Sunday, September 19, 2010

Is Woodworking an Expensive Hobby?

Like many people, I wondered whether woodworking would be an expensive hobby. Seeing those fancy workshops like the New Yankee Workshop and all the different equipment workshops have I imagined that it would be incredibly expensive. However, like any hobby, how expensive it gets is really up to the person. A person can go and buy everything under the sun and easily spend $30k, or they can get buy with a block of wood and a knife/hand saw. In my case, I build simple stuff with just a hammer and power drill and ask the store to cut the wood to size for me. At some point, however, depending on others for things like cutting becomes limiting and so there are some basic tools that is nicer to just invest in. One advice I found is "buy as you need" and not try to buy everything up-front where you might end up not using many of them. This is the method I'm going with.

Relative to many other hobbies such as photography or computer/technology woodworking doesn't seem any more expensive. Most equipment suitable for amateurs costs $50-$500. Compare that with photography where lenses are in the same price range and the high-end lenses costing as much as a table saw.

The one thing that woodworking requires is a decent sized space and that might or might not be expensive depending on the person's living situation.

2 comments:

  1. Interesting article... check out Gold Country Woodworks for some Award Winning Woodworking Plans
    http://www.gcwoodworks.com

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  2. The simple thing to do is to set up a "Carpenter's Shop For Your Kids." This is a way to make many simple woodworking projects your kids will love. Using the basic plans and projects of woodworking plans for kids is a great way to show them all the things they can make with their hands. Cut The Wood

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