Power Tool Wish List....

As I mentioned before, my parents came down a few weekends ago for my birthday and to help us build the island for our kitchen. Within an hour of their arrival our backyard had been transformed into a complete workshop. My dad had let us borrow one of his miter saws previously, but he brought a bigger, better one to use; a table saw; compressor with nail gun (makes finish nailing so much easier); a router with attachments galore and all sorts of other fun (IMO) things to help us get the job done right. I was most jealous of his multi-max and his kreg jig.

He was not surprised to learn that I wanted all of these things and that I had watched many a late-night/early-morning infomercials on power tools.
We would definitely tackle more projects if we had the proper tools on hand. But, we don’t, so we have to schedule our big projects around my parents schedule and whenever they feel like making the 5.5hr drive (each way) to visit me, instead of playing with their new grand-daughter. Anyways, we are slowly trying to build up our tool arsenal.

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So far we have:
Random Orbital Sander
Borrowed Double-Compound sliding miter saw
Circular Saw
Power Drill
Craftsman rotary tool
Levels, Squares, Clamps, Multiple Drill Bits….I’m sure I’m forgetting something.

WANTS:
Kreg-Jig ~ $100
Table-Saw ~$200 - $400
Dremel Multi-Max ~ $100
Plunge Router (I think I can get an attachment to do this with my rotary tool ~$30) ~$100 new
Dremel Trio ~ $100 (I could live without this *for now*)
Finish nailer w/ compressor ~$300 (ouch, I think we’ll use our trusty hammer and nail set for a while)

Admittedly, my list isn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. All my wish-list items are less than the cost of this stool.*
I’m stalking all these power tools on Ebay; unfortunately there aren’t too many good deals to be had there either.

I’m thinking about taking a week off sometime this winter to make the trek to Maine and take (what I’m dubbing) ‘Dad’s Cabinet Building Class’. Building things is really so much easier and more convenient when you have gazillions of tools at your disposal and a space designed specifically for building. It’s no fun having to do projects in stages and clean up after each part because you have guests coming over and are currently using your dining room as a workshop. Although I’m not sure how I would get said cabinets back to Mass. the Volvo could probably handle a few, but I might need some cross bars.**

What home-improvement tools are on your wish list?

*You are seeing my powers of rationalization in progress here.
**Christmas List Hint.