John McCoy wrote:
Keith Nuttle wrote in
:

I think there is another factor to consider. Buying tools is one
thing, but buying materials is another.

When a person sees this piece of furniture he like, he goes out to
buy the materials. He finds the materials is a couple of hundred
dollars. wood, finish, handles, etc.

That is certainly a big part of it in our hobby, maybe
not so much so in others.

But it's definately true for a beginner in woodworking,
not only because the lumber, etc, is expensive, but that
being a beginner he's likely not even aware that rough
lumber exists, let alone has the tools to make boards of
it. Also, the guys with more experience (not necessarily
more skill) are likely to stuff stashed - the lumber left
over from a project, the dozen hinges bought for pennies
in a closeout sale, the screws or sandpaper or whatever
bought in bulk-pack because it'll get used eventually.

Being cost-efficient is a skill, just like using the
tools.

Yep, and it - AKA frugality - can be learned.

When I was young and in the Navy, my camera spent most of its time in pawn
shops. Somewhere around my freshman year in college I started being more
frugal.

Now - 60 years later - I save bits and pieces of wood...some offcuts, some
knots cut out (I resaw the latter and make pulls from them, lots of swirly
grain). At the moment I am making drawer dividers, all from "scrap".

I also glue up small pieces to make bigger ones. All our closet hanging
rods are made that way from butternut offcuts from when I made all our
passage doors.

I not only enjoy saving the $$, I enjoy finding a use for them.