If you had £10k?

[shed9]

I would add that the customer support from Felder / Hammer has been spot on. I can see the argument for old solid kit but customer support is none existent - that said there is less to go wrong.

If starting out and £10k is the 'cabinet' tool budget then I would be looking at used equipment to cater for all the ancillaries. If it's a total budget for a workshop then I'd seriously reconsider the ultimate objective.

Also allow for a change in direction. I invested in Hammer and Festool but am now moving more towards hand tools simply because I changed direction in line with opportunity. I still have a use for my Hammer / Festool but if I was doing it all over it would be a different shopping list.

 

[shed9]

I'm in France and as such get the Euro prices for the hammer stuff. Makes an interesting comparison as they are cheaper (by about £1k) to buy here which is unusual. The exact same items you listed Shed9 are
BS (N4400)- €2154 (£1830)
TS (K3) - €3774 (£3208)
PT (A3 31) - €3174 (£2698)
SM (F3) - €3798 (£3228)

That's using today's exchange rate.
£10k sounds a lot of money (and indeed is!), but when tooling up is doesn't get you the dream.

That's quite interesting, I wonder how much of that is logistics and how much safety net for exchange rates in the UK?

 

[Froggy]

Also allow for a change in direction. I invested in Hammer and Festool but am now moving more towards hand tools simply because I changed direction in line with opportunity. I still have a use for my Hammer / Festool but if I was doing it all over it would be a different shopping list.

Funnily enough lately I have been moving more towards hand tools but thought that if I go pro I will have to speed things up, I am very slow with hand tools.
The budget is just for the upgrade of my machines. I already have quite a large workshop. am revamping that at the moment but on a separate budget, And I could probably manage with my existing TS (Wadkin AGS 12) if I can upgrade the fence and sort out the rise and fall. But the PT and BS will definitely be upgraded and maybe a SM added to the fold,

 

[Froggy]

I'm in France and as such get the Euro prices for the hammer stuff. Makes an interesting comparison as they are cheaper (by about £1k) to buy here which is unusual. The exact same items you listed Shed9 are
BS (N4400)- €2154 (£1830)
TS (K3) - €3774 (£3208)
PT (A3 31) - €3174 (£2698)
SM (F3) - €3798 (£3228)

That's using today's exchange rate.
£10k sounds a lot of money (and indeed is!), but when tooling up is doesn't get you the dream.

That's quite interesting, I wonder how much of that is logistics and how much safety net for exchange rates in the UK?

I'm sure most of it is exchange rates. They can't change their brochures every two minutes to accommodate the FX.

 

[shed9]

Funnily enough lately I have been moving more towards hand tools but thought that if I go pro I will have to speed things up, I am very slow with hand tools.

All depends on your end product and target market. Hand tools can soon rack up in cost but add a different dimension to you enjoyment.

and maybe a SM added to the fold

Factor a powered feeder into the cost of a SM, scary machines and personally I think this is almost a must - but that is just me.