- Joined
- Oct 29, 2012
- Messages
- 1,328
Do any of you guys finance your lathes/mills/etc?
I'm generally opposed to shackling myself with debt but it seems like it's becoming harder to do things any other way.
I've been "saving up" for a nice Bridgeport-style mill for 7 years now, and my "mill money" envelope contains a grand total of $300. It's been heavier than that before; got it up to an even $1,000 before, it seems like every time I start to get anywhere, life happens.
Unfortunately, repairing the transmission in my work truck was more important than getting the mill I wanted.
Unfortunately, repairing the rotting roof of my garage was more important than getting the mill I wanted.
Unfortunately, fixing the central HVAC was more important than getting the mill I wanted.
And so on, seemingly endlessly.
And to top that off, at the rate at which life happens, I know full well that the day after that envelope gets heavy enough and I finally buy a mill, my septic tank is going to cave in or a tornado is going to drop a tree on my car, and I won't have that little nest egg to make everything better.
So now after 7 years I find myself seriously considering taking out a loan to buy a mill, as if it might be my only option.
I guess what I'm looking for here are tips; both opinions and facts.
Is it foolish (in your opinion) to take out a loan for a hobby pursuit? Have you done it yourself?
What would be the best way to go about obtaining financing for $7,500-$10,000 for a mill?
I have a dormant LLC but I wouldn't want to sit in front of a banker and try to justify this as a business expenditure. My LLC did however give me some numbers to fill in the blanks of boltontools.net's credit app and they approved me for $4,300 - enough to get something, just not what I want. And they won't tell me what the interest rate is, so I'm leaning far away from that deal.
I'm generally opposed to shackling myself with debt but it seems like it's becoming harder to do things any other way.
I've been "saving up" for a nice Bridgeport-style mill for 7 years now, and my "mill money" envelope contains a grand total of $300. It's been heavier than that before; got it up to an even $1,000 before, it seems like every time I start to get anywhere, life happens.
Unfortunately, repairing the transmission in my work truck was more important than getting the mill I wanted.
Unfortunately, repairing the rotting roof of my garage was more important than getting the mill I wanted.
Unfortunately, fixing the central HVAC was more important than getting the mill I wanted.
And so on, seemingly endlessly.
And to top that off, at the rate at which life happens, I know full well that the day after that envelope gets heavy enough and I finally buy a mill, my septic tank is going to cave in or a tornado is going to drop a tree on my car, and I won't have that little nest egg to make everything better.
So now after 7 years I find myself seriously considering taking out a loan to buy a mill, as if it might be my only option.
I guess what I'm looking for here are tips; both opinions and facts.
Is it foolish (in your opinion) to take out a loan for a hobby pursuit? Have you done it yourself?
What would be the best way to go about obtaining financing for $7,500-$10,000 for a mill?
I have a dormant LLC but I wouldn't want to sit in front of a banker and try to justify this as a business expenditure. My LLC did however give me some numbers to fill in the blanks of boltontools.net's credit app and they approved me for $4,300 - enough to get something, just not what I want. And they won't tell me what the interest rate is, so I'm leaning far away from that deal.