Greetings first of all... like many of you I decided to start on a quest to build my own furniture rather then buy cheap particle board junk from the stores. At least that's what I told the Mrs... I consider myself a newbie in the area of WW although I am quite good working with my hands and have watched/assisted my dad working on projects while growing up.
I started buying my own tools about two years ago and think I've done an okay job at getting good deals but I was curious to see what other people think. My own desire is to buy Made in USA (hard to do these days) whenever possible and at all costs avoid China although Taiwan is fine (no offense meant to those that don't have a preference). The result is a lot of time spent on Craigslist waiting for a tool I'm in the hunt for usually not haggling much over the price.
Listed in chronological order I have purchased the following:
1. 90's era UniSaw (USA): Included 52inch Uni Fence/Rail, Acu-Miter gauge/fence w/Extension, Mobile Base, Out-feed Table, 4 or 5 extra blades including a dado set. Paid $800
2. 90's era Delta Bandsaw (USA): Included mobile base, 3 or 4 extra blades and a fence plus miter gauge. Paid $450
(By the way Las Vegas is a great place to buy tools on Craigslist from, especially on Thursdays and Fridays... Both Uni and Bandsaw came from the same guy two months apart. Same guy also later sold a Delta lathe to a guy that I happened to buy an old Rockwell 4" Jointer from months later)
3. 90s era DJ15 6" Jointer (Brazil): Included 6 sets of additional blades plus the mobile base and a few extras. Paid $500
4. Package Deal: Delta Stationary Plate Jointer (Can't recall origin, not China, maybe Taiwan?), Delta Mortiser (England), Delta Oscillating Spindle Sander (Taiwan), 16" floor standing drill press (Taiwan) . Paid $330 for the lot.
5. Rockwell/Invicta RC-33 (Brazil): Pad $450 for it, came with mobile stand and dust collection hood, blade setting jigs.
6. Rockwell Super 900 RAS (USA): Year unknown, guessing mid 50s era. Decent condition, likely needs new bearings though. Mobile stand needs some sanding/painting. Paid $150
Considering the above my first question is, have I done a decent job at getting fair deals? I know I'm probably not getting bottom dollar for the items but I hope to be doing okay.
My second question is... What should my next purchases be? I am currently working on finishing my routing station (already having the Incra Wonderfence + Joinery and PC 7518, waiting for money to buy PVl2 lift/table package from wood peckers). I am also considering replacing the unifence with the TS-LS fence for my TS. And finally a belt/disc sander is probably in the works.
From here I can't think of any more excuses to give my wife for tools I need in order to work on her projects. Granted I have purchased most of the large ticket items and have a ways to go in the small things like clamps, squares, rulers etc... I'm afraid that at some point she is going to call my bluff and demand I stop buying and start building...
So what should I think about to round out my collection. I'm not asking about a dream sheet but rather a list of big ticket tools I'm missing that are A. available (on Craigslist), B. affordable and C. justifiable for a small home shop.