True to form, Mark Twain is reputed to have followed his profound observation that "Clothes make the man" with the more profound but also hilarious "naked people have little or no influence upon society."
I'll testify that the first line is at least partly true of builders: the tools make the carpenter.
Recently, in the course of working on some small upgrade and maintenance projects for a client, I removed a section of his backyard fence. Since the painter would also need access behind the fence, I re-installed the section to approximately the same degree of sturdiness and durability it had before: not much. While reviewing the work done with the homeowner, I told him this, and said, "that section of fence is less than-".
Laughing, he pointed out, "don't say too much, I built that".
"Missing tools?"
"Yeah."
It had been an effective and noble effort for a busy dad with a hand screwdriver and a sweaty afternoon, no question; but having the correct tools for a job can be nearly as important as having the knowledge to carry out the job.
I should be careful saying such things: in a cavity-filling contest, a dentist with blacksmith tools would probably draw less blood than a blacksmith using dentist tools. But quality tools, the right ones for each particular task, enable a higher quality of finished product at a better price than inferior tools. This isn't to say that, with a sufficient investment in fancy tools, the average homeowner should attempt to remodel his bathroom, or that a sufficiently talented carpenter could not, in time, build an incredible Queen Anne-style home with only a handsaw, a chisel, and a hammer. What I meant by "tools make the carpenter" is that the tools help represent the carpenter's attitude about her work and the quality of her finished jobs.
A craftsman working on your home with a beat-up, cheap-looking, aluminum spirit level and a dollar-store miter saw with a dime-store blade clearly has little interest in the finished appearance and longevity of his work. Conversely, a craftsman whose tools are both expensive and flawlessly neat may be spending too much of your money coddling his precious specialty saws and clamps.
