"Christopher Tidy" wrote in message
...
Am Samstag, 21. Oktober 2017 06:32:59 UTC+2 schrieb Rudy Canoza:

I am certain the majority of people who follow this group make the
wrong
decision on make-or-buy.

There aren't universal right and wrong decisions here. It depends on
the person, tools available, interest and time. Lately I built two
workbenches and a vice (vise, if you're American) myself. This was
better for me, because the end products were exactly what I needed and
it was fun. But someone else might have preferred to buy them.

=============

I faced the build-or-buy decision continually as a builder and
sometimes designer of industrial test equipment for new products.
Sometims the best choice was a split, such as contracting for the
refrigeration but building the heaters and controls for temperature
cycling chambers.

If the schedule permitted I'd attempt some new task like brazing
copper tubing at least once to better understand its potentials and
limitations. That's how I got into machining and welding and sheet
metal fab; I never intended to do them for a living, only better
understand how to employ them efficiently. The time was an educational
expense, just like the chemistry lab work we practiced but would
likely have an assistant for later.

I found that I really enjoyed imagining some new mechanism and then
creating it, sometimes more than using it. After the one flight lesson
I took the instructor, an aerospace engineer, told me that students
divide into those who enjoy building planes and those who only want to
fly them. I'm definitely on the builder side.

-jsw