I got into making and designing small tabletop model steam engines because they are cool. So I needed to buy a small lathe, a mill, a metal cutting bandsaw, and all the tooling each machine needed. So much tooling…That’s the part that will break you financially.
And then you discover you need to design and make a jig or fixture to make a special tool to make another special jig and fixture to make a tool to make that one tiny part for that engine. None of which you will probably ever use again. You end up making tools to make tools to make tools. You can spend 6 months to a year designing and building tools just to get to make that one little part.
I’ve got thousands of dollars and thousands of hours into making engines that I just give away over the years. But I can’t stop this hobby. And I have added 3D printing to my list of hobbies as well.
At least it got me away from collecting fine antique shotguns and importing hunting dogs.
I’ve realized my hobby is optimizing my space to do my hobbies. If I ever get my workspace just like I want it for projects, I won’t know what to do with myself. The workshop is the project.
I got into making and designing small tabletop model steam engines because they are cool. So I needed to buy a small lathe, a mill, a metal cutting bandsaw, and all the tooling each machine needed. So much tooling…That’s the part that will break you financially.
And then you discover you need to design and make a jig or fixture to make a special tool to make another special jig and fixture to make a tool to make that one tiny part for that engine. None of which you will probably ever use again. You end up making tools to make tools to make tools. You can spend 6 months to a year designing and building tools just to get to make that one little part.
I’ve got thousands of dollars and thousands of hours into making engines that I just give away over the years. But I can’t stop this hobby. And I have added 3D printing to my list of hobbies as well.
At least it got me away from collecting fine antique shotguns and importing hunting dogs.
This sounds more like skills than hobbies. You might not get paid for it but you totally could. What you are making is valuable to someone
NGL making tools to make tools to make tools scratches a persistent itch in my brain. That all sounds very satisfying.
I’ve realized my hobby is optimizing my space to do my hobbies. If I ever get my workspace just like I want it for projects, I won’t know what to do with myself. The workshop is the project.