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Some are tinder for the forge!

I bored holes for my bench with a brace with a big sweep, made a considerable difference over smaller sweep braces.
I also didn't drill a lot of holes to start, and kept the brace and bit nearby...

What size things do you plan on needing the end vise for?

Poplar takes paint very well and works very easily, it's a common secondary wood for drawers and such.
I agree with the posts above on beech, and haven't worked birch very much myself.
As to maple...

Hard to tell for sure from photos how much room is left for improvement.
I like Simple Green, 400 grit wet/dry sandpaper, and a sanding block, and would work on the non-etch side first to see what...

How do you like the inset vise?

I rarely use dogs with my split top Nicholson bench.
A planing stop, leg vise, a pair of holdfasts, and the split top itself, ably hold everything I've needed so far.
Just this past week I took...

I've heard good things about Gramercy rasps, not certain if they are made in the U.S. or just sold by U.S. company. I'm sure it would be easy enough to confirm though.

+1

Any plane you get will need to be sharpened.
Sharp chisels will do a lot more with more confidence, so less planes "needed."
Go to a LN event or woodworking show and use the planes to see...

I would happily take that Old Street jack with too high hold off your hands for you. :D
I'm a glutton for punishment.

I use beeswax because I have some, but it's just to help the plane glide, not a finish, paraffin is fine.
If you intend to use it as a foreplane for dimensioning stock from rough, I can't see how...

From those photos, looks pretty good to me as well.
Sharpen the iron, wax the sole, and put it to work. I would see how it does ejecting shavings before I did anything with the throat.

I've flattened some india stones with sandpaper on granite. It worked fine, there was some gumminess from the india, not sure what might help with that.

I have some newly made boxwood chisel handles (London pattern), that I'm about to finally use. I haven't worked with unfinished boxwood before and was wondering what finishes work best with it (or...

Another vote for Tolpin's hand tool book, as well as a solid workbench and a sharpening method (pick one and stick with it for a while). I struggled with makeshift workbenches and inadequate holding...

In my opinion, at least for normal everyday work, it's really a matter of personal preference.
Freehand sharpening, however, is much faster than putting things in honing jigs, and isn't hard to get...

I just finished shaping the tips of a mongrel group of turnscrews I cobbled together over the past year, so I expect they are made of different steels.

It seems to me that it couldn't hurt to heat...

Woodies are my planes of choice. I first bought some from Steve Knight before he was selling them as kits, then picked up some nice vintage ones at some NJ CRAFTS meetings, and then from various...

You might want to see if benchcrafted still has the 1 pound suede remnants.

Don't shy away from wooden planes because old ones are cheaper than old iron planes!
Once you get used to how they work they are a pleasure.
If a higher price makes you feel better though, order...

Suede on the chops of my leg vise was also a great improvement. I didn't finish beneath it, but didn't really think about it either.

Getting your hands on a well tuned plane first so you know how they should behave. LN tool event, local woodworking club, etc.
My personal favorite smoother is a 55 degree Old Street Tool smoother,...

I've put together a nest of saws for "normal" hardwoods (cherry, walnut, soft maple) with occasional use on softer/harder woods.
I'm ready to sharpen them, and was wondering whether the rake and...

I was lucky enough to see Ron Herman's talk at the Northeastern Woodworking Show yesterday.
He spoke for a bit over an hour primarily about how his company custom fits tools to each tradesman: saws,...

I'm building a treadle lathe, but haven't turned before!
What tools will I need for turning?
I see that Ashley Iles makes carbon steel pole turning tools, because they don't deal with the heat that...