One of my first power tools, beyond a cheap circular saw and corded drill was a Craftsman Radial Arm Saw. I thought it terrible and returned it soon. A few years later, I read a book on them and seemed like a jack of all trades, so I bought another one. It scared me with self feeding (maybe I had the wrong blade) and trying to do rip cuts. And forget about small pieces. And it never seemed to be in good alignment. Eventually I got a cheap table saw, then sold it and bought a Unisaw. The RAS largely sat on one side of the shop and was used for setting things on. I eventually gave it to a nephew who was doing some carpentry work on a carriage house he lived in.

Second, many years later, I bought a Fein Multitool (before there were cheaper alternatives), mainly to do detail sanding on refinishing work. I use it very little now and while it might be useful for finish carpenters and such, I don't find it very useful for furniture building.

I bought a Porter Cable Profile sander for some reason no longer remembered. That was a huge waste of money, although I still have the little rubber sander pads that I use every now and then on profiles while hand sanding. The power unit got tossed. I also had (have) a Fein and while it's not terribly useful for sanding I do use some of the saw blades with for odd jobs....almost never having anything to do with woodworking; more like home improvement stuff.

Sold my Craftsman RAS for all of the same reasons and bought a table saw- that Is still in use. Also have one of those detail sanders but never use it, either.

Looking thru the "little tools" drawer the other day and came across one of these to make sharp corners when gaining out hinges.

Probably only used it once-

2 hours ago, Fred W. Hargis Jr said:

I bought a Porter Cable Profile sander for some reason no longer remembered. That was a huge waste of money, although I still have the little rubber sander pads that I use every now and then on profiles while hand sanding. The power unit got tossed. I also had (have) a Fein and while it's not terribly useful for sanding I do use some of the saw blades with for odd jobs....almost never having anything to do with woodworking; more like home improvement stuff.

Oh, yeah, I bought one of those too. Fortunately, HD had a 90 or 120 day return policy. It was the worst P-C tool I ever owned.

13 minutes ago, lew said:

Sold my Craftsman RAS for all of the same reasons and bought a table saw- that Is still in use. Also have one of those detail sanders but never use it, either.

Looking thru the "little tools" drawer the other day and came across one of these to make sharp corners when gaining out hinges.

Probably only used it once-

Got one of those, too. I think I used mine twice as much as you did.

...and I was doing some carving last week. It is something I never really got into. I have three or four Swedish Bora knives that I've used the most to carve wooden spoons. I have a set of 8-10 carving chisels that I sometimes use, and another set of about that many detail chisels (same brand as my main straight chisels, Footprint, a UK company). And for some reason (they were cheap), a seldom used set of other carving chisels). Maybe some day if I'm in a retirement village, I'll take up carving in the dining room. And I have that JoolTool that I got from a friend who was a local librarian (she knew me as "the guy who gets woodworking books out.") and was a carver. We've both moved since, so it's been a long time since I've seen her.

11 minutes ago, kmealy said:

Got one of those, too. I think I used mine twice as much as you did.

Me too! 🙄 But not sure I've ever used it on an actual project. I'm sure if I need it, I won't be able to find it. 🤣🤣

I bought a Delta hollow mortise chisel attachment for my Delta drill press. I opened the box and never used it. Probably 20 yrs ago and I still have it. Danl

48 minutes ago, BB1 said:

Me too! 🙄 But not sure I've ever used it on an actual project. I'm sure if I need it, I won't be able to find it. 🤣🤣

My too! Never been used. Danl

Yes I have one of those essential corner chisels too... I think still have. Had one of those cheap corner rounding planes. Used maybe twice and file 13 worked. Now for the big one a PC biscuit cutter. Yes it was solid and worked well but just decided that just glue works as well with less trouble. Sat in drawer for years and sold to woodworker club member for 20.

A Roto-zip. It brings breathing sheetrock dust to a new level. On the way to goodwill.

Fred is close with a profile sander. I grabbed one at an auction and it is useless. Now for the controversial pick. A jointer. I have an 8” jointer and it is the biggest dust collector in my shop. Gets used maybe twice a year.

Have to agree with Gerald on the biscuit joiner, mine has been in the drawer for so long I think it's grown roots☹️

That first freaking hammer that made everything else looking like a freaking nail and lead to this lifelong obsession known as "woodworking ". 🙂🙃🙂

Oh, and I got a Makita corded impact driver. I avoided cordless because I'd been thru about 5 NiCad cordless tools, even with replacement batteries and figured if I needed to do a deck or something some day, it wouldn't work. It did not work well once I needed one in the theater shop because the original shop was very short on outlets. Then they came out with Li Ion that have worked fine.

A Performax sander. I bought it for a big cabinet job and I thought I'd do more of that work. It was used for that job only, and stayed a boat anchor and toe stubber for years till I finally sold it. Got back what I paid for it though!

2 hours ago, John Morris said:

A Performax sander. I bought it for a big cabinet job and I thought I'd do more of that work. It was used for that job only, and stayed a boat anchor and toe stubber for years till I finally sold it. Got back what I paid for it though!

Which one? They make lots from detail sanders to benchtop to drum sanders.

19 minutes ago, kmealy said:

Which one? They make lots from detail sanders to benchtop to drum sanders.

16" Drum Sander

Probably that Stanley 45 I had for 10 years or so. It turned up at my favorite used tool store in Tucson, where such things rarely turn up. Paid too much, sold for about the same on ebay after 10 years of inflation. Lesson learned.

I did resist buying the Emmert vise that store had a couple years later.

I don't regret buying 10 Wetzler F clamps about a year before the company dried up and blew away. I still have 9 of them and still use them a lot.

Oh, and the discussion about the Dremel making a pumpkin. One of my sons-in-law is a big big Dremel fan. I eventually bought one to use in business. I ended up using it mostly with a cut-off wheel to cut metal. And the wheels did not last long. I had it on site, then remembered about a week later, I'd left it there. Never went back, bought a HF angle grinder that works much faster, and never missed it.