Here's my counter point. If you own and care about your cars, this won't be a one time need. And once you get comfortable and see what kind of shine you can put on that paint, you might even be inclined to go to town on the rest of the car. The largest investment is in the polisher, and if you already have an RO150, that's not an issue. As a woodworker, you already have some familiarity with the skills required. Sure, paint is different from wood, but the concept is entirely similar. Reduce the scratch pattern until you can no longer see it. The products used to achieve that have already been outlined, that's the hardest part if you don't know where to start. And the products are sufficiently user friendly that you can achieve pro results. It will just take you more time with repeated passes while you figure out how much is needed to take out a scratch. A pro will immediately grab the right pad and polish for the job and have this cleaned up in 10 minutes with a 2 step polish. A beginner might spend an hour fussing with it, next time it will take 30 minutes, etc. Both will get there. And as you get more practice, you can use rotex mode to speed things up, but not the first time out.
The things I've seen a pro do are remove those scratches that your fingernail does catch on, by heating the clearcoat just enough to fill the scratch. That takes some skill and is not the kind of thing a DIYer should attempt.
If this was one of my coworkers, I would recommend they find a GOOD detailer. They would be starting from zero, no tools, no knowledge, no supplies. Equally, if you take no pleasure in polishing paint or don't care much about your car, sure, pay someone to do it or leave it be.
