[moojoe]

I feel like you should somehow include a sander in there. Out of all the tools we use in our metals lab in college, the belt sander always has a line of people behind it. It's just such a useful tool. Simply by changing the belts you are able to quickly abrade material such as you do with a grinder, or put on a finer belt and be able to bring something down to a fairly close tolerance.
Just from personal experience, if I were to only have $1500 to spend, while I do overall like your list, I feel like a sander would go much further than a grinder.