What else do you enjoy doing?

[Guy Lavoie]

 larryllix's April fool joke got me thinking: what else do forum members enjoy doing? He mentioned woodworking, and that wasn't entirely surprising. I also participate on a woodworking forum and a few years ago a similar thread got started, and it was amazing how many hobby woodworkers are IT guys! Seems that a craft like woodworking gives a sense of something you can actually feel and touch, contrary to computer programs that mostly exist as a mental exercise in problem solving.

I myself have a pretty complete woodworking shop, with table saw, planer, jointer, etc. I also have a wire feed welder and other metal working tools. I've done electronics. Piano playing is another activity I've done since childhood. If there is anything about my hobbies, it's that I have too many of them!

What else do forum members do?

[larryllix]

I think those two sports are for people that like logical puzzles, and as much as woodworkng seems not too logical to others, the creating of jigs and techniques to accomplish what we want is a real logical problem, and with a nice result we are proud of.

HA, however, is the same type of logical thinking sport, but when you tell lay people, they usually circle their temple with a finger (mentally), while they say "Cool! is that useful" = thinking "it would be easier for me to just walk across the room and turn off the light switch"

After moving out of my large home with my outback shop into a tiny 1300 sq.ft apartment..... I miss it a lot.

(hmmmmm... I wonder if people would complain about sawdust falling from 26 stories up? Strange weather we get here!!)

Edited Wednesday at 02:22 PM by larryllix

[bpwwer]

2 hours ago, larryllix said:

(hmmmmm... I wonder if people would complain about sawdust falling from 26 stories up? Strange weather we get here!!)

My first real furniture project was a 42" round table top to replace the cheap store bought table top that was not looking so great.  The panel was a glue-up of red oak boards and I used a router with a circle jig to cut it out and finish the edge.  I did this when I had a 2nd floor condo unit that was about 1000sf.  Of course I did this when I was single and the spare bedroom was my workspace.  I still have that table today.

[lilyoyo1]

No woodworking here but I do go to the gun range and build my own ARs. I've done a few for friends and family as well. Outside of that, it's the gym and travel. 

[paulbates]

My wife and I take our dogs and camper to state and national parks to hike, kayak and bike. Mostly in Michigan, but we recently got back from a week+ winter relief in South Carolina near Charleston. 

I made plans a while back for this fall to go to the East Coast and Quebec.

[Guy Lavoie]

On 4/2/2025 at 10:21 AM, larryllix said:

I think those two sports are for people that like logical puzzles, and as much as woodworkng seems not too logical to others, the creating of jigs and techniques to accomplish what we want is a real logical problem, and with a nice result we are proud of.

There is certainly some truth to that, because unlike a kit with premade parts, woodworking involves a lot of figuring out a mix of efficiency, precision, and available means to perform a certain task.

Among my bigger projects, making a piano shaped cabinet for a Yamaha P155, and also an oak church pulpit and communion table. I take dozens of pictures as projects progress.

 

[oberkc]

I do a little woodworking (less now than a few years ago).  I enjoy pickleball and golf, riding the bike, and a bit of travel (within CONUS).  I also dabble with some landscaping around the house.

Edited 7 hours ago by oberkc

[oberkc]

11 hours ago, paulbates said:

My wife and I take our dogs and camper to state and national parks to hike, kayak and bike. Mostly in Michigan, but we recently got back from a week+ winter relief in South Carolina near Charleston. 

We do thins backwards.  We go to northern michigan (near cheboygan) in the winter and go to Charleston in the summer when it is 95 degrees and with humidity to match.  We love both places. And I am writing this near canyonlands and arches NP.

wher did you camp near charleston?

Edited 7 hours ago by oberkc

[paulbates]

1 minute ago, oberkc said:

We do thins backwards.  We go to northern michigan (near cheboygan) in the winter and go to Charleston in the summer when it is 95 degrees and with humidity to match.  We love both places.

We love Northern Michigan, the bulk of our camping is up there. A friend of ours is CFO at Cheboygan brewery.

In SC, we stayed in Santee State Park. Temps were high 60s to low 70s... Sunny.. *NO BUGS*.

We liked sc so much in March we already booked our campsites for next year.