Which piece of equipment did you spend the most on?

[Mike Cruz]

Doing what I should have done long ago, I waded through my shop...appraising my equipment. Listing what I paid for each, what my bottom line would be if I had to sell them, and what I would want to get for them. For instance, my DJ20 jointer: Paid $400, but a Byrd head on it for $300, and a mobile base for about $100. So, I PAID $800, could easily get $900 to $1000 for it, but could probably get $1200 from the right buyer.

This, after going through my entire shop, made me realize which machine I had the most "in". And I was kinda surprised. I wouldn't have thought it before I started buying equipment. For me, it is my lathe. A 1981 PM90. Now I bought it for $300. 3 phase converter $145; poteniometer, reverse switch, and box for those two things $50; digital tach $100; risers (to make it an 18"er) and other stuff (not including tools for it) $350; paint and refinishing materials $50.

So, for me, it is my lathe at $1000.

New or used, what is yours? You don't have to say how much you have "in"...

EDIT: Sorry, I could only list 10 options.

[Frank Drew]

My table saw, by a good bit, but not only was it a doozy, it was one of the few machines I bought new (the other one being a horizontal slot mortiser.)

I'm more than a bit surprised to see dust collector coming in at #2, although I guess that could change with more votes.

[Mike Cruz]

I would be interested to see which piece fell into the "other" catagory. I meant to add it in my post that if you vote "other", please specify...

Thanks all for participating.

[Norman Hitt]

My three most expensive tools thus far, in descending order (all bought new), were "OTHER".....Minimax FS-350 jointer/planer with Horizontal Slot Mortiser, MM20 Bandsaw with 1" Lenox Trimaster & other blades, PM-66 Tablesaw W/Biesemeyer Commercial Fence.

[Rick Fisher]

I voted for Dust Collector, but sales tax was the deciding factor..

I believe that the Dust collector is the most used machine in the shop. Irregardless of what your doing, its likely chugging away in the back ground.. If I include all the pipe and blast gates, its hands down the most expensive machine I have ..

The DC is a Felder RL-160 which I bought new..

Secondary would be a Laguna / Griggio 12" Jointer which I bought as a demo unit.. and an SCM Sandya Win Wide Belt sander which I bought used.

[Jeff Hamilton Jr.]

I voted tablesaw, but actually, it was a MM CU300. Sooooo. . . it was a 12" tablesaw, 12" jointer/planer and a shaper (I didn't buy the equip for the horizontal mortiser, but can add if I ever feel the need). Next most expensive was the E16 bandsaw purchased with it.

[Paul McGaha]

I voted for dust colllector. The machine itself isnt the most expensive tool I've purchased but the complete system would be.

PHM

[Rich Engelhardt]

I voted "Other".
I'm into my Festool TS55EQ for about $850 with the three rails I also bought.
That's actually a tie w/my compressor (when you add up all the nail guns that go with it).

My table saw - a Ridgid TS3660 - was one of the lesser expensive tems - all things considered.
My actual out of pocket cost was around $288.00 for it brand new.
I used a Home Depot rewards credit card for a year and accumulated points that I could cash in for gift cards & waited for a $100.00 off sale that HD used to run on a regular basis and that brought the price way down.

[Dan Hintz]

Bandsaw and wood lathe cost the same... I voted for bandsaw.

[Brian Penning]

Easy...Industrial Sawstop

[Peter Quinn]

Well, the table saw and drum sander were within a few pennies, so I voted sander as it was a lonely category. If tooling were included than my used Minimax shaper would have won, and if replacement cost was the criteria, the Minimax shaper and 20" Meber BS I believe would be neck in neck for the lead.

[Kent A Bathurst]

3 hp Unisaw. But - I am including in my thinking 4 Forrest blades, Forrest Dado, 52" Biese, Incra, tenoning jig, 8 - 10 ZCI, plus Lord knows what other accessories are laying around here................

[Mike Heidrick]

Easy...Industrial Sawstop

Same here. It may not be worth the most but I just got deals on everything else.

John Deere 3320 wins though really but it just moves wood from the trailer to the shop and is not a woodworking tool I guess.

[Paul Cahill]

It was a toss up between the dust collector, including all the ducting etc. and the table saw. However, considering the time I spent putting the ducting together, and then redoing it because I hadn't done sufficient homework first, I gave the nod to the dust collector.

[Mike Cruz]

Mike, you hit the nail on the head. I wasn't asking which had the highest value, but rather which did you actually spend the most on. My Uni was probably the most expensive, but I got it (plus a boat load of other stuff at the same time, from the same guy) for a measly $300. Bottom line, I didn't have $1200-1500 to spend on a Uni in that condition. Therefore, didn't pay for it. But I DID buy a PM90 for cheap ($300) and fix 'er all up to a total of $1000...which means the lathe is what I spent the most amount of money on.