Benzine

$130-40 might seem like a lot for a Giffin Grip, but it's well worth it.  They will essentially last forever, and definitely speed up the process, especially with the health concerns you mentioned.  Definitely a justified "splurge" purchased.

For teaching, I wish I would have known about the Giffin Grip earlier.  It's invaluable, in my classroom.  I want the students to have experience trimming, but we don't have time, for them to get good at tap centering. 
I had never heard of the Giffin Grip, until my second teaching job, where they had one.  I said, "What is that, and why am I just finding out about it?!"
When I took the job, at my current District, I bought one, within the first year. 
 
Also, Xiem makes a bevel cutter, which is amazing for the slab boxes, my students make.  Prior to that, students either eyeballed the 45, or I had wood templates, they set on the slab, and then ran their knife along to cut the angle.  The Xiem tool is WAAAAAAY easier and more intuitive.

Liambesaw recently posted a question in the question pool:   Is there some piece of equipment or tool that made such a huge difference to the quality of work, and quality of time, that you wished you had found out earlier?  Nice question, that I am sure will generate some traffic here. I'll get my bite in first, with something of a listing, and let folks comment.
Listing away, I have found that much of my work depends on the Griffin Grip, for trimming, and throwing. I use the GG to throw handles on lids quite often, just by centering up a ball of clay on a lid held in the GG, and then throwing a hollow ball or flared bell for the handle. I also have found when working with the GG, that parts from plumbing supply/hardware store come in really handy as chucks for trimming. These allow me to trim, and assemble pieces like chalices and honey jars with spoons really quickly and efficiently. 
Next would be a good spray gun for applying glazes, a curved throwing stick I bought at a conference years ago as it works well for shaping my mugs, small jars and pitchers, magic water (not a tool, but so much better than slip), A good adjustable stool, a trimming bed I have made to fit over the Brent CXC that allows much more space for trimming scraps and controls the mess, kitchen tools (modified for ribs to throw bowls, trim/shape bases, and as straight edges), diamond sanding plate (attached to a bat that is used on the wheel) makes bottoms smooth as glass and nicer on table tops, diamond pads  also work well for foot rings as the pot may be held in the GG while grinding, and never forget the good heavy banding wheel with the 14" head. The list could go on and on, but I'll let the rest of you fill in the spaces.
 
best,
Pres

For me its many things but one was my power slab roller-I knew about slab rollers but the speed my 30 inch power Baily puts out clat as well as makes any thginkness out of any firmness of clay is amazing really-just wished I got it a few decades earlier than 20 years ago
I think the extruder which I got after about 10 years really made for stronger and faster handles-after about 20 years I got another  one as well so I have two which saves lots of time messing with size dies.
Car kiln-well I built the 1st one in 79 and wish I had done it sooner-never looked back on that decision .To this day its saved my back loading its alight year ahead of a front loader and several light years ahead of any bend over electric kiln.
My fans-getting out of hauling pottery's to shows with a  truck vs a van -my knessa and back all where saved -this one tyhing I should have done decades earlier -I'm on my 20 year with vans now.Yes I still use two trucks, just not for finished pottery's hauling.

Mine isn't powered but I am with Marc on the  Bailey slab roller and my extruder is second place.  I made my own extruder from directions in a Ceramics Monthly magazine.  It was only suppose to be temporary to see if I really needed a extruder.  I liked it so well I redesigned it to make it stronger and a made a bunch of dies for it,  Both pieces of equipment save me a lot of production time  and I am able to do projects that would be nearly impossible to do with out them.  Denice
 

glaze software
I've only been mixing glazes for 10 years or so but the moment I downloaded my desktop copy of Insight my life changed.
I resisted the molar math because I could melt and see my way through most issues. Local materials also don't necessarily fit well into neat categories.
I still rely on results but my adjustments and forays are more precise and less wasteful.

For me it was my mixer pugmill. It was a big chunk of money and in my mind I couldn't justify buying one for many years. Then I tore off the long head of my bicep in my right arm (turns out you shouldn't try and outdo your niece while tubing) and I fully realized how much wear and tear making pots for years can do on your body. My shoulder and arm healed up, bicep is as strong as ever but having a machine to do some of the grunt work is something I wish I'ld been able to buy much earlier on.

Waiting for a cheap or broken one to show up on craigslist haha, probably will never happen

Well I only finished 15 bowls, but I got distracted.  A co-workers wife wanted to know if I could make a strawberry planter so I am giving it a shot.  I think I should have used more clay, I used 15lbs but it seems small to me, I'm gonna be throwing the bowls for the side tonight and attaching them and see how it goes.  Might be able to get some of that Microsoft money I've heard so much about around here! Hah
 
I will say, I wouldn't have been able to do this on my old wheel, I had to stand up to pull on this one, it was 2 feet tall at one point!  Loving my new wheel

Tools, that a good'n, e.g. banding wheel - which was just thinkin' (uh-oh) yesterday has moved from someday to need it now* - which most all can be done on the wheelhead, but anywhere one wishes to move the banding wheel to, e.g. at eye level.
I'd like to try a Giffin (or Bailey's version? discuss?); that said, my nerves/damage don't do tap centering, however, line up visual, then turn/scribe, move, repeat is gettin' faster for me, typically one or two moves does it.
 
*now that I'm glazing/waxing dozens of pots at a go instead of a few at a time...

For teaching, I wish I would have known about the Giffin Grip earlier.  It's invaluable, in my classroom.  I want the students to have experience trimming, but we don't have time, for them to get good at tap centering. 
I had never heard of the Giffin Grip, until my second teaching job, where they had one.  I said, "What is that, and why am I just finding out about it?!"
When I took the job, at my current District, I bought one, within the first year. 
 
Also, Xiem makes a bevel cutter, which is amazing for the slab boxes, my students make.  Prior to that, students either eyeballed the 45, or I had wood templates, they set on the slab, and then ran their knife along to cut the angle.  The Xiem tool is WAAAAAAY easier and more intuitive.

That's an interesting equation.  "The customer is always right" multiplied by "Keep the Mrs. happy".  I believe the answer is, "Do what that person says!"
Congratulations on the new wheel!  I've never used that brand, but I love the large splash pan they put on them.

Welp, I've been on the lookout for a decent deal on a wheel and I found a brand new Skutt prodigy for 650.  Couldn't pass it up.  Got it set up tonight and wow what a difference.  Anyway, threw another 9 bowls, I think I've got it now!  I think I'll have enough for a kiln load by the weekend haha.

Yep the rims are thin, my wife likes the entire bowl as thin as possible, and since she's my only customer right now, she gets what she wants!

You poor soul!  My Wife and I spent many of our years together, both dating, and marriage, without a dishwasher.  We finally got one a few years ago, and things are soooo much better, especially with tiny people running around the house!
 
Great bowls by the way.  Those appear to be glazed versions, of those I commented on earlier.  The rims look thin, from certain angles, but it could just be how the photos were taken.

Benz: I have the opposite problem. I see some of the beautiful forms others make and wish I had the skill level to achieve it...but alas I do not. I long ago accepted the artistic gene skipped over me.
Tom

Simple, but effective.
Did you switch clay bodies? 

Thanks! I just pulled the rim out on opposing sides

Round 1
 

Tiles are the start for me than a spoon rest or sponge holder-Before sellable larger forms-then a mug well you can see the work up
 

Work bench is now empty after packing two kiln loads-packed up my small toyota bed full with pots in boxes and dolly and took a dozed boxes in to two outlets (both consignments)
Also finished  up packing a Large whole sale order which I droop off in Santa Rosa. on way south to SF to take my wife to her 6 week doctor check up after hip surgery.
I'm also taking down 1bout 1200 # of scrap metal sorted into 17 different sorts-red brass-yellow brass-100 # lead ingot -400#s of wire -clean to insulated-all sorted well
dirty brass clean and dirty copper-you get the idea no steel all higher qualities -wire is from 30 years ago working as a sparky.
Lots of the brass is from shipwrecks over the past decades-all scrap no nice items.
I did this sort last summer and my electrician friend has yet to take it so I'm making this a multi pot's .metal, doctor run, also bringing back a copper dive helmet and some fish prints.
 
Liam said (I mixed up a couple new glazes and sacrificed a few pots to see what they'll look like.)
test tiles are easier than pots especial for 1st tests
I lost a good friend about over a year ago and yesterday I finally started to empty his pottery shop. He was my salt kiln partner.
I am cleaning it out for his widow. mush of whats there came thru me to begin with. I worked on his glazes for many hours and brought home what I can use and we poured the water off the rest to dry them out. I am going to take the whole lot so she can have a two car space back in a ship building.
I processed a large truck bed full today at my studio.This is a huge job and since he once was doing raku and low fire it complicates the mix. I am going to try to donate all the low fire to a school and will give some clays away as well. I found him the Geil kiln and we will deal with that later-I also brought him a small electric from one of my AZ show trips 10 years ago and he has a 3 zone new skutt electric which  will also sell in the future  year after the shop gets cleared out and some time goes by.All the kilns are in a new connected large kiln room-finished out with painted sheet rock.He fired the gas kiln twice.
This is familiar as I have bought out 2-3 living potters in my past but this is good friend and much of what I'm moving I have handled before. It sad but I promised when she was ready I would do this for her.
The clay and glaze and material alone will be 4-5 truck fulls.I will take a month  or more to work thru this.
My work bench today had all his stuff on it but now its found a new spot in my stuff.

Today I mixed up a couple new glazes and sacrificed a few pots to see what they'll look like.  Doing a glaze firing now, it should be cool enough to open up and take a look tomorrow night!
This week I will go back to trying to throw repeat bowls.  I need to step up my bowl game, I'm pretty decent at mugs now. I just need to finish putting handles on all of last week's mugs and then it's bowls bowls bowls.  Gonna force myself to figure out getting them to the gauge every time.
Oh yeah, and I have to finish editing my latest YouTube video.  Hah.  I don't think people realize how difficult editing video is until they're neck deep in it.  Kudos to any YouTubers out there

I throw forms to practice and to test crystalline: the bowls mostly go to family members- 0 profit margin. The shows and shops around here are stuffed with $10 mugs, no need to even attempt competing.
i still make geometric tile: I rarely sell jobs; but when I do $$$$$. It works for me at the moment. I am currently working on a geometric pattern consisting of 12, 8, and 4" interlocking circles. The added bonus of having a professional CAD system, with a 24 x 36 printer- I can create  precise cut sheets.  One of my favorite patterns - makes for a beautiful shower.

Here's the article for the lazy among us: https://ceramicartsnetwork.org/ceramics-monthly/ceramic-art-and-artists/ceramic-artists/lessons-learned-time/
Nice read but if you've lurked around here for a while it's all OLD HAT! 
I need to settle into some things, I can throw 30 mugs a night that all look pretty much the same, but for some reason bowls are a total mess for me.  I need to figure out a better way to bring them to the gauge because the way I learned bowls was to V them and then open them and it just doesn't work well with a gauge.
But I am slowly building out my forms.  

I usually have about 35 forms in my line-If I add one its because of a  buying trend or a ton of people asking me for them-not less than 25 requests ever .If I decide that its worth trying I work thru the design process and  introduce it into my line and  then take a form out that is slow moving-For example 
In the past few decades I gave up planters,oil lamps-soup Tureens-pin cushions-all because they slowed way down. Casseroles are on the verge of being cut soon
I have replaced them with forms like sponge holders-soap dishes-lotion bottles and salt cellars.
A large part of my forms list was published in last years  February issue in CM if you want to see the list.
Sometimes I have a form that went away and comes back like a french butter bell -made them in the 80's stopped and started again in late 90's.
I do not have a plan like 1 a year or any plan like that. It usually started as a request from customers and if I get enough asks then I consider it. I also need to like the idea and its needs to be a solid functional form that is not to fragile. I dislike broken pottery and the ill feelings that go with that so I make sure its solid durable form that will bring joy not sorrow to customers-This is often over looked by potters.
As to working a new form it takes me a month or two to get it into the line as a solid addition and this also depends on the season. I usually do not introduce new form in my christmas rush for example .
I also have few items that are sessional -they are candle holders and to some degree salt cellars now.