Quote Originally Posted by Plasmaman View Post
As a life-long (83 years) "hands-on" hot rodder, my most important personal possessions after cars & bikes have been my tools. First came the hand tools, and then the machinery.

When I got to the machinery stage, advice on the most useful equipment to get would have been helpful. In my experience, the equipment listed below has been the most useful to me. What equipment beyond your hand tools has been most necessary for you?

My priority list, in order of importance:
Drill press
Disk sander or belt sander
Horizontal band saw
Mig welder
Plasma cutter (& air compressor)
Metal lathe
Milling machine
Your list is the same as mine with the only exception being my band saw is both a horizontal and vertical . My lathe is a Southbend , yours looks like a Southbend, is it ? My Mill is a Bridgeport and looks like yours is too. I see you have a DRO on your mill, I have one on my Mill and without it I'd have trouble with precision stuff do to the wear, mine was made in 1968. To me the most used and time saving tool has been my band saw, I use it for a lot of fab work outside of hotrod stuff. All those tools make building so much easier, faster and most important produce the part you want. Happy Thanksgiving to all .