IMO
@jb94 if you can make a stool of that quality you already have most of the skills needed to make most chairs. And I love that tenon cutter!!
My main advice with drawknives remains don't get a new chinese knock off one in the hope of saving money - they are a waste of time.
I am not an expert. I have three (one of which is a of the above described chinese job - I really should throw it away as its scrap metal) and used a few on a green woodworking course. I struck lucky on the second one I got which I picked up at Stroud food market! It cuts beautifully and is a pleasure to use. I also have a small old one that is nice to use for finer work.
I'd suggest getting a straight(ish) bladed drawknife to start with. The more strongly curved ones tend to be coopers tools and are a little more specialised.
There are subtles in the handle angles. Some people like a little offset (canted down or up) which tends to promote either bevel up or bevel down cutting. My main two both drawknives have handles that are at 90 degrees to the blade, but roughly in line with it. I like that, as they feel equally comfortable cutting bevel up or bevel down - as I find that there are often cuts where one orientation works better than the other.
I often find if a cut isn't going well it is worth flipping the drawknife over to change from bevel up to down, or vice versa, as that often fixes the problem. Unfortunately I am not experienced enough to predict when that will occur. My main drawknife tends to be more controllable bevel down - so that is where I usually start. My small drawknife seems to work a little better bevel up. So I think it can very well depend on the drawknife and the sort of cuts you are making.
There are a lot of options. For example there look to be some nice ones on
ebay at the moment. Just avoid the "new" ones!!. But to be honest
new Ray Iles ones aren't that much more expensive and if they are as good as other Ray Iles tools I've brought, should be a safe bet for a first drawknife.
Another thing to consider with drawknives is that they aren't the easiest things to sharpen. There is the
Benchcrafted Drawsharp but that'll cost twice what I've paid for my drawknives, and I don't think you need it (I haven't got one nor tried one), but otherwise this isn't a blade your going to be able to put in a jig. I find holding my diamond plates in my hand and stroking them along the blade does a reasonable job - but mastering sharpening my drawknives is something I'm still working on.
I bought my scorp from
Woodsmith and they offer an option where they will hone the tool ready for use. I found that useful as it gave me a good starting point in what I should be aiming for when sharpening/honing that tool.