M_Andersen

msdr: this argument IS a waste of time, but that is what forums like this are for, right?

I think the answer to this question largely depends on what you want to make. Even if you are mainly interested in furniture, you may want a different machine if you're making mostly straight, square craftsman style furniture vs. ornate Victorian furniture.

A portable thickness planer was the second to last major piece of equipment I purchased (I still do not own a jointer!), and I think that was the right decision. Sure, it has made things easier to own the planer, but I did plenty of nice work without it, and I never once used a hand plane. I am sure I'll be able to say the same about the jointer, someday.

Here are the ways in which I worked (safely) without a planer or jointer:

-Be very picky about the lumber you buy. It is relatively easy to select boards that are straight, and which have no cupping or warping. You may have to hit the lumber pile at your local home store or lumber supplier multiple times, but you can do it.

-Buy the lumber the right thickness to begin with. I found a one-man local hardwood supplier that usually rough cut stock to 4/4 to 6/4 thickness. He was always more than happy to run it through his thickness planer to get it the right thickness for me. I would guess you could find a place like this in most parts of the country. If not, keep in mind that you can do quite a bit with standard 3/4 stock from a home center. It may take a little creativity, but that's part of the joy of woodworking.

-I created a "jointer fence" for my table saw, based on instructions in a table saw book I own. This consists of a piece of MDF shelving that attaches to my regular saw fence, with a piece of 1/16" thick, peel-and-stick vinyl tile attached to the MDF behind the blade (using only the tile adhesive), cut in a curve at the front to fit closely behind the blade. I position my fence so that the blade's left edge is in line with the left edge of the linoleum, turn the saw on, and raise the blade up into the MDF. Then I can run the rough edge of the lumber along this fence as many times as needed to straighten it. Essentially, it is a jointer, rotated 90°. I have never used it for the faces of a board (since my stock was usually jointed and thicknessed by the lumber dealer), but I imagine it would work for something up to the maximum blade height. There are lots of other jigs that have been described in various books and magazines that allow you to turn your table saw into a jointer.

My first stationary tool was a relatively cheap, 9" Craftsman bandsaw, (a gift from my woodworking grandfather), and I was able to do quite a few nice projects with only that bandsaw and some hand tools. If I had to start from scratch now, though, knowing what I know now, I would definitely go with a table saw, given the flexibility and accuracy of a good table saw.

However, I would also submit that a handheld router, with all of the clever, shopmade jigs one sees in FWW and elsewhere, can do almost anything that a jointer and planer can do. Add a circular saw, cordless drill, jigsaw, and chisel, and you could make almost any project out there, while spending less than you would on a nice portable planer.

All this having been said, the best tool to start with is the one you can afford. I have seen some surprisingly nice projects created with nothing more than a hand saw, a drill, and some sandpaper.