S4S Wood vs. Self Planed & Jointed

[Jeremy Greiner]

Besides the already said, already milled boards generally do not stay flat when adjusting to your shop (or aren'y completely flat when you buy them you just don't notice)

The Jet 8'' and 10'' combo jointer/planer machines are reasonably priced, after a few projects you will have saved enough money that it pays for itself. They aren't floor machine quality, but they are worth the 300-450$

Pre-Surfaced red oak from my local borg is 7.95$ a BF .. at my local woodcraft (which is also fairly high for unmmilled lumber) it's 4.20 a BF after 100 BF you've already lost 375$ .. I know 100 BF is a lot of wood, I've already used up about 40 BF of wood since I've gotten mine. Depending on how much the sawmill charges for surfacing it could pay for itself sooner than later.

-jeremy

[Greg Peterson]

The reality is that wood working is not an inexpensive pursuit. But I can think of many hobbies or regular activities that are just as expensive or more. Golf, scuba diving, parachuting, kayaking, off roading (ATV, motor bike...), hot rods...

S4S will do for some projects but will be generally limiting and relatively expensive.

When it comes to tools (of any kind), you have to pay extra to get a tool that does what you expect it to do. There are frequent good deals on Craigslist. If you can be patient and adjust your horizon, you can assemble a reasonable collection of tools for a fairly low cost.

Putting together a wood working shop is an endeavor and rarely completed, let alone accomplished in a weekend. You will likely just piece it together, filling gaps in your tool coverage as you go along.

And buy clamps. Plenty of 'em. You can never have too many.