Originally Posted by
I Herd Ewe
I actually don't think it matters if you are a hobbiest or a professional or something in between. I do many different crafts and have learned that nothing discourages a beginner more than struggling with poor quality equipment. No matter how skillful I am, it would be very difficult to make a quality piece of furniture on a tablesaw with a warped table or a wobbly fence, to make an accurate cut with a poor quality ruler or paint a fine line with a poor quality brush. I often loan my tools to new craftsmen so they can learn if they really like the craft before making a huge investment in equipment. I recommend they take a class where equipment is provided. Sometimes equipment can be rented for those first attempts at a new craft. Often you can find good quality used equipment. However, don't hand a beginner poor quality equipment and then wonder why they don't enjoy the new craft! It is hard enough to learn new skills without the extra handicap of poor quality equipment.
I am so sorry for beginner quality tools to be equated with inferior tools. I am sure you would not advise a beginner woodworker to buy a Delta Unisaw for $3000 and probably not even a table model for $150 but would pick a model more in $500 range -prices going up every day -. I never meant to suggest a beginner tool should not do its job adequately which would be safely, with ease and have a quality to last- but still not the tool that a professional would pay for and need. I find myself having to apologize to all the good quilters who have bought TOL machines and use every feature they have built into them, and the the quilters who have simply been able to afford and wanted to own those TOL machines. I didn't mean to imply you shouldn't have them, only that they weren't beginner's tools and most beginner's didn't need to have the TOL included in the list of what they needed. I think now that some quilters are like some hunters. Before they go on their first hunt they have purchased what they need: guns, dog, wardrobe, lease, pickup truck, etc. and perhaps reserved a place to have the kill mounted. LOL To each his own.