How Much Does Woodworking Cost?

[Jameshow]

Woodworking cost considerably more than I tell my wife it costs,

But less than her hair colouring + cleaner+ shoes budget!!!

 

[Adam W.]

Conveniently I've forgotten what I spent on tools yesterday.

 

[BucksDad]

I don’t think this thread has discussed the cost of the workshop to do it in either which in 2023 is quite a lot for an insulated space

 

[Agent_zed]

Sorry if I've missed others saying this but to me you also have to factor in the cost saved from doing something yourself. I've always serviced my own cars and done any repairs including head gaskets, gearbox changes etc so even if it was just servicing saving £50 a year for the past 20years I've saved £1k. If I've spent a couple of hundred on tools to achieve that then I've still made a significant saving overall. We could factor in how much my time is worth but for most of those years I was earning less per hour than the labour charge from a garage so for me it still makes sense.

Same with woodworking. I installed a Bi-fold door the other week and the hole was not standard so I built an oak frame for the door to be fixed to. I paid £135 just for the oak and had to plane it with my P/T and cut it with my table saw but I imagine it would have been more than the cost of my P/T and saw to get someone to do it for me.

tools are obviously things that are made to achieve a job/outcome. As long as you are using them to achieve something that you would otherwise have to pay for someone else to do then they are normally effectively free (in the loose sense of the word). Obviously if you buy a £500 plane to make a £20 bird box then it won't be.

 

[johnnyb]

what this thread says is how much to simply make something as a hobby.
how much do you think it would cost to make something profitable to sell?
I'm guessing custards lad eventually wanted to sustain himself eventually.
I reckon he may do better selling all that stuff and getting to grips with a cnc.

 

[Spectric]

A lot more than metalwork, wood needs training and restraining so needs more tools. I think woodworking is like having a cat but metalwork is like owning a dog where one just does as it wishes whilst the other just follows the rules.

 

[thetyreman]

what this thread says is how much to simply make something as a hobby.
how much do you think it would cost to make something profitable to sell?
I'm guessing custards lad eventually wanted to sustain himself eventually.
I reckon he may do better selling all that stuff and getting to grips with a cnc.

probably but it still takes a lot of learning and skill to use a CNC, for example if I make a guitar from a CNC machine I will still need to finish it off by hand and it doesn't just come straight out of the machine perfect and ready to play, there is a huge amount of work to get it into a playing/working instrument, for some reason people forget this, so does it really save that much time? it also could take months/years to fully learn how to get the most out of it.

 

[johnnyb]

that's my point really. unless you really really have to( in which case he won't need encouragement) avoid getting good at ancient tech(beyond a hobby involvement of course)
it's like spending 4 years making obsidian arrowheads. some people will be interested but generally it's pointless( as I say some will still take it on) as a means of sustenance.

 

[mwinfrance]

I saw what you did there ;-)

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

Many of us began woodworking as a cost saving - renovating houses, building furniture, and making repairs.

What you consider "reasonable" by way of tool and furniture costs is going to vary widely among us. I began doing this more seriously about 30 years ago, and my machines and hand tools have been upgraded a few times. Right now I would imagine that there are some pro shops that would be quite happy to have my equipment. It is medium range in my estimate ... but that again would be debatable. It depends on what you can afford.

What I can state is that the value of what I have built far exceeds the cost of my equipment. Time taken building cannot be seen as an expense. That was one of the pleasures.

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[Lefley]

Sorry if I've missed others saying this but to me you also have to factor in the cost saved from doing something yourself. I've always serviced my own cars and done any repairs including head gaskets, gearbox changes etc so even if it was just servicing saving £50 a year for the past 20years I've saved £1k. If I've spent a couple of hundred on tools to achieve that then I've still made a significant saving overall. We could factor in how much my time is worth but for most of those years I was earning less per hour than the labour charge from a garage so for me it still makes sense.

Same with woodworking. I installed a Bi-fold door the other week and the hole was not standard so I built an oak frame for the door to be fixed to. I paid £135 just for the oak and had to plane it with my P/T and cut it with my table saw but I imagine it would have been more than the cost of my P/T and saw to get someone to do it for me.

tools are obviously things that are made to achieve a job/outcome. As long as you are using them to achieve something that you would otherwise have to pay for someone else to do then they are normally effectively free (in the loose sense of the word). Obviously if you buy a £500 plane to make a £20 bird box then it won't be.

I fix my own cars. But I'm the guy that thinks , will I just changed the tie rod saved almost 1000.00$ , spent 65.00 in parts. My labour is free. I now have $935.00 to spend on tool#, as I did it at my friends house and grumble at home how much the garage ripped me off $1000 for new tie rod ends. So can spend that virtual saved money on tools. Gets me by the wife Without any questions. Lol.

 

[Adam W.]

I try to fix as much as possible myself, so I can justify spending gazillions on tools to the cost, time and motion manager.

Tools are like a comfort blanket to the manchild.

 

[johnnyb]

please don't misunderstand me this is the king of hobbies. but even woodwork shops have moved away from highly skilled manual working.
I suspect the 1980 and 1990s were the last bastion of pre tech work.
maybe Alan Peters and David savage were the last in a line of craftsmen(of that ilk) which was when Derek and myself became hooked.

 

[Jameshow]

please don't misunderstand me this is the king of hobbies. but even woodwork shops have moved away from highly skilled manual working.
I suspect the 1980 and 1990s were the last bastion of pre tech work.
maybe Alan Peters and David savage were the last in a line of craftsmen(of that ilk) which was when Derek and myself became hooked.

Try flying, sailing, motorsport or horse riding, that will make woodworking seem mega cheap!!!

 

[recipio]

I don’t think this thread has discussed the cost of the workshop to do it in either which in 2023 is quite a lot for an insulated space

Absolutely. When buying your first house the last thing you think of is a workshop. As you get older the last thing you want to do is go out to a cold shed. Forget tools ( they will happen anyway ) - get the largest , heated workshop you can when starting out in this game.

 

[Keith 66]

You can spend as much or as little as you like. I was lucky in that when i started boatbuilding & went to college my Dad already had a lot of duplicate tools so kitted me out with a good basic kit of hand tools. In 84 i set up my own workshop on a farm, next door workshop was a builder who i bought a battered startrite saw bench from for 40 quid (still got it). Just round the corner was a scrap dealer Ron who i struck up a good friendship with. He said to me "Everything comes in the scrap sooner or later". This turned out to be absolutely true & over the years i have bought a host of good tools from him for peanuts.
I picked up a multico planer that had been in a fire for 100 quid & rebuilt it then some big machines came my way from a timber yard, all damaged but were repaired.
Boot sales, boat jumbles, Blokes i worked with whose relatives died, tools come from everywhere.
Power tools i bought new & always the best i could afford.
Im getting to the age where they are starting to wear out like their owner!

 

[paulrbarnard]

I have one rule as far as the other half is concerned. If I do a job I buy a tool specific for the job as long as it costs less than it would have cost to get someone in to do the job. This always gets approved as she is actually saving money buying me a tool

I taught my son in law the same method and he is gradually building himself a usefull tool kit and of course my daughter is saving loads of money.

I of course have a un published rule that if I can get it in the shed while she is out it doesn’t exist. This inevitably fails at some point as she seems to have a pretty precise mental inventory of my workshop. But hey if I’ve had it for a couple of weeks already it’s not new is it.

 

[DigitalM]

I have one rule as far as the other half is concerned. If I do a job I buy a tool specific for the job as long as it costs less than it would have cost to get someone in to do the job. This always gets approved as she is actually saving money buying me a tool

I taught my son in law the same method and he is gradually building himself a usefull tool kit and of course my daughter is saving loads of money.

I of course have a un published rule that if I can get it in the shed while she is out it doesn’t exist. This inevitably fails at some point as she seems to have a pretty precise mental inventory of my workshop. But hey if I’ve had it for a couple of weeks already it’s not new is it.

I can confirm this method is highly, highly effective. My house is rammed to the gunnels with tools I have purchased for one off jobs and will likely never use again. My brain is the same, creaking at the joints with skills acquired that will never be required again. I do wonder if it might have been better to have ... no, never mind, I'll just maybe make use of the the forum's excellent FOR SALE section to sell some stuffs so I can buy some stuff that I might used two, or even three times.

 

[aet1]

I continued in the family tradition of make do and mend - aged in my 70s I think I can count the number of times on my fingers the number of times I have had a car repaired for me, I can only remember one time I have had a tradesman work on anything in my house and that was to fit a new boiler 4 years ago - because even though I've fitted several I can no longer be legally trusted. Just to top it all with my slow gathering of tools I had a load stolen when being stored in my son's empty shop - and unknown to me it was not insured (I lost about £2k of tools and household items).
I also buy for a specific job - but I seem to be unique on this forum as every now and again I find a parcel delivered where my wife has actually bought me a hand or power tool when she knows I need one and as I'm a skinflint I usually have to go by price - which is what she tends to do so I am never disappointed. Now how do I hint that I need a bandsaw when I don't have a specific job to do?
Back to the original questioner, as he is starting out on a career it is sense that if he can be buys with long-term in mind, but even so, like Jacob, I do wonder if it is necessary to buy a M&W ruler and expensive squares, accuracy is vital - and I imagine an engineering trainee might justify the cost but we tend to be using them on wood so they won't wear much.

 

[baldkev]

Now how do I hint that I need a bandsaw when I don't have a specific job to do?

Dead simple.... you just find that specific job! Bandsaw box? Thats a big hint... or go buy a slab of ash and say you want to make an electric guitar