Try Before You Buy: Why Hobbyists Rent Equipment Before Buying Their Own

Crafting hobbies are incredibly rewarding to practice. You get solid, usable things when you complete each hobby project. From crafting carved jewelry boxes to building your own home extensions, hobbyists gain both joy and function from their works. For a dedicated hobbyist, it’s only natural to invest in your own personal collection of workshop and construction equipment. But how do you know which pieces of equipment will be the most rewarding to own? Which brands and models will be most comfortable in your hand? Which are most versatile for your crafts, or give you the best value for your money?

Hobby Equipment Can Be a Serious Investment

For hobbyists with many projects ahead, it’s often smart to rent a few types of equipment before settling on the perfect collection of models for your personal workshop. Sanders, table saws, drills, landscaping tools, welders, and many more types of equipment can be a big investment for a model you’ve never used in-action before. Renting allows hobbyists to hold, use, and experiment with serious equipment. Find the perfect model before putting down the whole cost of a new installation in your workshop.

Explore Several Models at a Low Cost

Construction hobbies can involve some serious equipment. Let’s say your hobby is mosaic tiling and you need to cut your own tiles into shapes using a paver saw. Paver saws are a tabletop piece of equipment that needs to be mounted and carefully handled. If you’re not sure what type, size, or brand of paver saw will work best for you, renting can help.

You can rent one paver saw per project and compare or use the lowered cost of renting to try two or three types of paver saw in one project – tested side-by-side. Rather than buying (and possibly having to return) several paver saws to find your favorite, you can find what you like through exploration. By testing saws, or any other type of equipment you like to use, you can find out the size, brand, model, and features that work best for you. Then you’ll buy the perfect saw for your first and final workshop purchase.

Explore Aspects of Your Hobby

Another interesting opportunity with equipment rental is to try different elements of your chosen crafting hobby. Maybe you’d like fine-carving details into the posts of your carpentry projects, or you’d enjoy wood staining more; or neither are your jam and you’d rather buy pre-carved and stained wood to work with.

Rented equipment lets you try out new things without a big investment in the equipment to try them. Maybe you’ll love a new type of project, or maybe it’ll be a one-time challenge. There’s no pressure to dive into everything you try when equipment is rented instead of bought.

Easily Budget New Projects

Don’t have a fully equipped workshop yet? No problem. Most hobbyists take years to build a fully-equipped workshop full of all the gear they need for any chosen project. Budgeting for new equipment can take time and savings, which can put off the projects you use to relax.

However, rented equipment makes it possible to plan projects with a smaller budget and on shorter notice; sometimes any time you have a free weekend. You can far more easily budget a brief equipment rental than the cost of a new piece of equipment every time you want to try something new.

Renting to Buy

Last but not least, hobbyists can even buy equipment from their favorite rental business. Equipment rental teams can order a new piece of equipment to match something you’ve enjoyed working with rented or you might even get a discount on used equipment for filling out your personal workshop on a budget.


Here at Vandalia Rental, we enjoy working with hobbyists and will gladly help you find the best equipment to try for your next project. Let us know the nature of the project, and we’ll talk about everything you might need to get it done. Let us know how the equipment worked with your hobby, and we’ll hone your selection the next time you return. Contact us to start your consultation, we look forward to hearing about your project!