Help me spend 4k

James,

If your in it for the long haul, buy a Powermatic (or similar quality) table saw and a 8" Jointer. 

Jack
 
In the beginning, your choice of tools is dependent on what you plan on building.  For case goods made out of plywood, you really don't need a table saw.  The MFT3, TS55 and a nice long rail will accomplish your objective for 90% of what you will build.  Others have given good advice here on what to buy first.  If your projects are more of fine furniture with hardwoods, then you need to add a table saw to the mix.  If you are serious about this as a hobby, don't waste your time with a contractor's table saw.  Wait until you can get the right cabinet saw.  Saw Stop, Delta, Powermatic, General all make good cabinet saws.  I purchased a General 350 decades ago and still feel it was a wise purchase.  If you are romanced by hand tools, then you will also need a good work bench--something you can pound on.  Festool's MFT is not the best for hand chopping.  I find it a little too wiggly.  Good luck!
 
Thanks for the advice!

Went to the buildit tool show this weekend (both days) sponsored by www.ffx.co.uk - and they had literally everything to test and try out. Ended up spending $4200.00 and not on any festool gear :-(

short reason - starting to self-build a big house in NZ with my Dad in 2 months, and we decided to go with the "building" essentials first, and get the finer tools when we're closer to internal fit-out and furniture building. Also metabo and dewalt have a 3 year worldwide warranty, the festool one is not valid for NZ..

After using the domino xl at the show I wanted one. FULL STOP! But sometimes I can be practical..

Purchased:

Metabo KGS315 plus Mitre Saw (GBP 520/USD 790) - had brilliant dust extraction and capacity to go from mitres to massive posts..
Metabo KSU 250 portable mitre saw stand (GBP 200/USD 300)
Metabo TS 254 Table Saw NEW 2013 (GBP 520/USD 790) - this was brilliant! rock solid, everything about it was sturdy yet portable and brilliant dust extraction. Plus my dad wanted a table saw and he was paying a big part of the bill :-)
Metabo AS2025 25l dust extractor with autoclean/auto-on (GBP 200/USD 300) - this was a lot of bang for the buck - even at special offer the CTL 26 without autoclean was 2x the price - too rich for my wallet.
Metabo SXE450 sander pro pack (with the new metaloc case that links with my festool ones) (GBP 180/USD 270)

Dewalt's newest, baddest, cordless nailer (GBP 520/USD 790)
Then just because the nailer came with batteries etc, I got the new XR cordless jigsaw, circular saw and brushless impact driver bare units with 2 more 4Ah batteries chucked in. (GBP 350/USD 530)

And that was literally my last penny spent.. the show was awesome..

On my hitlist next is the centrotec installers set, a MFT style table (might build my own), the domino xl or 500 (I WANT BOTH!), a 1010 or 1400 router, a ts55 (I bought so many saws this weekend I couldn't get this one as well! plus they didn't offer a big enough discount.

Thanks so much for the help spending.. ;-)
 
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