Let me tell you about me Gear Fabrication Syndrome

... and then you start wondering about the calibration of the gear you fabricated, so you buy some high-quality parts with NIST traceable calibrations, and make some test equipment using them, and then.... then you go down the metrology rabbit hole.

It's kinda related to bikeshedding, do anything else than pushing features

So, you're not supposed to buy stuff for your hobby nor build stuff for your hobby? I think it depends on how you define "the hobby" - is it really just the part where you use your equipment? I find that too narrow. A good counter example could perhaps be table top wargaming, e.g. Warhammer and the likes. Surely, people who call that their hobby like to play the (various different) games. But a lot of people love building and painting their miniature armies just as much. And some people hate it. So what's the scoop? If you enjoy the building and painting of new minis more than actually playing the game they're made for, you're doing it wrong?

Look, hobbies are for your enjoyment. If buying gear or trying to build it yourself gives you joy, more power to you.

I for one like to buy power tools just as much as the next guy. And often times it's hard to justify falling for a good sales offer when you don't really have a specific need for that tool at that point in time. But on the flip side, there have been quite a few moments where I was tinkinering about with some home improvement projects and a tool I might have bought a long time ago and never really needed since came in handy just at that very moment. And so I was glad I had it. Especially since I don't live very close to the next DIY store. So, yeah, is that a good justification for spending money on power tools? Probably not - but it's what I like, and so I do it.

The acquisition of gear (be it buying or building) is not a means to an end - it is part of the hobby.

> Gear Acquisition Syndrome (GAS). A person’s insatiable urge to buy equipment for their art or hobby, distracting them from actually practicing said art or hobby.

> It’s driven in part by the belief that new gear will improve one’s art or performance, e.g. I don’t sound like Jimi Hendrix because I don’t have the same effects pedal he used.

Bit tangent, but I think one should just embrace it and say “my hobby is collecting guitar gear, and my niche is things that Jimi Hendrix used or things that make sounds like he did”

There’s no shame in a hobby collecting and being honest with yourself might bring some clarity to your life.