Swim Raft - Build or Buy?

[feb]

I'm wondering what the consensus is regarding building a swim raft versus buying a swim raft. From what I have been quoted, a basic wooden raft with plastic floats costs about $1200. I gotta believe that it can be built for half that but is it really worth it. Can anyone share their experiences either way? Did you build one and find it to be harder than originally thought? Did you buy one and then realized that there really isn't much too them?