[bsder]

See if you can find a local hackerspace.

While conventional tools are nice and necessary, having access to a gantry CNC machine for cutting wood is a HUGE thing.

A CNC makes many projects a single step. Anything having to do with cutting plywood to non-rectangular shape or stencils or carving letters or ... yeah, do it on the CNC.

And, even if the project isn't a single step, a CNC can compress a bunch of steps and make the project way easier. And even the canonical "cutting board" may require the CNC for a flattening pass (edge grain through a planer has issues).