On the electrics, I'm making the assumption that I will not need to change the wire itself. The property itself is a newbuilt and the electrics to that side of the house are supposed to handle the eventual upgrade to an electric car charger hence why I'm assuming all I'll need to upgrade is the sockets itself and the breaker.
I've already asked for quotes and have 0 intention on doing any of the work myself. Option B would be to just go all in and add a full 100amp and an electric car charger if the existing wire is not good enough for 32 amps. I would try to avoid investing too much in the electrics due to our intention to move though.
I'm no spark, but I've done my fair share of rewiring etc. So please take the following as my understanding, liable to be corrected by someone more experienced/qualified. I've had a quick google and it does look that 32A charger points for cars go on a 40A breaker and that would be really good news. A 40A breaker would be ideal as once you've got lights and some bathroom extractor fans going (I have two, bang for buck this is a great dust extraction method for fine particulates) that might be 6A, a suitably sized dust extractor might draw 7-10A, your planer thicknesser on full chat might also pull 10A. These amperages are lower than the plug they are on and I think that's to account for start up current I believe. Start up current for single phase machines can be pretty big. A 40A breaker won't (and shouldn't) trip straight away if more current than this is drawn. In fact there are many types of breakers that need to be picked by your spark based on acceptable trip time. Essentially, I think 32A breaker would be tight based on my experience, but 40A gives you good breathing space, and it looks like you should be good for 40A but of course your electrician will be able to tell you this at the quote stage.
Wow that Triton router is an absolute beast! It hasn't even been on my radar at all! This is exactly why I wanted to ask here -- i think i've learnt about ~10 new brands to consider and get a better/cheaper overall setup for my money.
Yeah it's pretty good, it's a treat to use. I've heard good things about the Hikoki/Hitachi as well, as mentioned by someone earlier, but I've had no personal experience with it. But yes, I don't think you can go wrong with that Triton, it adjusts quite well when mounted in the table which is great.
I've been tempted by some used Festool stuff but most of the things I've found so far look quite used & abused for a mere 20-30% discount, it might also be the COVID situation as I did notice a lot of DIY tools stocks have ran out for most companies.
I happily buy machines second hand but I really don't enjoy buying second hand power tools. They are used and abused as you say. There's no doubt Festool are better than the more general contractor brands, but the price new and used can be tough to stomach. There are also other good brands such as Mafell, Lamello, Fein and Mirka which are on the same level or higher as Festool in certain specialties. My experience with power tools, used in shop and on site is that they are limited life span, there's no doubt about that. Owning an expensive one out of warranty isn't an enjoyable experience and is best avoided - it just so happens that now and then one comes about cheap enough to absorb that risk. I definitely think you'll get good value out of the Domino you've picked however. I don't have one, but my mum's boyfriend does. He's very happy but does tell me that he's had issues with snapping bits if his dust extractor has filled up and he's not noticed. I'm weighing up getting the mafell duo doweller, that would be a similar alternative just in case you'd not seen that - domino more tried and tested realistically so possibly the better bet.
That PT is quite nice but sadly quite out of my budget as well.
Which one would you choose in the context of my budget between the AT260SPT at 1.65k and AC250PT at 0.85k?
If I could help it I'd prefer getting the cheaper one as I wouldn't have to worry about 16 AMP/electrics and i'd be able to have some budget left over for other tools.
On the other hand I feel like I don't want to skimp on the PT itself as it seems like such a core tool when it comes to working with sawn timber.
Electrics aside for now and just comparing them side by side, I would say the 260 looks substantially beefier. If you're able to go see them in store it might help guide a decision but I've had a look and your nearest stores are both about an hour and a half away (Nuneaton and High Wycombe). Looking at photos, the cast iron surface on the 260 looks more substantial than the 250 and that's definitely a good thing. I won't lie, both seem pretty noisy from the specifications but I don't think the noise specification is correct for the SPT, because I know for a fact spiral cutters are significantly quieter and the rated 89Db is the same as on its sibling model
Axminster Trade AT260PT Planer Thicknesser - this is one option budget wise. I vaguely recall looking at these as it happens. Please check with Axminster but I do believe that you could buy the standard 260PT and later upgrade the cutter head. Overall this would in all liklihood work out more expensive, but it would give you a very good PT to get working on and maybe a year or two down the line you could upgrade to a spiral block. My guess is that either 260 model is going to to be powerful enough to run smoothly with a nice hum, which might be easier on your neighbours than that Craft model. There's few sounds as grating as an overworked PT imho!
I actually didn't know much about the MB when I bought it, it just turned up for the right price and I did a quick (couple of hours) research and took the punt, turned out to be quite a good choice. I think I only paid £1400 for mine, but it is 3 phase and those do tend to turn up cheaper as to run three phase is a bit of a mission in itself, this may be a path to look at once you've moved to your next house as it requires a bit more planning for electrics, hardware to run etc, and there's perfectly good single phase options as you've found. It's older than the ones seen on the Axminster site by some margin (80s maybe?) still quite young by my standards and has been upgraded to the TERSA cutter block. Looking at the ones on the Axminster site, 6 grand or so, seems quite expensive. I doubt it's ~3x the machine of the Axminster Trade. The 260 models look decent, skipped through a couple of youtube videos just to hear them running as see different angles and I don't think you'd regret it. All I will say, is a PT thicknesser is something where you'll always want a little bit more width and it might be worth seeing what you can get on the 12" side of things before making a final decision. I am not an expert on newer machines so I don't really know what is about but there's a Startrite SD31/Record Power PT310 (the same machine as far as i can tell only looked briefly, same parent company). In non coronavirus times I believe Record Power does a few shows where discounts can be had (maybe someone else can confirm). Perhaps a deal breaker as I don't think you can get these with a helical cutter head.
I'd speak to your electrician about cost, but if you're doing it at the same time as running your 13A sockets, adding a circuit for 16A sockets shouldn't be outrageous. Maybe start another thread, and see if we can get a shop layout together for you so you put a 16A commando where you need them, but with your breaker capabilities, I think you'll unlock better quality tools if you can stomach 16A sockets over 13A. The price difference for parts for a ring of 16A commandos alongside a ring of 13A sockets will be less than £100 over just 13A sockets.