Page 4 of 5 FirstFirst 12345 LastLast
Results 46 to 60 of 73

Thread: The Cost of Woodworking, Tools, Etc.

  1. #46
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Glenmoore, PA
    Posts
    2,194
    I am a hobby guy operating out of a 3-car garage (or car-hole as one of my friends likes to call them) with a fairly well appointed shop with a mix of new / used gear. Some quick mental adding has me somewhere in the $20K range.
    Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us.
    -Bill Watterson

    Reminds me of my safari in Africa. Somebody forgot the corkscrew and for several days we had to live on nothing but food and water.
    -W. C. Fields

  2. #47
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Glenelg, MD
    Posts
    12,256
    Blog Entries
    1
    I'm somewhere in the 6-figure range... and the list of associated "hobbies" keep growing.
    Hi-Tec Designs, LLC -- Owner (and self-proclaimed LED guru )

    Trotec 80W Speedy 300 laser w/everything
    CAMaster Stinger CNC (25" x 36" x 5")
    USCutter 24" LaserPoint Vinyl Cutter
    Jet JWBS-18QT-3 18", 3HP bandsaw
    Robust Beauty 25"x52" wood lathe w/everything
    Jet BD-920W 9"x20" metal lathe
    Delta 18-900L 18" drill press

    Flame Polisher (ooooh, FIRE!)
    Freeware: InkScape, Paint.NET, DoubleCAD XT
    Paidware: Wacom Intuos4 (Large), CorelDRAW X5

  3. #48
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    Edmonton, Canada
    Posts
    2,479
    Once I sat down to do counting of major things (not all those little tid bits you buy from LV or other places that are in the drawers).
    I stopped when I passed $50k mark and that was long time ago. On the bright side my shop has paid for itself at least 4 folds in the new house projects I have done over the last 2 years.

  4. #49
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Fort Collins, Colorado
    Posts
    327
    I've never really added up what I have spent, but it has been spread out over nearly 40 years, with the bulk of purchasing in the last 10-15 years. But I never looked at it from the standpoint of "Can I save money if I make it myself?". It is a hobby, an escape for me. I don't smoke, drink very little, and most importantly, gave up golf MANY years ago since I was so horrible at it! That alone can probably justify the expense of the woodworking expenditures, and maybe more.

  5. #50
    Join Date
    Oct 2013
    Location
    Northwest Indiana
    Posts
    957
    Quote Originally Posted by mreza Salav View Post
    Once I sat down to do counting of major things (not all those little tid bits you buy from LV or other places that are in the drawers).
    I stopped when I passed $50k mark and that was long time ago. On the bright side my shop has paid for itself at least 4 folds in the new house projects I have done over the last 2 years.
    I love your attitude Mreza. I've ordered some of those little tid bits from LV (and Woodpeckers, Incra, Whiteside, etc)--doesn't take many of those orders to get a comma in the TBT (Tid Bit Total)!!

    earl

  6. #51
    Quote Originally Posted by mreza Salav View Post
    On the bright side my shop has paid for itself at least 4 folds in the new house projects I have done over the last 2 years.
    I tried to calculate these numbers for this woodworking hobby for myself, but don't know where to reference regarding prices. For instance, I am in the process of building built-in bookcases for our home. It's a few moderate to large-scale projects, at least for me anyhow. I just don't have any idea how much a professional carpenter charge for it. My wife says buy all the tools I want because I am saving us money otherwise spent on commissioning professional contractors. So, how does one estimate?

  7. #52
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    Edmonton, Canada
    Posts
    2,479
    Quote Originally Posted by Wakahisa Shinta View Post
    I tried to calculate these numbers for this woodworking hobby for myself, but don't know where to reference regarding prices. For instance, I am in the process of building built-in bookcases for our home. It's a few moderate to large-scale projects, at least for me anyhow. I just don't have any idea how much a professional carpenter charge for it. My wife says buy all the tools I want because I am saving us money otherwise spent on commissioning professional contractors. So, how does one estimate?
    I got quotes for pretty much every job I did in the house myself (building interior doors, entry door unit, architectural work, cabinets, staining, etc) and compared to the cost of doing it myself (not factoring in my time/labour).

  8. #53
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Location
    Virginia and Kentucky
    Posts
    3,364
    Quote Originally Posted by mreza Salav View Post
    Once I sat down to do counting of major things (not all those little tid bits you buy from LV or other places that are in the drawers).
    Those tid bits you buy from Lee valley quickly add up to real money, especially if you discuss planes.

  9. #54
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    Edmonton, Canada
    Posts
    2,479
    Quote Originally Posted by Rich Riddle View Post
    Those tid bits you buy from Lee valley quickly add up to real money, especially if you discuss planes.
    I know. I have 5, no wait, 7 of those planes....I didn't have that many when I tried to count the total.

  10. #55
    The cost of the tools will equipment is scary I have one drawer full of freeborn shaper cutters I would guess well over $3000 to replace
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Thanks John
    Don't take life too seriously. No one gets out alive anyway!

  11. #56
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Leesville, SC
    Posts
    2,378
    Who's counting. Everything that you enjoy in life will cost.
    Army Veteran 1968 - 1970
    I Support the Second Amendment of the US Constitution

  12. #57
    For an estimate of avoided expense of purchasing furniture, I usually assume about 4X the material cost. I've tried doing a more detailed comparison a couple times and that seems like a reasonable rule-of-thumb. Obviously if the piece is intricate and/or the materials are expensive, this could be off.

  13. #58
    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Dwight View Post
    For an estimate of avoided expense of purchasing furniture, I usually assume about 4X the material cost. I've tried doing a more detailed comparison a couple times and that seems like a reasonable rule-of-thumb. Obviously if the piece is intricate and/or the materials are expensive, this could be off.
    I would expect more than that. 5x or more would be more in the realm of what I would have to pay to replace my projects it seems. Even more if you would claim that you have to justify it with a custom piece since you had a certain look or size that isn't achieved with normal furniture dealer pieces.

    I built a blanket chest as a wedding gift to a friend of mine, with about $75 worth of wood and another $50 in hardware, and the closest I could find comparable examples for were going for $700-800. And, they were still a lot more simple than what I did.

  14. #59
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    Toronto Ontario
    Posts
    11,248
    The last time I actually tracked this was when I made 2 Morris chairs and footstools.

    The material cost was under $1,000, the cost of purchasing the furniture was $6,000 plus 15% sales tax.................Regards, Rod.

  15. #60
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Location
    Virginia and Kentucky
    Posts
    3,364
    Quote Originally Posted by Rod Sheridan View Post
    The last time I actually tracked this was when I made 2 Morris chairs and footstools.

    The material cost was under $1,000, the cost of purchasing the furniture was $6,000 plus 15% sales tax.................Regards, Rod.
    They really stick you Cannucks with high sales tax.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •