I am starting out in woodworking but one thing I learned from welding(which I also do) is that I can't stand buying something then later wishing I hadn't cheaped out and settled for a tool that wasn't the best I could afford.
My shop is being built and will house my auto, welding/fab and woodworking. It is 40X64 in size but I haven't decided how much to devote to woodworking. I am thinking approx 20X20 for the woodworking portion. This space does NOT count wood storage as I can house the wood in an a separate area. In addition to run the table saw I can slide the door open that separates the wood area from the welding/fab so I can feed boards onto the table saw. I can also do glue ups and finishing in a different section of the shop in the welding/fab bay. All power is single phase.
So...
I have been trying to figure out what to do for a jointer and a planer. I believe (tell me if I am wrong) that I have enough room for separate tools. I have been googling for a week straight trying to figure out what to get. Hammer? Minimax? Powermatic? Jet? It is really overwhelming.
I want to get the best tools I can afford. I really don't want to have to go through the tool and double check everything to make sure it is square/flat (maybe there is no way getting around this). So what unit/units should I buy? What features should I make sure they have?