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Brian Kent
01-12-2012, 4:50 PM
Woodworking or Golf?

Woodworking or Bass fishing?

Woodworking or Skiing?

Turning or Computers (given the life expectancy of your lathe and computer)?

Lie Nielsen or Tiffany?

Add your own questions - and answers - here:

_______________________________________

Your woodworking tools vs the stock market?

Jerome Stanek
01-12-2012, 5:01 PM
Tiffany costs the most she wants everything that the Kardashians have.

Van Huskey
01-12-2012, 5:47 PM
Any hobby has an initial buy in but there are always those folks with time, desire and drive that can do them for practically nothing. On the other hand it is easy to make a serious dent in Bill Gates type money on just about any hobby as well.

One thing about woodworking is it is a hobby that produces something that can help at least offset some of it's costs, but rarely ever works in reality.

Another hobby of mine is cycling, you can easily spend Euro 5 in 1 combo money on a bike and a good set of tire will set you back 30bf of good walnut. My saddles cost 2 1/2 Forrest blades.

The reality for most of us is we will spend about the same (what we can get away with) on whatever hobby we pursue.

Larry Browning
01-12-2012, 6:19 PM
I play golf ever now and then, I have a cheap set of clubs that I bought 2nd hand, I found a guy who picks up lost golf balls and get them for about 1/4 original cost. I think I spend maybe $100 a year on golf. Then I have friends that spend $20 grand a year on golf and vacations that revolve around golf. A hobby, any hobby, can cost as much as you are willing to spend on it. I don't think it is even possible to say this is the most expensive or least expensive hobby out there. They all can be expensive for one and a money maker for someone else. My wife likes to read, so much so that she considers it her hobby. She will spend probably 2 to 3 grand on books this year. Who knew?

Larry Edgerton
01-12-2012, 6:21 PM
You forgot........

Woodworking or Racing?

That one is a no brainer. Both are addictive, but I never made any money racing. If you think woodworking is expensive, try off road racing.

Larry

Brian Kent
01-12-2012, 6:38 PM
You forgot........

Woodworking or Racing?

Larry

I can't even imagine.

Mike Kelsey
01-12-2012, 10:54 PM
Several of my friends at work are hunters. I was trying to remember a while ago, one of them added up the "cost" to go hunting in $$ per pound of meat rendered. All I remember was that delicious smoked elk was EXTREMELY expensive. I think he considered everything from permits, guns, bullets, rig, butcher, gas etc. So whenever I've freely been given a piece of wild game I'm pretty grateful because I could never afford it!! (Having recently spent $1400 at Lee Valley on hand tools, sez the pauper).

Anyway have any of you hunters ever figured the cost to hunt on a $ per pound basis?:D




I forgot to add that I've discovered buying quality hand tools is not cheaper then buying decent power tools:confused:

curtis rosche
01-12-2012, 11:28 PM
dont forget
gold mining or running a small airport :rolleyes:



(tv show reference)

Jim Falsetti
01-13-2012, 6:08 AM
You also could add:

Woodworking or sailing?

Jay Maiers
01-13-2012, 7:56 AM
Woodworking or SCUBA (cave diving)
Woodworking or firearms. 9mm ammo has nearly doubled in price over the last five years. Sigh.

Rich Engelhardt
01-13-2012, 8:17 AM
WW'ing or - - - slot machines!


Jay,
One word - Lee.
I started reloading w/Lee equipment eons ago. I swore I'd upgrade to Dillon when I wore out the Lee. I'm still wating for that to happen!

Jay Maiers
01-13-2012, 9:13 AM
I know both of those names :) I've got a small Dillon and a single stage Lee for .223

Belinda Barfield
01-13-2012, 9:25 AM
Shoes or slot machines? My name is Belinda, and I have a shoe addiction, and I love slot machines . . .

I didn't buy anything other than functional shoes for about 8 years. The weekend of New Year's I fell off the wagon and went on a shoe buying spree. Boots, heels, and the cutest pair of leopard print shoes ever! LOL I have no idea where I will wear them.

I consider reading a hobby and don't have a clue how much I spend on books (and I don't want to know). I also make jewelry as a hobby, and I think I've sold maybe two pieces. It started out with a not so great set of tools - and we all know how that works, and then an upgrade to some better tools. I made a Christmas gift for a friend out of antique chandelier pendants and that was the first time I've opened my "toolbox" in over a year. I had forgotten how many components I have in stock that I've picked up here and there on sale.

I used to fish and I have no idea how much money I spent on gear and lures.

And speaking of price per pound . . . I'm not sure gardening pays off in the end.

Hobbies are expensive (sigh).

Al Wasser
01-13-2012, 10:30 AM
If you want costly, then buy a horse or horses. These require daily feed, frequent shoeing, vet bills, a saddle, a trailer and a truck to pull the trailer etc......

glenn bradley
01-13-2012, 11:48 AM
I'm not sure about the cost ratio but, I have enjoyed the money I've spent on woodworking more than golf, scuba, garage bands or anything else I can recall. :)

Larry Browning
01-13-2012, 1:14 PM
I'm not sure about the cost ratio but, I have enjoyed the money I've spent on woodworking more than golf, scuba, garage bands or anything else I can recall. :)

I think this sums up things very well. If we do any comparison at all, I think it should be what we spend on our hobbies measured against how much enjoyment/satisfaction we get from that hobby and not one hobby to another. Just like, as we all know, you shouldn't compare apples to oranges. It really doesn't tell us anything.

Van Huskey
01-13-2012, 1:45 PM
If you want costly, then buy a horse or horses. These require daily feed, frequent shoeing, vet bills, a saddle, a trailer and a truck to pull the trailer etc......

We may have a winner, especially since it costs you whether you are doing the hobby at the time or not. Most hobby stuff will just sit there and take up space but horses still gotta eat. I had a friend that worked for the IRS and horses was one of the few items his field office would not take in order to satisfy a tax bill, in every case they lost money in the process. Certainly it would have been different if it was a triple crown winning stud but how many of those are there.

Jim Koepke
01-13-2012, 2:43 PM
Woodworking or Golf?

Woodworking or Bass fishing?

Woodworking or Skiing?

Turning or Computers (given the life expectancy of your lathe and computer)?

Lie Nielsen or Tiffany?

Add your own questions - and answers - here:

_______________________________________

Your woodworking tools vs the stock market?

Last first… My woodworking tools have held there value or appreciated better than my 401k. OUCH! BIG OUCH!

I used to caddy, so it is quite possible that I have made more money at golf than woodworking. But I enjoy woodworking more than carrying a bag and suggesting clubs to someone.

I think a good bass boat would cost more than all of my woodworking tools. My wife is the fisher in the family. Neither of us eat much fish.

Does anyone get up early to do woodworking? No lift ticket needed to get in my shop. If I want to stay longer, my wife would be happy for me to sleep in the shop without paying a resort fee. She might charge me to come in the house and eat.

I bought a used lathe & tools for $100. Have spent about that much more on some more tools and such. A few months of internet service a few cables, a backup drive not to mention that now the N.Y. Times wants me to pay to read, I think the lathe is a less expensive hobby.

I have more into Lie-Nielsen than I do into Tiffany. Though I bet the resell on the LN is better than any of the jewelry I have bought my wife. I think her wedding ring is close to what I have spent on LN.

jtk

Dave Anderson NH
01-13-2012, 3:46 PM
Great question Brian. As a frame of reference compared to computers, here's an illustration. A friend of mine was the woodworking teacher at a large NH high school and is now the director of all its technical education programs. He was in the shop one day after school (still a teacher then) when another friend who was a trustee of the school at the time dropped by. Roy gaped with his mouth open at a brand new Tannowitz 36" band saw standing there about 11 feet tall and with a 36" square cast iron table. He asked Jack, the teacher, how much it cost. He explained it was about $8000 and he had received a really good deal from the salesman including an extended warranty at no additional cost. Roy questioned the expense as excessive and wanted to know how he had squeezed the money from his shop budget. After that was settled,, Jack explained that the saw was less than the cost of 5 networked PCs which would have to be replaced every 2 years and that the life of the saw was probably in excess of 30 years. Roy agreed and the case was closed. The economics are different now with cheaper PCs, but it still remains a matter of perspective.

Brian Kent
01-13-2012, 3:55 PM
My longest-lasting tech tool is a ($750) Sony camera that is 10 years old. It still has a a great lens, but takes about 5 seconds to snap a picture. I expect my laptop to last 3 years. My fishing lures last a few seconds (OK, minutes) each. I fully expect my woodworking tools to be passed on to my kids and grandkids after my life-time usage. How much will I spend on computers between now and then?

Van Huskey
01-13-2012, 4:24 PM
My longest-lasting tech tool is a ($750) Sony camera that is 10 years old. It still has a a great lens, but takes about 5 seconds to snap a picture. I expect my laptop to last 3 years. My fishing lures last a few seconds (OK, minutes) each. I fully expect my woodworking tools to be passed on to my kids and grandkids after my life-time usage. How much will I spend on computers between now and then?

To balance that how much will the wood cost that runs through those machines over 20 years...

Rich Engelhardt
01-13-2012, 4:35 PM
the cutest pair of leopard print shoes ever! LOL I have no idea where I will wear them.

LOL!
I'll make sure I keep an eye out @ the slots for someone wearing hoochie mama leopard print shoes :D

Larry Edgerton
01-13-2012, 5:55 PM
My name is Belinda, and I have a shoe addiction,

(sigh).

Belinda, I built your house a few years ago. In the master bedroom were three shoe carousels, backlit of course, and each would hold a hundred and sixty shoes. That a four hundred and eighty shoe collection in the master bedroom, just in her closet. Her closet was half as big as my new house.

Of course once the national power grid fails, all those shoes would be inaccessable except for the few in the front. Whats a girl to do........

Larry

Belinda Barfield
01-14-2012, 8:46 AM
LOL!I'll make sure I keep an eye out @ the slots for someone wearing hoochie mama leopard print shoes :DI'm sure I'll be the only one. :rolleyes: Are you on Facebook Rich? I liked the shoes so much I posted a photo.:eek:
Belinda, I built your house a few years ago. In the master bedroom were three shoe carousels, backlit of course, and each would hold a hundred and sixty shoes. That a four hundred and eighty shoe collection in the master bedroom, just in her closet. Her closet was half as big as my new house. Of course once the national power grid fails, all those shoes would be inaccessable except for the few in the front. Whats a girl to do........LarryMy closet is something like 7 x 4. All of my shoes are stacked in the original boxes. Those carousels would require dusting . . LOL. There is room for me to walk in the door and stand but no other floor space. In case of national power grid failure my hiking boots are easily accessible just inside the door. :D

And from this morning's paper, a nearby town is going to get a casino. Someone must have heard that my shoes need a place to play.

Van Huskey
01-14-2012, 9:06 AM
My closet is something like 7 x 4. All of my shoes are stacked in the original boxes. Those carousels would require dusting . . LOL. .

I imagine each carousel has its own built in HEPA filter. :D

Ryan Mooney
01-14-2012, 12:45 PM
We may have a winner, especially since it costs you whether you are doing the hobby at the time or not. Most hobby stuff will just sit there and take up space but horses still gotta eat. I had a friend that worked for the IRS and horses was one of the few items his field office would not take in order to satisfy a tax bill, in every case they lost money in the process. Certainly it would have been different if it was a triple crown winning stud but how many of those are there.

I can say from some past experience that odds are good that the more expensive the horse the more likely it is to up and die on you at the most inopportune time. Horses can definitely be right up near the top (add a $50k truck and a $20k trailer and $??omg? in clothes and tack and lessons and...) the horses are often the cheap part. I would definitely agree that unless you have a really bad tiffanies habit, horse can be way up there ("horse poor" my family calls it).

At my last house the neighbor lady had riding lessons ~3x a week (guessing at somewhere between $50 and $75 a pop). We would drive by on the way home from work and I would start saying "keep your hands still. Heels down. Pay attention to what he's doing, don't let him get away with that. Sit up straight", then roll down the window to hear the pretty much verbatim echo from the trainer, loml thought that was pretty funny and joked that people could sure save a bundle if I just made a short tape loop for them.

I know a fair number of people who think I'm insane with my tools, but have then gone out and bought things like: $15k motor bike, $15k + $2k/MONTH in parts for racing car, boat I didn't even ask about. I ask them: how long will those last, how long will my tools last? Whats the $/hour value?

I think you have to amortize the price of the hobby over the lifespan of the hobby and consider residual value (and that's pretty hard to do without getting into a lot of specifics on any one hobby).

Kevin Gregoire
01-14-2012, 1:28 PM
those are tough questions because it really depends on how much your 'into' something.

years ago when i was younger, thinner, stronger, and free of arthritis i was into golf. and when i get into something i learned long ago (when i was into drag racing)
that you always seem to have enough money to do something over but never enough to do it right the first time! so after i learned that lesson and when i was still
working and had lots of money i would buy the best of everything when i started a new hobby.

when i was golfing i had the best callaway graphite clubs, cameron putter, custom gas cart, etc... same with competitive archery, two bows worth a grand each plus
another few grand each worth of accessories, tools, etc...

but now that i am on disability with very limited funds and into woodworking and not doing my other hobbies any longer i would have to say woodworking is the most
expensive because the type of tools and the amount can keep adding up depending on what you need and for what.

like myself i have maybe a few thousand dollars in tools in my shop (table saw, band saw, planer, router table, routers, sanders, scroll saw, nailers, jigs, misc.) and all
good tools at great prices found on CL but with unlimited funds a person can buy one tool that costs more then everything in my shop.

so all in all its kind of a loaded question as it all depends on how much a person is 'into' a particular hobby.

Van Huskey
01-14-2012, 7:13 PM
Hmmm, hand tools or power tools. Like everything else it depends on the person, I know a couple of guys and a LOT on the internet that have more in ONE handplane than some people have in their entire shop of powered machines.

Jim Becker
01-14-2012, 8:34 PM
I haven't and will not do a comparison between what I have put into woodworking versus what I put into our equestrian activities, but I will say that...both know how to suck money out of one's wallet with great efficiency. :D (And I haven't played golf for about six years now...)

But you know what? I don't regret enjoying either activity nor the money that I've put into them and will continue to put into them. It's an investment in my life's enjoyment.