Hi Jack. I'm a newbie, so everything I say is probably crap...
I'd say it depends on how big your shop is and how deep your pockets are. You need to leave space to get some projects in and still have room to move stuff around. In New Zealand, it seems to be a lot like the UK and the primary shaping tool is a stump and a Wheel. Iv'e built quite a bit of my own gear and am gradually learning to use the stuff. A friend who is one of the local metalshaping gods and has grown up with a wheel, said of his wheel that 'if you stood next to it for 40 years, you might understand it'. I think practice and making scrap on a regular basis is a good way to learn. Courses and videos are great to set you on the right track, but I think with most of this stuff, having a go and finding out what doesn't work is the key to getting skilled. Having a go on a regular basis means that you need a machine to hand. Lots of help on here when it goes pear-shaped and a pear is not what you were aiming for.
After a wheel, and given that you have a Pullmax (envy!) I would think that a decent bead roller should be high on the list. I built one from Tom Verity's plans and am very pleased with it.
http://allmetalshaping.com/showthrea...t=12894&page=2
I bought an ac/dc tig a couple of years back and admittedly in doing race car work (alloy body panels to come) I'm probably doing quite different stuff to you, but find that the tig torch is the weapon of choice for joining things. Just built a cooler for it and swapped the clunky 26 torch for a watercooled 20. Makes a heap of difference with a small torch. But I grew up with O/A, which a lot of guys prefer for sheetmetal work - and ali panels.
Big sheetmetal stuff like a finger brake and a shear are great if you have the space - 4' gear will handle most things. If space is tight, an electric shear, millions of clamps and a good bench can be a substitute.
Once you start it never ends
