Thanks, Mark. I think what makes them appealing, aside from the fact the guy's a good salesman (and put up with me ruining his wet stone for 30 minutes or so) is that he's refurbishing them. I'm sure the tools pop up all the time for the same or less, but they won't be in tip top condition.
As far as the wood goes, I build nice(r) stuff occasionally when the urge and idea strikes me; most of the time I'm doing little things or rough stuff like garden beds and fences, so these wouldn't get a lot of use the majority of the time. However, when I do build nice stuff, it would be good to have the option to use more interesting wood than pine or overpriced red oak from HD.
