I often buy machines with no clear idea how I'll use them

[Frosty]

Wow, what a thread!

When I read Grant the Naked's initial post I was pulled up a little short by the `dropping 100k on a rolling mill' aspect. I'm thinking this is WAY over MY pay scale! Then I consider how I dropped 4k on a power hammer that's fast approaching it's 100th birthday and how Deb gritted her teeth but said okay when I proposed buying it.

Just a matter of scale, not kind. I've bought lots of things I didn't have a "need" for but could see the potential. Sometimes just for the cool factor. many would've paid for themselves had I not had to hold down a paycheck job and pursued making them pay.

Frankly, I think it's a sign of a lack of arrogance to speak of these things without thinking about how someone else might take the dollar amount involved. Some folk think of $20 the same way I think of $200 or $2k before I got married.

I've been accused of being a "know it all" in resentful tones by the very people who'd get ticked off if I couldn't answer their questions. It used to really tick ME off till I decided to not sweat other people's perspective and perceptions. Of course I was a lot more prone to just say I don't know when they asked something again but that was malicious and I try not to go there.

A while ago Grant the Naked started flicking me friendly xxxx. Cool, I LOVE that kind of action, people who don't like you say mean things, they don't rib you. The thing is I knew who Grant is and I'm always aware that I'm just a hobbyist living in relative isolation with surprisingly limited hammer time for someone with as many years in it as I have. But I flicked some back and kept my fingers crossed. I kept my fingers crossed because I wasn't positive how serious he was.

It's much harder to interpret what a person means in a written medium, humans evolved to communicate face to face. We're good at adapting and improvising though so after a while a person can get a handle on someone elses intentions with nothing but his/er words to go by.

It just takes practice, patience and a goodly dose of tolerance. Misunderstandings and misimpressions seldom last long among good folk.

I like the way this thread's gone too.

Frosty

[JNewman]

I think that part of the misunderstanding with this thread is a difference between business and hobby. In business if you need something now you go buy it. I have much different spending practices at home than at work, not to say I am wastefull at the shop but if I need to spend money now I do, even if it means I cannot take a paycheque home. I am guessing Grant would be much more hesitant to spend a couple of hundred thousand on a new boat, and if he did he would not be bragging about that here. Of course now that I said that he is going to tell us about his new boat.

[Oak Hill Forge]

I have bought more than one tool with the hopes that "someday it will pay for itself, or "you never know when you might 'need' one of those" . I have a 375 amp TIG machine and a 300 amp portable engine driven welder for my use around the house ! They both are usefully in making nice blacksmithing tools however !

[TimB]

I like your style, Nakedanvil. BTW What time of the day are you, "...in the shadow of Mt. Ranier" ?

[Dragons lair]

I think Grant has it right. I have spent large amounts on equipment, I know how and what to use them for. the need may not be there today. How ever the need may be there tommorrow. If you don't have it you are out of luck. I have added CNC plasma cuting, trackhoe, skidsteer loader to my shop. Do I need it right now NO will it have a use in the future I think so. Go rent a trackhoe or slid steer for a weekend or a week. Need to offload a 250lb pallet off a truck no prolem. Need to build a 7500 gal pond no problem.

[Nakedanvil - Grant Sarver]

At sunrise, which I see more often than not. Sometimes because I got up before the sun, sometimes because I haven't gone to bed yet.

[BIGGUNDOCTOR]

I had a small machine and fab shop back in my 20's. It didn't make it due to various reasons; some we caused-some out of our control. I will tell you though, that was the only time I was happy to go to work. I still have all of my shop equipment, as I paid cash at auctions for everything. No loans, no leases, ust paid as we went along.

I am at a point where I am feeling the urge to make that leap of faith again. I know I have some good ideas for businesses, but it is hard to cut that weekly paycheck loose. This is also a great time of opportunity, just have to find the niche to fill. I am headed to an auction this Friday to hopefully get a bigger rough terrain forklift. My little hard tired Toyoya doesn't like the gravel much. My problem with auctions is that I end up buying more than I went for I have snagged some fantastic deals over the years. The auction I am going to happens to have a lathe, mill, and a shaper available. Don't need any of them , but if the price is right............

Entrepuners are risk takers. I love money, and hold on to it tight, but it kills my friends when I tell them about some of my purchases. I see it as a value based process in my purchases. If I buy item A how long will it last? Will my old one last a bit longer? Can I make money with it? Will owning it make me happy? Will it hold its value? All of these questions and more run through my head on a purchase. So I will stretch out these worn work boots a little longer, but may spend a few thousand on machines this Friday.

[blafen]

I had 10 dollars, then i got hungry, now I'm broke.