Due to disaster related government corruption, I've had a bit of a monetary windfall. Well, still in progress but its gone from "I could buy a new handgun money" to "Damn....I could really go shopping money" how far it will go, I have no idea. I'm taking it day by day, but I'm taking advantage of a one time opportunity to 'earn' a lot more than I've ever made before for as long as it lasts.
But being me, all money spent adheres to our internal 'doctrine', which I won't go into in detail, but basically says that 'excess' money can be spent on things that may be fun, but most be also be useful as a prep, with the proportion of 'useful' vs 'fun' going up as the price tag increases, even if all the money coming in at the moment is 'excess to needs'.
Its fine to blow $100 on something that is pretty much just a toy....but a $1,000 purchase has to be something that benefits the homestead and increases the overall 'survival rating' of our place, if its 'fun' that is nice but primarily, money has to go to something useful at that scale and above. We don't eat out, we don't go on vacations, we don't buy expensive clothes, cars, etc.
In past times, simply saving money or paying of debt would be the logical choice, but we have been debt free for years, and money is losing value by the day so I feel some pressure to unload all this useless cash before it depreciates too much.
Some may have no sympathy for this situation, which I fully understand...believe me....this is a very odd problem to have in my life and is likely to never repeat.
Anyway....this is a long rambling way to say, I want/need to buy a few thousand dollars of some crap that I don't strictly need, but that is useful and hopefully somewhat fun.
With guns/ammo/building materials being grossly inflated and hard to get, I'm looking at tools.
Something I've always wanted, but never had, was a small milling machine for fabricating my own machine parts. However, I have never used one. Primarily my metal working tools are forges, welders, grinders, drill presses, etc and when I do need to make 'parts' its usually laboriously free-handing them on the belt grinder.
What I'm wondering...is a benchtop scale milling machine would be a good general purpose tool for the homestead metal shop....or more of a speciality tool that is only worth having if your running a fabrication business?
And as a followup....is learning to use a milling machine so hard that its only worth it if your using it heavily....or is it simple enough that you can just add it into your general skillset without imposing too much of a training burden. Can it just be another tool in your shop or does it have to be something you really focus on to be able to use.
But being me, all money spent adheres to our internal 'doctrine', which I won't go into in detail, but basically says that 'excess' money can be spent on things that may be fun, but most be also be useful as a prep, with the proportion of 'useful' vs 'fun' going up as the price tag increases, even if all the money coming in at the moment is 'excess to needs'.
Its fine to blow $100 on something that is pretty much just a toy....but a $1,000 purchase has to be something that benefits the homestead and increases the overall 'survival rating' of our place, if its 'fun' that is nice but primarily, money has to go to something useful at that scale and above. We don't eat out, we don't go on vacations, we don't buy expensive clothes, cars, etc.
In past times, simply saving money or paying of debt would be the logical choice, but we have been debt free for years, and money is losing value by the day so I feel some pressure to unload all this useless cash before it depreciates too much.
Some may have no sympathy for this situation, which I fully understand...believe me....this is a very odd problem to have in my life and is likely to never repeat.
Anyway....this is a long rambling way to say, I want/need to buy a few thousand dollars of some crap that I don't strictly need, but that is useful and hopefully somewhat fun.
With guns/ammo/building materials being grossly inflated and hard to get, I'm looking at tools.
Something I've always wanted, but never had, was a small milling machine for fabricating my own machine parts. However, I have never used one. Primarily my metal working tools are forges, welders, grinders, drill presses, etc and when I do need to make 'parts' its usually laboriously free-handing them on the belt grinder.
What I'm wondering...is a benchtop scale milling machine would be a good general purpose tool for the homestead metal shop....or more of a speciality tool that is only worth having if your running a fabrication business?
And as a followup....is learning to use a milling machine so hard that its only worth it if your using it heavily....or is it simple enough that you can just add it into your general skillset without imposing too much of a training burden. Can it just be another tool in your shop or does it have to be something you really focus on to be able to use.