re: What can you build in a small low budget shop?

I think it depends on what you mean by high end tools. I have an old 20" Cantek planer, nothing fancy. Very basic and very heavy…works great and should have many years from it. I’ve never felt the need for an automatic table lift but variable speed and a/or a helical head would be nice. lol. Compared to my previous planer, a 13" Jet it is very high end as it is made with steel and not tin. lol Same basic technology though.
My buddy has a shop that has a sliding table saw (with scoring blade etc) but the tool of choice for them seems to be their ancient 14" General.. depends on what you are used to as well I suppose. Personally, I would love to upgrade to either of those.