There are several stages of CAD. You may not get the stages in the same order as other members do. Just go with the flow of what you feel you need and get rid of the bug.
Before I found this place I always cut a little wood each year to fuel my fireplace and wood burning sauna. Plus ran saws to keep a series of ATV and hiking trails open.
Here was my progression. The process has taken me 10 years because I did spend a couple stints working out of town and was not running saws much. Also when I got Lyme's disease I slimmed down my collection from about 40 runners/10 projects to about 2 runners/5 projects.
1) I have several older saws, I need a new saw. Question to group: What saw should I get?
2) Ok now I want a second new saw, what model would compliment my current saw?
3) OMG, I need to sell all of my homeowner grade saws and get professional grade saws.
4) Pro saws are fun but I also want to work on saws. (Acquires an older saw and spend way too much to get it running)
5) A saw of every cc class from 30-90 CC. Also lots of bar and chain selections.
6) Time to port my main saws, which saw builder should I choose?
7) More and more project saws (still spending too much to get them running but not as bad as #4)
8) More ported saws. Also modifying homeowner grade saws to get them to run like a pro saw.
9) I had better do muffler mods and timing advances to the saws that aren't ported.
10) More project saws (acquired cheaply so you can sell for a small profit if needed)
11) Look for saw makes/models that others do not have so you can test them out
12) Realizing that at some point between step 2 and 8 you owned every saw you needed (and probably have sold them)
13) Acquire intriguing saws that you can buy for cheap locally just because they are there.
14) Seek out specific saw families for future saw builds because you like their performance and are familiar with fixing them.
I am currently in stages 13 and 14.
A lot of guys get the bug to port their own saws somewhere in the single digits. I am not there yet.
Most important suggestions: Just make sure you do not spend too much on any one saw. You should be able to sell any saw for even money (at worst). Do not buy a new saw for retail as you can always find one for less somewhere. Also if you plan to port a saw, understand that you will never get your $$ out of it.
Before I found this place I always cut a little wood each year to fuel my fireplace and wood burning sauna. Plus ran saws to keep a series of ATV and hiking trails open.
Here was my progression. The process has taken me 10 years because I did spend a couple stints working out of town and was not running saws much. Also when I got Lyme's disease I slimmed down my collection from about 40 runners/10 projects to about 2 runners/5 projects.
1) I have several older saws, I need a new saw. Question to group: What saw should I get?
2) Ok now I want a second new saw, what model would compliment my current saw?
3) OMG, I need to sell all of my homeowner grade saws and get professional grade saws.
4) Pro saws are fun but I also want to work on saws. (Acquires an older saw and spend way too much to get it running)
5) A saw of every cc class from 30-90 CC. Also lots of bar and chain selections.
6) Time to port my main saws, which saw builder should I choose?
7) More and more project saws (still spending too much to get them running but not as bad as #4)
8) More ported saws. Also modifying homeowner grade saws to get them to run like a pro saw.
9) I had better do muffler mods and timing advances to the saws that aren't ported.
10) More project saws (acquired cheaply so you can sell for a small profit if needed)
11) Look for saw makes/models that others do not have so you can test them out
12) Realizing that at some point between step 2 and 8 you owned every saw you needed (and probably have sold them)
13) Acquire intriguing saws that you can buy for cheap locally just because they are there.
14) Seek out specific saw families for future saw builds because you like their performance and are familiar with fixing them.
I am currently in stages 13 and 14.
A lot of guys get the bug to port their own saws somewhere in the single digits. I am not there yet.
Most important suggestions: Just make sure you do not spend too much on any one saw. You should be able to sell any saw for even money (at worst). Do not buy a new saw for retail as you can always find one for less somewhere. Also if you plan to port a saw, understand that you will never get your $$ out of it.