Is Woodworking An Expensive Hobby? Let’s Explore The Truth!

If you’ve stumbled upon this article, you must think that woodworking is an expensive hobby, right? Woodworking is a craft that is easy to master, satisfying, and fulfilling to those who enjoy it. It is a useful hobby too, but people have misconceptions regarding the pricing of this hobby.

We’ll be discussing some points which could change your perspective of woodworking and the expenses of it. Gone are the days where you thought of woodworking to be overpriced; now, you’ll be knowing how affordable it can be.

Types Of Woodwork & The Costs:

It’s necessary to know the types of woodworking and their associated costs so you can choose the suitable one for you. In this way, you’ll be able to progress in your journey more systematically.

Woodcarving:

Carving out designs, different types of contouring, yielding figures, or the beautification of wooden objects are all about Woodcarving. Once you are beginning out, you’ll require lesser amounts of wood. It’s better to learn this craftsmanship frame while creating small things instead of practicing on more significant pieces.

The common sorts of wood used are basswood, oak, and walnut. Although it’s a traditional process, the time hasn’t changed the course of the craft.

Costs: Given the little sum of wood required, it’s likely you’ll be able to buy a bunch for less than $25.The cost to start Woodcarving is somewhere between $100 to $150. Chisels, mallets, beginner books are some of the supplies you will need. The space required for this work is minimal.

Woodturning:

Woodturning is used to carve out many intricate designs on wood by placing the product on a lathe and spinning it at 1500-3000 RPM. Although this can be a little costly, if used to its fullest potential, it can go a long way and be worth it.

Costs: A lathe will cost you near about 250 dollars. After the lathe is done with, you’ll need some chisels which will cost you around 75 dollars. Protective gear will cost you 100 dollars, and a vacuum for 100 dollars. In total, the woodturning process is kind of expensive since it’ll cost you more than 500 dollars. The space you’ll require is going to be quite a lot since you’ll need a lathe table.

Pyrography:

Pyrogravure is the art of staining wood through burning. It is also acknowledged as poker-work. It’s very cost-efficient and doesn’t occupy too much space.Another low startup choice in carpentry is pyrography, moreover known as wood burning. This sort of work incorporates burning pictures or plans into the wood. There’s a full run of wood that you simply can utilize in wood burning.

Costs: The cost to start with this type of woodworking is around $100, and you’ll be needing wood burning kits and wooden materials. The space required for this is minimal.

Sign Making:

Sign making is the process of woodworking, where you turn your paper designs into wood designs. There are two types of sign making, namely Basic and Advanced. We’ll be discussing them broadly-

Basic:

With a small amount of investment, you can go a long way with the primary type of sign making. Even with the small investment, you have a big option range in front of you to choose from. You need paint, brushes, stencils, and a few templates which allow you to replicate the signs a few times.

Costs: For the painting, you can use acrylic paint, which can cost .99 cents while the brushes can be found for 3 dollars to 5 dollars.

Wood stainers are also a requirement that will cost you around 10 dollars. Woodcutting tools will cost you about 250 dollars, spiking up your expenses.

You can use pine or barn wood for sign making. Oak and poplar are also common. You can find yourself a good deal of wood from Craigslist or Amazon.

Thereby, the cost to get started with the sign-making is under 100 dollars without wood carving power tools, and the space required for this type of woodworking is minimal.

Advanced:

The advanced sign making is going to have quite a price boost. We’ll be discussing the materials below:

Table Saw: This is one of the primary tools, the heart of all the woodworkers. It’s a heavy-duty saw that can cut through wooden sheets with ideal perpendicular edges, but it’s also able to cut through any style you want to opt for.A table saw can be purchased at $200 and go up to thousands.

Miter Saw: The fastest and the easiest way to chop your lumber down to straight or angular ways is the Miter Saw. The Miter Saw blade diameters are around ten and 12-inch and can be customized to different angles.These saws can cost $100 and go up to $1,000.

Router: This tool will immensely back you up when you want to carve out different contouring on your woodwork.It can cost as little as $150. High-end wood routers can cost $200 or more depending on the features.

Costs: Advanced sign making can open a world full of possibilities with different and various types of tools. To get started with it, you’ll need around $1500 that can go up to a hundred thousand dollars. The space requirement would be an entire room or a garage.

Furniture Making:

We’re all familiar with furniture making, but we’ll separate it into two parts so that you get a clearer idea about it.

Basic:

You’ll need a 20 dollar handsaw, a 30 dollar hand sander, a 100 dollar power drill, a 100 dollar finish nailer or a brad nailer, a 100 dollar vacuum, sandpaper, wood glue, screws, paint, and so on according to your preference.

Costs: Cost to get started with this is about 250 dollars, and you’ll require a garage or a room like space for the apparatus setup.

Advanced:

This type of woodworking means you’re making money out of it since you’ll be investing a lot in it.When you think about advanced level carpentry jobs, you must require some medium and heavy equipment. Some are discussed above, and some of those are follows

Circular Saw: is the most versatile cutting tool in the woodworking job. You can use this tool for a wide range of tasks like rip cut or bevel cut, it is most useful for straight cutting. You can find a circular saw as low as 50 dollars to up 500.

Jigsaw: When the circular saw helps you to get straight cuts, the jigsaw will help you to get uneven cuts. Jigsaws are best used for cutting wood shapes and curves.

Like circular saw, you will get a jigsaw as low as 50 dollars to up 300.

Planner: If you need to buy a bulk amount of wood in raw condition, a planner comes in handy to save your time and money. A planner cost you from 300 to up 2000 dollar or more based on the capacity and size. For a medium-scale workshop, a planer cost between 300 to 500 dollars is well enough.

Orbital Sander: Finishing touch is an important aspect for furniture making, and an orbital sander is a super tool that can give you ultra-smooth sanding. You can use an orbital sander for pre and post sanding as well as various applications from painting to restoring headlight transparency.

An orbital sander will cost you around 50 dollars to up 300.

Costs: The cost to get started an advanced level of furniture making is about $1000, depending on your tools and your preferences.

The space required for this will vary from having one garage space to two garage spaces.

Scroll Sawing:

The best work is handmade. This type of woodwork requires the design and carvings made from your hand freely. It’s best used for details and sculptures.

Costs: You’ll require a scroll saw for this technique, which will cost around $350. 

Wood Mosaics:

Various shapes and sizes of wood are cut, polished, and placed together to create laminated and illusionary depth included objects. They’re known as wood mosaics.

Costs: This type of woodworking cost will certainly depend on your preference. You’ll need different sizes of wood mosaics, which can be found for 25 dollars to $300. You can also make the mosaics yourself with regular hand saws. You’ll need wooden glue, costing around $25 for this. Hence, the average cost stands at about $300-$400.

Basic Woodworking Tools For Beginners:

Carpentry gets more straightforward the more you are doing it, and you don’t have to dish out tons of cash on tools and supplies.

As one would expect, professionally utilized hobbies regularly require more tools, more materials, and maybe more information. This could be anticipated with any hobby you select.

Therefore, we suggest a beginner start with simple and useful tools as well as easy projects. Make a few attempts and reasonable plans to build your skills first. Once you’re more confident along with your abilities, move on to more advanced projects and tools.

First, grab some basic tools and try one or two relatively simple things.

Below is a quick list of instruments you might require right from the beginning:

The Primary List of Tools and Supplies For Woodworking:

Woodworking ToolsApprox. Cost
A set of Flat screwdrivers and Phillips screwdrivers of multiple sizes

$20

1 Tape measure

$13

1 Combination square

$10

1 Rasp

$20

1 Power drill

$100

1 All-purpose saw

$25

1 Long throat fret saw

$20

1 Claw hammer

$15

Different sizes of nails and screws

$10

Besides the above-listed tools, you’ll also need the following essential things to start your woodworking career-

  • Good quality wood: Approximate value of around $25 or more depending on the size you prefer.
  • Wood glue: Approximate cost around $25.
  • Sandpaper: Approximate value of around $8.

Final Words

The difference between woodworking and other side interests is that with woodworking, you’ll make practical things that you’ll use in your day-to-day life, which can be truly fulfilling.

Woodworking is simple and doesn’t require high-end or costly apparatuses to form something incredible. You simply ought to think around your plan and start being creative.

The more you develop on your beginner-level skills, the more you’ll progress in this useful and creative hobby. Through this hobby, you can make a little money on the side if you want. Lastly, we hope you find the woodworking hobby rewarding in affordable ways!

Hey, before you leave, listen to what the young guys say about the woodworking is really an expensive hobby or not?

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Tushar Mirror

Toolsmirror is a group of co-fighters led by Engr. Tushar is dedicated to gathering information, analyzing & test various items, and releasing reviews on various woodwork and outdoor tools. Our mission is to provide our readers with the most up-to-date ideas and approaches, as well as reveal the genuine features that will assist them in selecting the best items for their professions and DIY projects.

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