I have 2 things that I love above all else in my shop. The first is the sound a nice piece of machined hardwood makes when I put it on my bench. I swear I can tell the difference between walnut, QSWO, maple, polar, etc. And I would be hard pressed to tell you why - it's just a ringing bell to me. Sometimes I'll pick it up and put it back on the bench a second time just to hear it. The other is breaking the edges of milled pieces with sandpaper. I know. Weird. There is just something cool about a sanded edge. I don't like planed edges - they seem to perfect. Maybe it's the small imperfections. Dunno.
What's yours?