The only two items I purchased in addition to my "make a living tools" were a 9" band saw and a disk/belt bench sander. Most used is the sander.
I'm comfortable with those pretty hands using either tool.
I had a thought about mentioning a sander -- I probably use my 4" belt sander more than the rest of the large power tools.
Hand tools - good for the majority of applications. We could go on forever about brands, sizes, etc. I got the impression from the OP that he was looking about for something beyond hand tools; they will do the job, but I'm still kind of partial to a band saw for cutting homasote given curves & bevels can be done easily and when I did this for myself I found it to be the most convenient with minimal dust generated; sort of polished the cut surface, too.
Radial saw - been using all power tools for many decades now and it's the only one I have where the blade can move towards me of its on volition which is why it's the one I take the most care when using it. Last time I checked the table saw and band saw just throw wood at me and the blade generally stays on location - ok, band saw blades do break or pop off,
Being very close to ambidextrous is exceedingly useful! I go to left-handed when using the radial saw.
