal would just flip sideways through them when I tried to cut. So I took the shears apart and learned how to sharpen them just right. They're still in the shop, getting used almost every day.  

My new (old) favorite tool.It's a '56 model 10x30 Sheldon metal lathe. This may be the most versatile and satisfying tool I've ever gotten my hands on! a recent project

small but very capable welding outfit. Those little Lincoln MIG welders are great. The High Frequency Arc Stabilizer (on top of the tombstone buzz box) is an economical way to get TIG welding
   Looking around at all of my friends and the builders and artisans I've known and have found on the internet, I see that I am one of many, many tool users. There are many different philosphies, too. I know some guys who are such purists that they would surely be horrified to see the way I do things im my shop. But still they could not deny that I get things done and the pieces come out with a strength and beauty of their own. I am definitely not a purist, sometimes I horrify myself. Like the Chisels, for example. Our studio is such a multi media place with so many things going on, that the tools have to change modes, depending on the work going on. Chisels are incredibly handy tools for lots of things, when necessary they can scrape, separate, pry, which is OK until you need to really cut wood with them. Then you look with dismay upon all the dull and mutilated edges on those chisels. I have since hidden a couple of them away with some real edges, to reserve for wood only.
My philosophy would probably be best characterized as "whatever it takes to get the job done" (and not kill yourself and the tool in the process!). Hard and fast rules are few and far between. I've seen people do amazing things with very few tools, and I've seen people with incredible shops who were so busy being neat that they could hardly get anything done. In the end, it is the tool user and their concentration and desire which is the important thing. Sometimes power tools, although indespensible, are overrated, and one forgets the joys of the old classics. Like planes and hand saws, which don't shatter a peaceful moment in the shop with an ear-splitting whine. I've used power tools enough in my life, that I can barely turn one on without my earplugs in. If your ears aren't ringing yet, start protecting them religiously, that's my advice.  


Still don't have enough workbenches!

The only thing I bought new to make this furnace was the gas valve, a pipe nipple and the dimmer for the fan motor. Even the firebrick was salvaged (a local glass company rebuilt one of its furnaces).
 

a Stihl 026 - another of my favorite tools