Time, Money, Work and Hobby

[Bonden]

Just received in my email another issue of "The Hobby-Machinist's Shop Notes‏". The member's projects are very inspiring and a great reminder of what I can start learning to do after I get this other work caught up in another month or two and can actually spend evenings at home, in the garage-shop!

Meanwhile, my Atlas 618, SBL Heavy 10 and drill press get a quick brush-coat of rust-preventing machine oil when I go out there late at night every 10 days or so and tweedle the cross slide crank or traverse the carriage just to feel it move.

I've never even run the Heavy 10, but am about to order the VFD for it.

While I'm very grateful for the Liberty that allows my opportunity to work and prosper, am also really looking forward to more balance between trying to make work pay and having some hobby machine time.

Kind regards to all who inspire and share here.

 

[Terrywerm]

Bondon, you've discovered for yourself the same quandary that plagues most of us. As hobbies go, this is not a terribly expensive one, but it is not cheap either. Even once a person is fully tooled up it still costs money for materials. I afford my hobby by the fact that I quit smoking several years ago. My wife and I had a deal: Once I quit smoking, the money that would have been used for cigarettes can now be used for my hobby. Guess what? With the cost of cigarettes now, I save enough to not only support my hobby, but pay for a nice little vacation for the two of us each year as well. Granted, I don't go out and purchase new machines and accessories, which does save quite a bit of money as well.

The next thing is time. When one must still work for a living, time for our hobby can be hard to come by. I'm not saying that the retired guys have it made, not by any means. Many of them have other demands on their time that we younger fellas don't always think about. I work 50 to 60 hours per week, and am often out of town over night, which really cuts into my free time. I spend evenings on the road reading various hobby related books, or spend some time here in the forum when I have Internet access. Those of us that are moderators here also have time lost in going through the forums. I can sometimes get active in enough threads that I hardly leave the keyboard for the better part of an evening! But, I consider my time spent here in H-M as part of my hobby, the part that I share with others.

I often find that I must make time for working in the shop, although it is quite easy when my granddaughter is here. She loves to make 'parts' and is thrilled when she can help papa with a project. Sometimes we get into the shop for just a few minutes, sometimes we can spend most of a Saturday there. It varies, but it is always good. Projects?? No problem finding things to make or machine. Little things come up all the time.

Hang in there and don't lose sight of your goals! Before you know it you'll be making chips just for practice, and then will start making specific parts and projects. Once you get there you will look back at the road down which you've come and you will be quite satisfied with yourself!

 

[itsme_Bernie]

Put a 60 watt bulb under each machine tarp- big difference in the resistance to rust!

I also went from Atlas 618 to Heavy 10 hah hah. Many people keep both, and I tried to, but I ended up on,y using the 10L, and sold the Atlas for space and $$$ for to ther machines

Bernie

 

[Rapscallion]

Bondon, I hear you.
I'm a machinist by trade and doing it as a job is nothing like doing it for a hobby. Many of those who machine for a living today become so caught up in the corporate economic rat-race under pressure from corporate fat-cats that they start to wonder if they really are passionate about what they do.
Rushed and compelled machining is like eating without chewing. No time to appreciate and enjoy the taste and texture. And heaven forbid you should spit it out if you don't like it.

I realize that you may not be a machinist for a living but, whatever it is I'm sure you feel the same way that I felt a few years ago. 6 days for working and only 1 left for living.

A while back I redefined for myself what I believed to be the privilege of Liberty.

I look forward to seeing more of you on the forum in a couple of months (or even longer, I know how it goes) when you find that oh-so-precious commodity of time.