Tell me, is it worth it?
I got this big 24" cast iron bandsaw with a strong 3-phase motor. I bought a bandsaw of this class because it was cheap and because I had this desire to never have to buy lumber again. Or at least avoid it as much as possible. The idea was always to resaw my own logs, which I would somehow acquire through various sources over time.
Now I am pretty new to woodworking and I suppose, also very impressionable when someone with more experience tells me something, so I got very deflated when a friend who has worked as a carpenter/joiner/housebuilder told me it's an utter waste of time and money and I should forget the whole idea and just take the logs to a sawmill instead.
I don't think he knew how much that felt like a punch to the gut for me, I've been working towards this for a year, I started planning for it last spring and I am almost reaching the end of this project, or rather its start perhaps. I was just asking him what he thought of buying whole logs from a firewood dealer who had some freshly cut logs and told him what I was gonna do with them.
Tell me something positive here, or the cold hard truth if you must. I have a hard time seeing how it can ever be profitable to do as he says rather than just doing it at home. I consider my own time free btw. Maybe he has a more professional view of it, but I am looking at it from the point of view of a hobbyist and every cent is worth saving and exchanging for work and time on my end, in my opinion.
If he's right though, I might as well sell it and getting a 14" model, or build that woodgears.ca bandsaw, because there's no point to a big bandsaw like this for me otherwise.