Not what you think this is. At least not what this board talks about. It about your other hobby, whatever it may be.
Its where to find supplies for your hobby. Especially is you are building from scratch. A source is utube videos whose creator link (usually to amazon, but its US amazon and the product might not be available in Canada and if it is its jacked up by 50-100% from the American price). I find that alot of the time I have to do alot of searching for items on the internet.
My hobby is woodworking, but I am interested in metal working/forging. What I find is that there is not enough resources (raw material) that is cheap enough for the average hobbyist. For instance a good anvil will cost you 800-1500.00 for 110-150 pound anvil. Anyone know where there are free railway ties (steel). Woodworking can go into cnc routers for plywood/mdf/glued panels. Another tool would be an laser cutter (always get ventillation system with the laser cutter and direct air outside). Also it could go into epoxy tables using epoxy resins (West system epoxy, or Total Boat) which are very expensive. I think the biggest improvements in woodworking are:
1. sawstop brakes (stops instantly if you touch it) and
2. helical heads with carbide bits replacing knives on planers and jointers. The best helical heads are the ones where the carbide bits is at a angle to the direction of rotation (not 90 degrees), as this allows for shearing of the wood fibres.
Another example jigs in woodworking might require plexiglass. Expensive at over 30.00 a square foot for 1/4@ sheet. So during Covid those plastic sheets at the checkout cost around 200.00-300.00 per till. That an estimate, I'm sure its higher because of supply and demand. The price of a US sheet is 1/2 of what you pay for in Canada (Produced in the USA). Canada could use a plant that produces this product. Oil from Alberta could be converted into plastics of many types.
In Canada the retail price should equal what is online. This is to ensure that retailers survive and provide employment for people.
Ebay used to be a place to find a deal, not now.
kijiji- filled with high price stuff or jacked into some manufacturers ad campaign. Same anvil for 20 different towns in BC.
Amazon is filled with second hand price jackers (resale of items bought under bulk); which is why there are 4 prices for the same item, its just labeled differently.
On Amazon you always have bad info on items because of the price-jackers have simply erased/edited the information, but what they have done is left out important details of the item. Like material made of, size, manufacturers description etc etc. Note the company you buy from, it could be from China. I ordered something once, it came from China, then went to US and came by Canada post. (took a long time, I suspect it was holding on a ship waiting to be unloaded in the US at the time). I think I find what I'm looking for at about 1/7 of the time at a reasonable price (meaning its not jacked up already).
There is Alibaba (China). Never ordered from this site, but material wise it looks like it has good selection. Seems to have very good prices, but I am weary of the quality of the product.
Then there is the repair items. Say a router (wood). Some companies will have repair/parts links. Or the parts are found a parts website. Replacementparts.com or repair clinic or (brand name) parts. There is a big difference between getting a bearing for $3.00 /bearing vs 20.00/bearing. On a router that is $40.00 vs $6.00.
Because the hobbies cost so much in basic materials its easy to see why people don't follow "hands on" types of hobbies today. The shrinking talent pool of jack of all trades...disappearing.
Its where to find supplies for your hobby. Especially is you are building from scratch. A source is utube videos whose creator link (usually to amazon, but its US amazon and the product might not be available in Canada and if it is its jacked up by 50-100% from the American price). I find that alot of the time I have to do alot of searching for items on the internet.
My hobby is woodworking, but I am interested in metal working/forging. What I find is that there is not enough resources (raw material) that is cheap enough for the average hobbyist. For instance a good anvil will cost you 800-1500.00 for 110-150 pound anvil. Anyone know where there are free railway ties (steel). Woodworking can go into cnc routers for plywood/mdf/glued panels. Another tool would be an laser cutter (always get ventillation system with the laser cutter and direct air outside). Also it could go into epoxy tables using epoxy resins (West system epoxy, or Total Boat) which are very expensive. I think the biggest improvements in woodworking are:
1. sawstop brakes (stops instantly if you touch it) and
2. helical heads with carbide bits replacing knives on planers and jointers. The best helical heads are the ones where the carbide bits is at a angle to the direction of rotation (not 90 degrees), as this allows for shearing of the wood fibres.
Another example jigs in woodworking might require plexiglass. Expensive at over 30.00 a square foot for 1/4@ sheet. So during Covid those plastic sheets at the checkout cost around 200.00-300.00 per till. That an estimate, I'm sure its higher because of supply and demand. The price of a US sheet is 1/2 of what you pay for in Canada (Produced in the USA). Canada could use a plant that produces this product. Oil from Alberta could be converted into plastics of many types.
In Canada the retail price should equal what is online. This is to ensure that retailers survive and provide employment for people.
Ebay used to be a place to find a deal, not now.
kijiji- filled with high price stuff or jacked into some manufacturers ad campaign. Same anvil for 20 different towns in BC.
Amazon is filled with second hand price jackers (resale of items bought under bulk); which is why there are 4 prices for the same item, its just labeled differently.
On Amazon you always have bad info on items because of the price-jackers have simply erased/edited the information, but what they have done is left out important details of the item. Like material made of, size, manufacturers description etc etc. Note the company you buy from, it could be from China. I ordered something once, it came from China, then went to US and came by Canada post. (took a long time, I suspect it was holding on a ship waiting to be unloaded in the US at the time). I think I find what I'm looking for at about 1/7 of the time at a reasonable price (meaning its not jacked up already).
There is Alibaba (China). Never ordered from this site, but material wise it looks like it has good selection. Seems to have very good prices, but I am weary of the quality of the product.
Then there is the repair items. Say a router (wood). Some companies will have repair/parts links. Or the parts are found a parts website. Replacementparts.com or repair clinic or (brand name) parts. There is a big difference between getting a bearing for $3.00 /bearing vs 20.00/bearing. On a router that is $40.00 vs $6.00.
Because the hobbies cost so much in basic materials its easy to see why people don't follow "hands on" types of hobbies today. The shrinking talent pool of jack of all trades...disappearing.
