[Lowell W]

Most of the above are good suggesions, especially starting with air. Once you have air and air tools, you'll wonder how you ever got along without it/them. Just being able to put on the air gun with the long wand and stick it in somewhere and blow all the dust and crap out is worth the price of a cheap compressor. A good compressor will set you back several times the cost of your entire budget, but you can start out with the cheapie and upgrade when you wear it out.

My biggest recommendation is to NOT BUY TAIWANESE/CHINESE TOOLS if at all possible. This means Harbor Freight, for the most part. One glaring exception may be their $150 floor jack, which does seem to be a reasonably well-made item at the price. Time will tell though: I've had mine for a year or so and some friends bought one or two for their hobby racing shop. I circled that sucker with my nose in the wind for a long time before plunking down any green paper, though. Cheap tools are frustrating, infuriating and DANGEROUS. You can expand your tool budget by buying what you need as you go along, if you're patient. Other possibilities are used tools, available from auctions, flea markets, local classified ads, Ebay, etc. Threshing shows (big ones near you would be Sycamore and Pontiac) can be a great source of used tools and hardware. When my budget was smaller than it is today, I tried to cheap out by buying foreign tools, all of which I've since given or thrown away. I remember going to one of those itinerant "cheap tool" sales and buying a cheap die grinder, thinking I got a great deal. When I took it back ot the shop and hooked it up to air, it wouldn't shut off. So I had to go all the way back to the sale, where they offered to replace it. "Ha, Ha, F*** you-I want my money back". Lesson learned.

The thing about tools is, the more tools you have, the more adept you become at doing stuff and the more tools you need, on and on but you don't have to buy everything all at once. To my way of thinking, a shop really isn't complete without air, at least one welder, a big grinder, a hand grinder, a welding table a lathe, a blast cabinet, etc., etc. Decide what you need RIGHT NOW, buy it new if you can't find or don't want used, but buy the best you can afford. There's nothing wrong with Craftsman tools and there are bunches of 'em available used. Let people know what you're looking for and it'll turn up. A friend recently found me a nice Bridgeport mill in great shape, after years of just keeping his eyes open.

A year from now, you'll look back at your "$600 tool budget" and get a good chuckle.