Buy Once

Well, I am facing a bit of a crisis at the Toybox. For ten to fifteen years now I have watched computer numerically controlled (CNC) equipment push from the large commercial shops into the smaller home and hobbyist shops. When I first started looking at this type of equipment, the Epilogue lasers were my top choice. This equipment used a laser to either cut out or etch product. You could use them to do laser engraving to decorate projects, or use them to cut through some material. I was absolutely hooked, but the better part of $20,000 would need to be laid out to purchase this kind of equipment. I figured that the thing to do was wait and let the price come down. In the years since I saw the first one, the capabilities have increased exponentially, and the price has come down by about half.

So, while I was biding my time, along came 3D printers. Early on, I told friends that I believed this would be one of the most disruptive technologies we could see in our lifetime. The time will come when rather than going through the manufacturing processes that we have all known, an item will just be loaded into a printer and appear before us. I actually talked about this in another post here. For a while, I paid a great deal of attention to where these were going, at one point even discussing with Andrew that we should buy one together. Again however, I figured that with time would come more capability and lower price. That is exactly what has happened.

Then, the final straw. In all of the time that I worked in the industrial sheetgoods and hardwood business, one of the things that I just loved was watching a CNC router cut parts out with an accuracy that would be almost impossible to duplicate with traditional woodworking techniques. Between the software that drives these machines and the way the cutting works, parts are virtually perfect and duplicate parts are exact. I was always fascinated but never really thought about it, as this type of equipment is tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars, and need to be used continuously to make the economics of the purchase make sense. Until now. At this point, it is possible to get a shop-sized CNC router for under $2,000. One that I have seen is available for around $500.

So you ask, what is the crisis?  Most of it comes from experience and listening to others that I respect in woodworking and other crafts. The first table saw that I bought was used and I gave $400 for it. I used that Delta Contractor saw for over twenty years, moving it at least seven times. It was a good piece of equipment and I built several very nice projects with it. A little over a year ago, I bought a new table saw, and paid nearly six times as much. I would not tell you that it is six times as good a saw, but I would tell you that it is three or four times as good. The accuracy and the manner that you can repeat the same setup with accuracy is incredible. It is an amazing addition to my shop. Thanks to the people at Powermatic. If I could have done it all over, I would have bought the saw that I now have the first time. As Alec Steele says in his vlog, "Buy once, Cry once." What he means is that you should buy the absolute best equipment that you can the first time. You will be happy and your work will be better.

So, still getting to the crisis, right?  Now that CNC routers have gotten down to the place that I can afford to add one to the shop, I am second guessing myself. Should I figure out how to invest more money and buy better equipment right off the bat? I am supremely conflicted. I know that I will add this capability to the shop and it will allow me to add new dimensions to my woodworking. But am I looking at buying something that even though it is in the several thousand dollar range is too low in its quality and capabilities. Should I just suck it up and find more to invest in a better piece of equipment, or bring this in as a way to get to know what is possible?

I'm pretty sure that Alec would tell me to get better equipment, but those of you that know me the best know that I'm a little tight with money, so... there's my crisis. It will be interesting to watch this one play out. I have no idea what will happen.

On a side note, I have been tasked again with a couple of projects for kids' shelters here in the community. I am always so glad that I can be helpful in making it better for children and young adults who really need a little extra help. I will keep you posted as this goes. Hope that all is great with each of you and that you are working on all of the things that bring you joy.

Have a great week.

Out Back

In an average week, I think we often deal with things that could be called double-edged swords. These are of course the things that could either be good or bad; positive or negative.  I've had a couple of conversations lately that have really reinforced this around the openness and honesty that people use in their day to day conversation.

A couple of months ago, Sara decided she wanted to do something with the patio behind our house. She got an estimate for concrete work from a contractor that was working in the area. When we talked about the work and the amount of the estimate, we decided to look for another option. I know a gentleman who has done concrete work for my company for decades. His work is always top notch, and the fact that I've seen the way that his work stands up over the years told me that he is someone I'd be glad to have do work for us.

With that in mind, I called him. The project wasn't a big deal, only a yard or so of concrete. It's the kind of job that if you know what you were doing, there's an opportunity to make a little quick cash. 

When we finished catching up, and then talked about everything, he said, "Well Jim, you lost me at Out Back."

I'd told him that the work was "out back," behind our townhouse. He explained that he had decided somewhere along the line to be semi-retired and didn't take jobs any longer that involved moving concrete further than the truck could take care of it.

I have to tell you, I have never been rejected and felt better about it. I appreciated the fact that he was just honest and straightforward and told me how things were from his perspective. He could have gone the other way, told me a little story, or led me on with the idea that maybe he could get to it but that he was really busy, but he did none of this. He just told me the facts, from his perspective. I liked that approach.

Now fast forward to this week. I've had the opportunity to see both approaches to this kind of situation. The first is just wonderful. I called a company that repairs RVs as I need to get some work done. He was delightful, very nice, and explained to me that with the number of campers and RVs at the State Fair right now, this was his "Black Friday." As much as he would like to help me, unless I was on the State Fair grounds, there was no way he had time to get at the work I needed done. He also told me that he'd love to take care of the issue, and that if I could wait until after the fair was over, he'd be more than happy to come and take a look. I came off the phone call laughing, so appreciative of the honest, straightforward approach that he took. And heck, I can appreciate that when you are in the middle of whatever is your BIG time of the year, you take advantage of it.

Now, contrast that with another example from this week. 

I've been trying to get someone to look at an alarm system for a month now. The alarm has been going off intermittently, of course, most often in the middle of the night. I believed that I had scheduled someone to come out and look at this two or three times already, each time with nobody coming or calling. So, yesterday, I nailed down a plan whereby I would make sure to be in the office instead of out and about, and agreed to meet the service tech at eight o'clock in the morning. That time came and went. An hour and a half later, I called to see what was going on. I was met with a surprised response. The person I was talking to thought that the tech had already been there. Interestingly enough, a few minutes later someone showed up. They took a look at my system and declared that I had suffered a lightning strike and they would have to order a new board. As an interesting aside, I had been told weeks ago that they could see in the system that this is what had happened and they would need to order a new board.  I thought that today was the day that this would be installed, but instead today was just the day to look at it and make sure the right thing was ordered. Apparently there were a many examples of double meaning words in this whole conversation.

I prefer landing on the side of that double-edged sword that deals with honesty and openness. It's so much easier to have respect for the person you're dealing with.

On a final note, those of you that are heading for the Iowa State Fair, have a blast.  It looks as thought there are a lot of really great things going on there, and of course, the food is not to even be believed.  Gather friends, eat, drink, and have fun.