Back in 1998, when I came back from 7 years working in Saudia Arabia. I bought a Shopsmith MK 5 with a jointer, shaper, and scroll saw, and all the other expensive bits and pieces that went with it. Paid $1100 for it, and I thought I got a good deal. Think about it, most of the major equipment one would need to produce furniture for only $1100 dollars. I did make a fairly decent plant stand, coffee table, and a work table with it, but what a hassle. Turns out that a router table (Bench Dog), lunch box planer (DeWalt), band saw (Jet), jointer (Sears) is about the same price, more accurate and twice as fast. I built a second work table (same design) in half the time with a lot more smiles on my face! To be fair, Shopsmith has the best variable speed motor I've ever worked with. Now I just use it to polish knife blades and the brass pieces on hand planes that I build. Fact is, I should put it on the end of my driveway with a "Take for Free" sign on it and save garage space. Lesson learned, sorry for the rant.