The Cost of R&D - Time

I have an awful confession to make: I just bought something I should be able to fabricate in my shop. I suffer from that constant problem of the home shop machinist: more time than money, and not enough time. It's almost always to my advantage to make my own stuff, not because I'd make a superior product, but because it means I can get it a lot faster that way, even if it takes a long time to make it. (Read that as "I'm broke most of the time.")

But this time I really should've been able to make this thing because I've been working on my design for so long: it's a camera rig for doing kite aerial photography. I wound up getting the one sold by Brooks Leffler:

http://www.brooxes.com/

So why'd I do it?

Because of the cost involved: time. I've spent years thinking about it and coming up with designs, but I haven't actually made one. I don't have a kite rig in hand yet, and it's already too expensive in terms of time. At this point it's cheaper for me to shell out the money and pay Brooks Leffler for his hard work and R&D, and be happy that I'm getting something that is superior to my own design in a lot of ways.

Sometimes it really is cheaper to buy the thing instead of make it.

Tom

P.S. Can't wait to start taking pictures!!