*1. a jointer (~$600)* *2. a planer (~$500)* *3. a bandsaw (~$500)* *4. a router (~$150)* *5. a table saw (~$500)* *6. a pile of hand tools (~$1000)* *etc…* *7. Almost forgot, a space to put all this in.*
Hi Arle-- This is exactly why Mel's kit is so great. You don't need a shop full of bulky, expensive power tools, much less need to be experienced in their use. Nor do you need to go on a scavenger hunt for the right woods and other hardware. I don't have any of those tools on your list, except a basic router. The only other power tools I happened to already have are a regular drill, a scroll saw and a Dremel tool. The times I have had to impose on friends for use of a table saw, drill press or band saw were when I was totally deviating from the kit and making my own custom parts, just because I wanted to do something else more decorative, not that there was anything wrong with the ones provided. Something essential that I didn't have was large clamps for gluing the body together, but was able to borrow those, also. I hope I don't make Mel's kit look hard because I am doing a bunch of extra customizing to mine. I even ordered the kit with some things disassembled that usually are already together when you get them. I would be done by now if I just put the stock kit together. Mel is very helpful in making sure your kit is the way you want it. It is a real relief to open the box and see all those complex parts already made. I have no idea how he made them, and I'm glad I don't have to! It would be impossible for me to make a decent hurdy-gurdy from scratch. This way, I have a chance. --Michael http://harvey-house.info/blog-hg/ On Wed, Oct 26, 2011 at 8:30 AM, Arle Lommel <[email protected]> wrote: > I'm not going to argue either position, but rather argue that it depends on > your skill and proficiency with tools. *I*, as a moderately competent > woodworker who happens to not have access to a fully equipped shop, would > end up buying the following just to get started (with my off-the-cuff guess > on cost): > > 1. a jointer (~$600) > 2. a planer (~$500) > 3. a bandsaw (~$500) > 4. a router (~$150) > 5. a table saw (~$500) > 6. a pile of hand tools (~$1000) > etc… > (7. Almost forgot, a space to put all this in. I'd have to rent some space > for a few hundred a month.) > > Start adding those up, and even if I'm buying just average-grade tools, > we're talking some pretty serious money (at least for me), probably about > the cost of a decent instrument before I've even started. ($3250 is the > total I get there, and I suspect I'm seriously undercounting here since I've > not factored in a lathe or other things I consider essential.) > > Now somebody else, more proficient than I am, will look at that list and > tell me I don’t need 1-5 (or a lathe) because you can do it without them. > That's certainly true, if by “you” they mean somebody other than me, > somebody with the skill and knowledge to use those tools. I know > professional makers of hurdy-gurdies who use primarily hand tools (one, in > particular, whom I know seems to have a hand drill—used in truing wheels—a > drill press, and not much else besides planes and hand saws). So you can do > it, if you have the skills to work with a particular tool set. But that's > not me, so high cost in tools is the only model that would work for me. > > If you already have the tools (power or hand), however, and are proficient > in their use, then your cost will be your time (which certainly has a value) > and in your materials. Maybe you'll be really good and get everything right > the first time, but if you're like me, you'll end up making three or four of > everything and eat up a lot of wood and time before you get to what you > want. So that's a lot of time and money right there. > > I think this seeming conflict of opinion comes because we are all in > different situations. We have different goals for what we want. We have > different amounts of time. We place different value on money. Some of us > greatly value making things ourselves and others do not. So what seems a > daunting prospect for one will be really quite a low bar for another. > > My guess is that if you want to produce a top-grade instrument, and that is > your primary goal, the naysayers are probably right: you'll spend more to do > it than you'd spend to buy one. On the other hand, if your primary goal is > the satisfaction of making something yourself and you have the time and the > ability, you can come out under cost on each instrument, but you'll probably > have to make four or five before you end up with a really good instrument. > (There are exceptions, of course: some of you are probably so talented you > could do it on your first try, but I've also seen a number of first gurdies, > and I have yet to see one in person that wasn't plagued with problems.) > > So if there is this dichotomy of opinion, I think it because we all view > the equation from our own inputs and there is no single correct answer. > > -Arle > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "hurdygurdy" group. 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