NOTE: If admins want to allow edits at any given time, enable the following setting:
post edit time limit
Set it to 0 to make editing available forever.
4 Likes
@Sender thank you so much for writing this. This was much much needed. Personally I started getting into diy for wanting a powerful machine and thinking I could do it cheap. Ended up spending an arm and a leg. If I had read this article last year , I would have just paid @Psychotiller or you to do my complete build. Now I have all these tools and shit lying around that I donāt even need.
2 Likes
Amen to this post.
On a side note DIY has become way more accessible to newcomers even if they just thrive for a wild ride! And yea, donāt underestimate how long it takes to get ready to ride.
2 Likes
Sell them my dude! Thereās those here that probs do need them!
1 Like
Good post.
I feel like there are enough vendor products out there now that anyone with descent amount of research can buy everything and fit them together like legos. If you do your research, you shouldnāt need anything more than a drill and soldering iron to build a complete DIY to your liking.
Now if you wanna start building custom enclosures, decks or drive trains, thats a whole different story.
1 Like
and a spot-welder
3 Likes
Is DIY ESK8 right for you?
Is it your first board? No
Else = Yes.
4 Likes
I am assuming you would buy a battery from a vendor here 
For a one-off battery, IMO better to buy it premade. if you see yourself building a few, the spot welder will pay for itself rather quickly.
2 Likes
Yes and noā¦
prebuilt batteries donāt always fit in the enclosure on the deck you may want to build. and shipping can be interesting. Guess it all depends
3 Likes
And one good story for sure 
1 Like
It is the most dangerous part of the build as well. Even with a good base of research and knowledge you can get yourself in trouble pretty quick.
To most folks I would recommend getting one made by one of the pros: @psychotiller, @thisguyhere, or @barajabali.
But it is funny how quickly the spotwelder pays for itself if you keep building.
If my spot welder only lasted me my first battery, it saved me money. But not when you add up all the other little things I had to buy as well.
But a lot of people already have a lot of these tools and equipment and come from a other DIY background.
It is all so case by case, but hopefully this gets people to really think about which is worth it for them, DIY, prebuilt, or custom.
5 Likes
Can I make a suggestion to add a āopportunity costā section to the wiki? It takes a shit ton of reading and time looking for parts which could have been spent working on whatever your actual dayjob/business is.
If someone truly enjoys tinkering/electronics and finds it a bit of escapism, then go ahead and DIY it but if they are more of a rider and have more money then time, it makes zero sense to DIY it and far better to commission a board.
2 Likes
I just do all my esk8 research at my day job lmao.
9 Likes
Now think of all the promotions you missed out on 
2 Likes
When I can put the solderless modules out Iāll ask for a āfuck spot weldersā sticker haha 
4 Likes
@sender thanks for this awesome post, I start my research in December, was going to buy a prebuild, then found that non of the vendors send to my country, then find this forum and start the DIY research, and 4 months later I have almost every part I need, most of them from BKB, a unity awaiting to be send(2nd batch)and after that arrive Iāll buy a battery, and hope itās not the only board Iāll DIY, but as you say, there are a lot of info, and search itās the way, but regulars are awesome help too, when you donāt find what youāre looking for. Thanks for your time and effort
1 Like
As @Saturn_Corp said, I do the same, most of my day itās spend at work, and in the 4 hours I need to go from home to office and viceversa, and do almost nothing if everything goes right
2 Likes
Needed to be pushed back to the top for new folks!
1 Like
This is semi old since the last post butā¦ @Sender you forgot to add the part about the people who do the research and look for the new stuff and then once everything is purchased they send it to a builderā¦ ah thats just @anon64938381 ā¦ also my future plan lolā¦
2 Likes
Ouch 
Yeah I have like, a zero for tool based dexterity. Iāve had two diy boards now and Iām ready for a more concrete / permanent solution 
4 Likes