Last year I had some budget left at my DayJob. I thought about all of the things I needed for my studio, and then I ordered a small cheap table saw. The response was interesting, you’d have thought I bought a guillotine. I didn’t buy it for kids to use, I bought it as a way to save money for cutting panels down for painting and carving.

Anyway, the saw I bought is not that expensive it was sub $200 and some cheapo Amazon saw. It arrived and it was surprisingly sturdy and did the job. Win. I’ve probably ripped down 6 sheets of plywood and MDF to suitable sizes for painting and carving. It’s been a huge time and money saver. Buying one 4×8 sheet of plywood and cutting it myself is much cheaper than buying 4 2×4 sheets.

Lesson learned- even a cheap table saw is a good investment if it eventually saves time and money. I do wish I’d been able to afford a better saw.

This past week I put that lesson into practice. I’m doing a project with the kids where they are painting and then using cardboard to create a sculpture. I’ve been using click knives to break down the cardboard. I saw someone on youtube using a cardboard saw to break down their cardboard before shredding it, so I ordered one.

Y’all. GAME CHANGER.

It is virtually no effort to break down a huge box into manageable panels and it handles tougher cardboard than you’d expect. It just motors through it like it’s buttahhhh.

Anyway, I turned the work recycling bin into a stack of useful cardboard in a short period of time with the tool and thought I’d share that.

It’s moments like this where I consider that in my own personal art practice I hold off on purchases like this for so many reasons, but I realize now that I really should just buy the tool, even if it is a cheaper version of the tool. Because even an inexpensive tool can be a game changer. I also wonder how much of this is decision paralysis related to ADHD, anxiety, and or depression. (Or just also the state of being a woman in the US.)

I’m going to stew on that for awhile.