Stop Assuming Everyone has POWER Tools!

I like to make things. It's what I'm trained to do. I'm a computer programmer and web developer, as well as technically being qualified as a graphics artist. I also used to draw quite a bit, and quite enjoy sculpting. I've also remodeled kitchens and bathrooms, redone drywall, built rooms, built swings, built tables, chairs, etc. I've even mucked around a bit with electronics, though I could stand to be a lot better with that. I've lately been thinking about trying my hand at repairing electronic devices for a bit of extra cash, because it's just a pain in the ass doing freelance, and I quite enjoy figuring out what's wrong with things and taking things apart.

When it comes to wood working though...I've noticed there's a huge tendency for shows and videos to just assume that everyone has thousands of dollars worth of tools. I actually have way more tools than most people that I've bought over the years, and I still don't have all the shit that these idiots seem to assume everyone has.

I wish I had more tools! I wish I had a few thousand dollars more to buy all the shit I want. But I don't. There are quite a few extra things that I just haven't picked up yet, because it took a while for me to get over the stupid American mentality, that my dad has, of buying shit new. No dad, shutup, I'm checking craigslist, I don't have hundreds of extra dollars to pay for a piece of shit thing that's just made in China anyway. I'm not getting it just cuz it's new. I'd rather get something new that I don't have to worry about not being able to fix myself because I have to worry about some fucking stupid ass warranty.

One of the particularly expensive tools that I just haven't gotten around to getting yet, and have had to figure out ways around, is a table saw. If you're gonna do modern wood working, you really should get a table saw, as it saves heaps of time, but they're expensive, as every other tool is, and I've just avoided spending the hundreds it costs to get one.

Now, if you're to watch most videos on doing various things in wood working, it would be very easy to assume that you just need a table saw for various things. Why? Because the fuckers just assume everyone has one! They don't even mention that there are various different ways to do things without a table saw.

If I don't even up leaving the country, I will get a table saw, eventually, but I don't have the extra few hundred dollars to spend on one right now, and yet, while designing a project in my head, I thought, "You know what? I think that would be a lot better if it was done with a tongue and groove joint."

If you were to watch any video online about making a tongue and groove you would probably see them do it with a table saw, or a routing table, and act like that's just how you do it. And yet, that's not how people did it for thousands of years. There are a ton of different ways that you can do a tongue and groove joint, as well as a bunch of other different things that people do with table saws and other power tools.

To demonstrate, the video I'm currently watching for ideas on how to do it. I think I kinda wanna use my circular saw though.

But, see, this too is just one way to do it, just like using a table saw is just one way. You could do it with just a chisel and a box cutter, or even just a pocket knife if for some reason that's all you had. All it takes is for these people making these wood working videos to take a few seconds while setting up their tools to say, "If you don't have a X, you can also do this with a Y, or a Z." But they don't. Pretty much never. They just assume everyone has some fancy fucking power tool, and if they don't they'll figure out on their own how to do it without it. But so often they don't necessarily, because they might not be super into wood working YET, and that's why they don't have all the tools. So they don't try a project making something similar to what those guys on that video made. Maybe instead they try projects that they know they can do with what they have, or even go out and buy that fancy ass power tool, for one fucking project.

It's just something that always aggravates me when watching wood working videos. Not everyone has thousands of extra dollars to spend on power tools. Maybe they have other hobbies that are just as fucking expensive, and they don't want to spend so much money on things they'll only use a few times a year, and don't have a friend with a bunch of power tools they can ask either.