re: Prioritizing power tools for a home woodworking shop

As far as recommending specific machines it is all about budget, you could fill a shop with all Martin machines or Grizzly machines. One will cost you about the same as parking a Ferrari in your garage and the other will be significantly cheaper.

If you are starting out of scratch, have the budget and especially if you are limited on space a Euro combo machine is the way to go. Sliding table saw, jointer, planer, shaper, and horizontal mortiser in one. Something like a Hammer C41 is an excellent entry level machine.

If you plan to build furniture a table saw will be the heart of your shop. While I love my tracksaws there is so much they can't do or is a PITA to do. No dado blade and repeatability take time and effort for example. Again if you have the budget a Saw Stop or a Euro slider are the best options for a number of reasons, especially in the safety department.

Jointer, planer, drill press, and bandsaw round out the "Big 5". There are ways to accomplish workarounds for each but when you have them you never want to go back to work without them. A router table or a shaper would be next on the list.



Depending on where you live used machines can be amazing deals. I live within 50 miles of the old furniture manufacturing capital of the US and used machines are abundant. Over the last ten years I have been building up a collection of machines for when I build my shop at the camp after I retire and LA sucks for used WWing stuff at least quality stuff. I have bought several machines from the Houston area though.