I've been working with my hands since childhood.  Dad's projects always needed more than 2 hands, as the oldest son, I was the designated helper.

I learned a lot working with him.  The value of good tools, especially since we rarely had them.  Being frugal with material, and thinking through the project.  Dad was a city employee, and we didn't have much money to work with. 

We moved out in the county when I was 14.  Some of the projects we did before the move:  removing a floor furnace and putting in central heat.  Cleaning several dump truck loads of concrete block, then building a cellar in the back yard with a patio top.    Building a storage / shop building.  Tiling the bathroom.  Reroofing the house.  Moving a smoke damaged duplex to some property and starting a remodel.  Tearing down multiple houses to salvage the wood and fixtures and then pulling tons of nails from this lumber.

I've worked as a farm hand, go-fer, aircraft cleaner and fueler, electrician, industrial engineering helper, broadcast engineer, mobile radio specialist and IT professional.  

In college I got a chance to take Machine Tool Lab.  I got a compliment from a machinist on my projects.  He said I had a talent for it.

Fast forward 25 years, and I'm now able to afford a few tools and have a small space to work.  It's time to work on this skill and keep it under budget.

Welcome to Budget Machining.