So what is the proper order to fully outfit your shop? As a newer
woodworker, I read tonnes of articles about how to equip the shop and which
tools should be bought firt and now that I'm into it I'm begining to see how
bad some of the advice is. Lots of wood magazines recomend the bandsaw
first, and in the top 5 have a mitre saw of sorts... Why? The first order
of business in my garage/shop was to get orginaized. I need some cabinets,
shelves, a bench. The bandsaw just wouldn't cut it. I used plywood for
most of this stuff.

Here is how I'm doing it so far and the rest of the plan:

(* Don't have yet.)

1. Table saw
- Great for sheet stock, perfect for making a straight cut. Got the
cabinets up, a base for the planer (when it was purchased), and made a few
jigs for the router. It's also the biggest machine, and takes up the most
space. It seems the shop is slowly being built around it.

2. Jointer
- The prepared stock I could get around here was very poor quality.
None of it was anywhere near flat. Plus it's much cheaper and I get more
control ove rthe wood if I buy rough milled boards. The wood store will
joint the wood for me, but it can still move after I bring it to the shop.

3. Planer
- This is for the same reason as jointer. I could have switched the
order in which I purchased them, and would not have noticed. I bought them
very close together. If I were to do it again, I'd buy the planer first and
just get the boards jointed at the lumber store.

* 4. Dust collector
- This actually moved way up my list after my first small project which
used the Jointer/Planer. I originally had it last, but items 1-3 just make
too much of a mess. It's a sefety issue as well, the first day I had the TS
I cut some MDF up and my nose was burning.

*5. Drill Press
- It's cheap. At least compared to everything else. It's just nice to
be able to drill a nice straight hole. I use this to remove waste for
mortises. Right now I just practice dovetails.

*6. Bandsaw
- There are a few reasons it's last. To have a TS and a BS just seem to
be overkill if you can not mill lumber. As stated befo I need cabinets.
Cabinets need sheet goods a BS wouldn't do. To get a decent BS, will cost
decent $$$. The TS and the BS are twi major pruchases, costing almost
double what anything else on the list did. By one at the begining, and one
at the 'end'.

So that's my list. I'm sticking to it.