I've come to a realization.

[Bill Wyko]

I have come to realize that my pockets are a pitstop for tool makers.:D Have a nice day:D

[Sam Yerardi]

I know the feeling. My wallet is where places like Rockler, Amazon.com, ebay, store their money.

[alex grams]

I had a person at the local woodcraft recognize me by name the other day.. i didn't know whether to feel flattered, worried, or broke because i spent too much money there.

[Dave Lehnert]

When Shopsmith had their retail store in Cincinnati. I would walk in and the guy working would say “give me your credit card” I ask why? He would walk me over to a new tool and demo it. He was right most of the time. I gave him my card.

[Lance Norris]

I had a person at the local woodcraft recognize me by name the other day.. i didn't know whether to feel flattered, worried, or broke because i spent too much money there.

I have the same problem(benefit)with Hartville tool.

[Rod Sheridan]

Hello, my name is Rod, and I have a toy adiction...........

[Danny Thompson]

Every time I check out at Lowe's, the guy says, "See you tomorrow." . . . Wish we had a Lee Valley.

[Bob Feeser]

I get a kick out of the woman on the TV commercial who exclaims, "I got 20 grand on my credit card, and I don't even know what I bought?"
With woodworking purchases, you not only know what you bought, if you take good care of it, you can recover as much as 2/3rds or more of the original purchase price if you ever go to sell it. Factoring in the use of the tool, if you are using it for improvement purposes, and it starts to look more like an investment, then an expenditure. There is a big difference between spending and investing. Quality tools have high resale value, junk is junk and junk ain't worth a dime. :rolleyes:

[Shawn Walker]

." . . . Wish we had a Lee Valley.

I live ten minutes away from my nearest LV store.:D
And that's just fanfriggentastic untill the Visa bill comes. :(
Cheers Shawn.

[gary Zimmel]

We all work hard and have to reward ourselves...

Well thats my story. Can't write much more I have to give our freinds at LN a call....

[Jim Becker]

Better than what some folks would like to sell you... ;)

[frank shic]

bill, that's hilarious! i started this hobby four years ago with only a handful of tools... several thousand dollars later i'm ALMOST done with outfitting my workshop. i hope jiu jitsu doesn't eat up as much dinero...

[Geoff Harris]

My kids have a music class that is across the street from the Lee Valley store. Every saturday while they are in class I'm across the street trying not to spend too much :rolleyes:

[Rob Will]

My kids have a music class that is across the street from the Lee Valley store. Every saturday while they are in class I'm across the street trying not to spend too much :rolleyes:

That's like entrapment or something...

Rob

[Chuck Lenz]

Well I know it doesn't help much comeing here and looking at some of these guys HUGE shops full of good stuff. Makes me feel like I just started buying tools yesterday and I got a long ways to go yet. But I shouldn't feel that way, I've been at it along time and I know what I can do with what I've got, and it seems to fit the bill of the things I like to make. Theres allways going to be more things I'd like to have, just part of being a tool addict that likes woodworking I guess. But it doesn't help poor folk like me when this economy is going in the dumps.

[Don Bullock]

... several thousand dollars later i'm ALMOST done with outfitting my workshop...

Only several thousand??:rolleyes:

I'm in for a lot more than that in just one year, but I'm having a blast!:D Fortunately the LOML has been supportive of my new venture back into woodworking.

[Greg Cole]

Bill,
There are many worse places-ways to spend $. Then again there might be better ones too, but I am not trying to convince myslef of it!
Rob,
I'd say that's good luck, not entrapment!
I whine about having to go 45 minutes to a Woodcraft to make a deposit. Spending the $ is fine with me, but the 2+ hours it takes aren't....
Frank,
Please don't tell me you actually keep a tally of your expenditures? :eek:;) I've done a "ballpark" $ amount in my head while putzing in the shop, after I got to a certain amount I decided it was time to get back to work. :D

Greg

[Bill Wyko]

I had a person at the local woodcraft recognize me by name the other day.. i didn't know whether to feel flattered, worried, or broke because i spent too much money there.
Don't feel bad. All the shops in Tucson even know my voice on the phone.:o.

[Bill Wyko]

About a year ago I started a cheap hobby with a JET MINI lathe in my car port. I now have a 12x20 work shop with about 10k to 15k of tools and I'm still not fulfilled. There should be a law against saying "Cheap Hobby" when it comes to wood working.:D That's ok, I wouldn't have it any other way (ok, maby a bigger shop) So I could fit more tools.:eek: I'll try to rember to take some pics tonight. It's small but it packs a wollop.

[Chris Padilla]

In general, there is no such thing as a cheap hobby. They ALL can get expensive. My wife just bought a second "sewing machine" that apparently does something different than her original one or does it really well or something. Not much I can say...I've got plenty o' woodworking equipment that I can claim that on! LOL!

[Bill Wyko]

I think one of the things that get me in deep is my belief that "The bitterness of poor quality....lingers long after the cheap price is forgotten":rolleyes:

[Greg Cole]

And the most expensive items are those you buy most often. Buy what you really want the first time around and save for it, you will certainly appreciate it when ya get it & won't have to kick your own _ _ _ with the "I should have bought this instead".
I have a pimped out General contractor TS I like alot but have my foot in my _ _ _ about shoulda bought the "big brother"... and oft wish for a 12" jointer over the 8". Both work great and I like the tools but ya know....:rolleyes:

Greg

[Bill Wyko]

I hear ya. I get all this great PC stuff then Festool came along. :eek:

[Don Bullock]

I hear ya. I get all this great PC stuff then Festool came along. :eek:

Yep, and I just started down that slippery slope. It's a lot steeper (as in more $$) than most.;):D I have a feeling that Bob and I are going to become good buddies.:eek:

[Thom Sturgill]

When I took up computing as a hobby about 1980, I went into work one day and mentioned the $400 I had spent on a printer and was chided for spending so much on a hobby. I later found out that the guy who chided me had a $6000 fishing reel hanging on his wall that he would not dare use. I've made my living for better than 25 years off of computers.

I don't expect woodworking to repay me as well as computing has, but it might! And my tools are not hanging on a wall not being used! Well, OK, maybe one woodie:D. But if there were a LV store near me, I am sure they would know my name by now.

[Bob Feeser]

You know it's funny, I had to come back to this thread and share this with you. My Dad created the woodworking shop in what is now my house back in 1955. I started to buy some equipment, but the bug really hit me when I went into Home Depot to buy replacement windows for the house, to install them myself, and saw that I had to spent over 4 grand for what I consider to be junk. I was irate. I could build better units then that myself I thought. I knew with a couple of router tables, and some jigs, I could create them. So I went on a tool buying mission, and never looked back. Now that I have spent many times the cost of the windows, I am now a proud owner of a lot of wookworking equipment, and still have the old windows. :rolleyes: It is a good thing I am not married, otherwise I would be tossed out on my ear, or would have had to buy a lot of sets of drapes.
I did create a nice window, the double hung type. True divided light sash, just using the router bits, 2 of them, that Freud supplies. They were prototypes, and I have since found, although it wasn't easy, hardware distributors that cater to whatever you need to make windows.
That is fodder for another post. Hey the equipment should last a lifetime, it was fun buying it, fun using it, and it brings a sparkle to my eye knowing I own it. Tool buying fever is alive and well, but I cooled off, and haven't bought, or needed to buy anything for the last couple of years. I already went nuts, so now I don't have to.