Hobbies?

[TDDA]

The overlock machine I use for visible seams has 4 threads :D.

The other machine, I can determine the stitch patterns freely. It works like a normal one, threading, moving the cloth just the stitches can be programmed with the computer like I want them. Like stitching ....FCD....FCD....FCD....FCD.... instead of .........................................


For leather I have an old foot pedal driven Singer from like 1920s. But for thick leather I think you need complete different ones or sew by hand. I have done leather cuffs but driving the needle through 3mm split-leather is maximum and risky. Not sure what leather you want to stich but I guess it's for what you do on your farm, so, heavy duty I guess?

Yeah, the leather stuff probably would be ranch / livestock related.  I've done a tiny bit of hand sewn stuff on things like knife scabbards and a crappy pistol holster I built.  I actually drilled that stuff on my drillpress, and then stitched it with rawhide lacing.  That's pretty crude though.  I'd like to make some nicer stuff.

As for the cloth, I'd like to get good enough to do some things like some of the heavy Cordura weatherproof fabrics.  I bought this Singer (forget the model) and it does all kinds of stuff, including heavy fabric, but for some reason I just cannot keep this thing threaded properly.  It's always something jammin' up or breaking on me.  Eyesight is not the issue for me, it just seems to be a littany of other things.  I get frustrated and quit...and go back to my pencils!  LOL!

Yes drill press. I use metal HHS-G drills for that, I done the big cuff inserts with it too. A few years ago when I did not have the old Singer, I did it like you, drilling and then use a thread needle and pliers and did it by hand. Metal finger caps is a must for that. Of course there are special leather needles for just that, but I went with what I had. 

I did not handle Cordura yet, but if it's similar to heavy duty jeans, forget the normal needles and a standard sewing machine will have a hard time too. Don't forget it's also about transporting the material away from the needle. If that does not work, you're setup for failure / bad results.

With such old sewing machines like the Singer, it's all about the flow. I guess you talk about pedal powered? It takes a while to get into it. Best technique is to putt the whole foot on the pedal and never touch ground with the foot. Press down and let it come up alone by only lifting the foot. Some allow you to bring it up with the foot, by design or accident. They really do not like turning backwards, the threads get tangled up, runs out of the thread guards and so on.

Lol I think we had this exact conversation a while ago, it feels so familiar.

[argentus]

You might have given up on the guitar too easily;  just because you got complaints, you can just turn the dang thing down, mang.  You know?   Guitar has been one of my best friends for more than 50 years.   Got me through a lot of heavy shit, but also some really fun times.   Played in several bands that nobody has ever heard of.   Stayed up all night and got wasted.   I am now reaping the bodily rewards of my fantastic youth.    I still have a 500 watt Peavey amp, just in case I need it as an offensive weapon.   Best things that ever happened to me:   When I was in high school, the tips of my fingers were shredded by a jointer in wood shop.   150 stitches.   The beloved bird finger was spared,  a blessing from above.  It made me work my ass off on the guitar, and caused me to rise far above the plateau I'd set myself upon.   The other thing was that I took classical guitar lessons from a guy that studied under Christopher Parkening, who studied under Segovia.   That just vaulted all my rock playing.   So now I make noise and collect guitars.  It's one of the best things you can do for yourself.   

Other hobbies:   Tai Chi, construction, gardening, I love to cook and do all the cooking for my family.   Not sure that is a hobby as much as a lifestyle.   I collect fossils and minerals.   I love theoretical physics, but that's probably more a mental disease than a hobby.   

I enjoy fabricating hand weapons, and I dabble with alternative energies.   I make coconut oil.

[ABNARTY]

Everyone has "adult" hobbies.  I do as well, as far as gardening, crochet, canning, learning how to do new things, like make soap, sew and stuff, but I get bored once I've learned and go back to one thing.

I Love Lego's.
LOL
Yep, I'm and old lady, with her own lego room.  I'm not anywhere near as good as the people on Lego Masters, but I like to build the big sets, geared more towards adults.  And I like to free build too, like campgrounds full of campers, although one fellow did get attacked by a bear.  (Also love horror movies, so sometimes that comes out!)

Nothing to be ashamed of. I have buckets of LEGO's. Some of the blocks I have had over 40 years. A great pastime.

[FlyingClayDisk]

Yes drill press. I use metal HHS-G drills for that, I done the big cuff inserts with it too. A few years ago when I did not have the old Singer, I did it like you, drilling and then use a thread needle and pliers and did it by hand. Metal finger caps is a must for that. Of course there are special leather needles for just that, but I went with what I had. 

I did not handle Cordura yet, but if it's similar to heavy duty jeans, forget the normal needles and a standard sewing machine will have a hard time too. Don't forget it's also about transporting the material away from the needle. If that does not work, you're setup for failure / bad results.

With such old sewing machines like the Singer, it's all about the flow. I guess you talk about pedal powered? It takes a while to get into it. Best technique is to putt the whole foot on the pedal and never touch ground with the foot. Press down and let it come up alone by only lifting the foot. Some allow you to bring it up with the foot, by design or accident. They really do not like turning backwards, the threads get tangled up, runs out of the thread guards and so on.

Lol I think we had this exact conversation a while ago, it feels so familiar.

Cordura is the heavy nylon fabric that they make backpacks out of (or used to anyway, now a lot of them are made with much cheaper and thinner material).  It comes in different grades which equate to the thickness, and they also have grades which are treated with waterproofing coating to weatherproof it even further than it already is

[TDDA]

Yes drill press. I use metal HHS-G drills for that, I done the big cuff inserts with it too. A few years ago when I did not have the old Singer, I did it like you, drilling and then use a thread needle and pliers and did it by hand. Metal finger caps is a must for that. Of course there are special leather needles for just that, but I went with what I had. 

I did not handle Cordura yet, but if it's similar to heavy duty jeans, forget the normal needles and a standard sewing machine will have a hard time too. Don't forget it's also about transporting the material away from the needle. If that does not work, you're setup for failure / bad results.

With such old sewing machines like the Singer, it's all about the flow. I guess you talk about pedal powered? It takes a while to get into it. Best technique is to putt the whole foot on the pedal and never touch ground with the foot. Press down and let it come up alone by only lifting the foot. Some allow you to bring it up with the foot, by design or accident. They really do not like turning backwards, the threads get tangled up, runs out of the thread guards and so on.

Lol I think we had this exact conversation a while ago, it feels so familiar.

Cordura is the heavy nylon fabric that they make backpacks out of (or used to anyway, now a lot of them are made with much cheaper and thinner material).  It comes in different grades which equate to the thickness, and they also have grades which are treated with waterproofing coating to weatherproof it even further than it already is

Two things here, one I think jeans is more sturdy after your description, second I can imagine you need a special needle for Cordura. If so, leather needles might be what you want. Two flies with one stroke, too.

I have sewed nylon windbreaker cloth from old 80s neon nylon windbreakers (from Canada) and the biggest hurdle was that the needle would drag it down into the enclosure where the 2nd thread runs in. Lot's of stretching helped but I guess it won't be a problem with the more sturdy cordura.

[vonclod]

Yeah, some are going away, but they are being replaced by others.  Technology now is such that there are tubes now with the same pin outs and voltages which will accomplish the same thing, just a different manufacturer.  I'd be really surprised if tubes for Marshall will ever be unavailable, there's way too much demand.  Now, some other obscure off-brand stuff from long ago might not be able to get tubes, but again, it's a demand issue.

Yep. Tube production has been and will continue to be a problem. More so now due to Russia's response to the sanctions.

Rhett Schull posted a vid about tube production recently. Guitars, and music in general, is a hobby of mine too. I went nuts last year and picked up an AxeFX III and I really don't think about amps any more. The AFX overkill for me, but I hope to put it to good use very soon. I'm trying find (and balance) time to work on two new musical projects.

Ah...GREAT point!!!  I wasn't thinking about the sanctions issue!  You are right, my friend!! 

Wow...totally forgot about that little problem!

One of the better Chinese makers shut down in 2019, to move, or rebuild, then..covid, so, not even sure if they are fully up and running yet. Then you have the Russia deal, lots of panicked tube buyers.

Some good-ish news, it seems there is a reprieve, but at a cost, 35% tariff, something like that..of course.

[fishertail]

Very nice!  I'll post up some pics of some of my pencils a bit later when I get to my other computer.  I used to have one of the Kerry's, but I haven't seen it in a while.  Lately I've been picking up some of the Koh-I-noor's (Super Pro Mecha) which was just discontinued, so I got in before the prices shot up to $110 bucks, and some of the new Zebras (the 'Tect 2way and the DelGuard).  The 'Tect 2way' is a hell of a pencil!  I used to have some of the F series Zebras but they weren't my favorite (too short).

I don't see one of the ubiquitous Pentel 20x series pencil anywhere in there! <GASP!!>  Everyone's GOTTA' have one of those!  Better get one quick though, because the legend has been discontinued in Japan, and the only ones left in North America are the Special Edition colors.  The prices are still inexpensive, but the Pentel P-205 certainly, and the P-207 are gotta' have's.  The P-203 is cool, but it's a recent edition to the 20x line.  The P-200 Series has now been replaced with the GraphGear 500 Series, which is a great pencil in its own right, but it's not the "Original" mechanical pencil we all know and love, the legend...the P-205!!   Start looking for one tomorrow...wherever you shop!  Seriously!  You will be absolutely kicking yourself when that $6 dollar pencil is selling for $250 bucks!! 

You can thank me later!

I just looked through my entire pen and pencil museum and I did not find any of the P20x pencils! I'll go acquire one asap. I could have sworn I had one or two of them around but "people" have a tendency to "borrow" them unless they are kept somewhere special.

I looked up the Text 2way man I've never seen one in person before as far as I can remember, they look like something from a sci-fi movie, very cool. Speaking of that, have you ever heard of The Atomic Pen?

In 1958, Parker had the bright idea to use a little bit of radioactive material in a pen to change the line widths, probably at the touch of a button. If you've seen Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, you've seen one of the few prototypes of the Atomic Pen (made as a ballpoint sans the radioactive material). It was seen in the Pan-Am Orion shuttle floating around in microgravity while Floyd took a snooze. Here's an article and a picture of it: https://spectrum.ieee.org/a-radioactive-...ocket-sure
No production units were ever made. What a cool looking pen though, too bad they didn't put them into production as non-radioactive ball points.

[DesertBorn]

Fun thread!  

Im retired, but am now a fine arts major back at college.  I took a ceramics class and loved it but was terrible on the wheel.   The day I bought my own pottery wheel was the first day of the lockdown for the plandemic.  No brag, but Im proud to say I now sell my work as a studio potter in a busy gallery.  I hope to get back to school next fall.   Here is a little chocolate, blueberry creme teapot, for a sample. 

Holy Cow!!  We've got some talented people here for sure!!  That's beautiful!  Mom used to do pottery, and she got pretty good at it, but never had her own pottery wheel.  She mainly took classes at the Community College and made friends from there.

Do you have your own kiln too??

I have a small annealing kiln, for glass beads.  Im also into lampworking.  I have a torch and I melt a bit of glass now and then.  But my pottery is fired at the studio, we have 3 commercial outdoor kilns.  

I love collecting tools.  I have a ton of gadgets for doing things to glass or clay.  And the alchemy in both art forms fascinates me. 

I love your pencil collection.  I have alot of drawing tools as well, having taken so many art classes.

[DesertBorn]

Fun thread!  

Im retired, but am now a fine arts major back at college.  I took a ceramics class and loved it but was terrible on the wheel.   The day I bought my own pottery wheel was the first day of the lockdown for the plandemic.  No brag, but Im proud to say I now sell my work as a studio potter in a busy gallery.  I hope to get back to school next fall.   Here is a little chocolate, blueberry creme teapot, for a sample. 

I really like the colors! Good to hear you are in school for creative aspirations. I hope to have a few dollars left after paying for the kid's tuition so I can do the same

Thank you so much!  

Im in community college so its not very expensive.  When I was slaving for many years in a cubicle, and paying for my kids education, I dreamed of going back to school for something I dont have to make a living doing!  Our credits transfer to the 4 year, so may transfer later.  

I love being retired now, but mad as hell the plandemic happened right in the middle of my fun and games.

[DesertBorn]

Very nice!  I'll post up some pics of some of my pencils a bit later when I get to my other computer.  I used to have one of the Kerry's, but I haven't seen it in a while.  Lately I've been picking up some of the Koh-I-noor's (Super Pro Mecha) which was just discontinued, so I got in before the prices shot up to $110 bucks, and some of the new Zebras (the 'Tect 2way and the DelGuard).  The 'Tect 2way' is a hell of a pencil!  I used to have some of the F series Zebras but they weren't my favorite (too short).

I don't see one of the ubiquitous Pentel 20x series pencil anywhere in there! <GASP!!>  Everyone's GOTTA' have one of those!  Better get one quick though, because the legend has been discontinued in Japan, and the only ones left in North America are the Special Edition colors.  The prices are still inexpensive, but the Pentel P-205 certainly, and the P-207 are gotta' have's.  The P-203 is cool, but it's a recent edition to the 20x line.  The P-200 Series has now been replaced with the GraphGear 500 Series, which is a great pencil in its own right, but it's not the "Original" mechanical pencil we all know and love, the legend...the P-205!!   Start looking for one tomorrow...wherever you shop!  Seriously!  You will be absolutely kicking yourself when that $6 dollar pencil is selling for $250 bucks!! 

You can thank me later!

I just looked through my entire pen and pencil museum and I did not find any of the P20x pencils! I'll go acquire one asap. I could have sworn I had one or two of them around but "people" have a tendency to "borrow" them unless they are kept somewhere special.

I looked up the Text 2way man I've never seen one in person before as far as I can remember, they look like something from a sci-fi movie, very cool. Speaking of that, have you ever heard of The Atomic Pen?

In 1958, Parker had the bright idea to use a little bit of radioactive material in a pen to change the line widths, probably at the touch of a button. If you've seen Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, you've seen one of the few prototypes of the Atomic Pen (made as a ballpoint sans the radioactive material). It was seen in the Pan-Am Orion shuttle floating around in microgravity while Floyd took a snooze. Here's an article and a picture of it: https://spectrum.ieee.org/a-radioactive-...ocket-sure
No production units were ever made. What a cool looking pen though, too bad they didn't put them into production as non-radioactive ball points.

Made me think of Dr. Who’s screwdriver thingee!

[DesertBorn]

Everyone has "adult" hobbies.  I do as well, as far as gardening, crochet, canning, learning how to do new things, like make soap, sew and stuff, but I get bored once I've learned and go back to one thing.

I Love Lego's.
LOL
Yep, I'm and old lady, with her own lego room.  I'm not anywhere near as good as the people on Lego Masters, but I like to build the big sets, geared more towards adults.  And I like to free build too, like campgrounds full of campers, although one fellow did get attacked by a bear.  (Also love horror movies, so sometimes that comes out!)

I have a huge collection of family legos that started with my son, added to with my daughter, and filled out by two grandsons.  They are both teens now and not into building much anymore.  Ive been wondering what to do now with the collection.  Some may be quite rare now.  

Have you been to Legoland?  It was an enjoyable day when I took the grands a decade ago.  But the UV light fades the bricks.  Not good to keep creations outdoors.   We did a fun robotics workshop while there.  The boys loved that.  Two damn fine geeks, and they came by it honestly.

[Tarzan the apeman.]

Learning CNC. Also how to post images. Anyway, I am finding this relaxing and entertaining at the same time. I did this last Saturday and plan on trying a couple more this coming weekend.

[CelticBanshee3]

During the whole PLAN-demic, the lockdowns and the oppression of, well, our freedom in general, I decided there was only so much news I could take before I was saturated to the point of insanity.  So, I decided to take up a hobby.  I decided I was going to learn how to play the guitar.  You see, I had the same notion about 40 years ago when I was in college...I was going to be the next Eddie Van Halen, I was!  Well, that didn't work out back then, I sucked at playing the guitar.  BUT...I'd kept that old Peavy electric guitar I'd bought, and it bounced around with me when I moved about fifty times with my career.  During the lock-downs and the Martial Law like oppression which followed to protect us from...well...I have no idea what the fuck we were being protected from, other than being shielded from seeing what was really going on with our government's death spiral.  We were required to put masks on our face, and THEY put masks over our eyes, but I digress.

During the WU-cold, I decided to play the guitar.  I dug out that old Peavy electric guitar and started learnin myself some guitar.  This went on for a couple of weeks until I received a Certified letter in the mail one day.  It was a Cease & Desist Order, from an attorney...on behalf of my dogs!  Did I mention that I really SUCK at playing the guitar??  So, my plan of learning to play the guitar was pretty much a bust.

Then I started another hobby.  I used to love doing woodwork, but my wife turned that hobby into a bunch of work, so screw that.  And there were many others, just like that.  So anyway, I had this new hobby.  Only problem was, I didn't know I had a new hobby.  I just thought I was doing my usual thing of sitting on my ass while I'm waiting for hip replacement surgery (which really sucks by the way).  But I was getting more and more involved in this hobby I had no idea I even I had.  This last part is actually true, believe it or not.

I woke up one day, and someone emailed me to ask me about...a pencil, of all things.  My brain was on autopilot (it may have been the pain meds, I dunno), and before I knew it I had written this person 4-5 paragraphs of some wickedly detailed information on...pencils.  "My Gawd!", I said to myself,..."I collect pencils now...as a hobby!".

It's true, I am a fairly avid pencil collector.  Now, as an Engineer approaching retirement, and an old school Technical Draftsman from back in the day when they used to do such things, I'd always had a keen interest in all manner of writing instruments (i.e. Pencils, Pens and anything else which will write).  I have a really interesting pen collection (fountain pens mostly), but pencils are what I'm really focused on.  Did you know there's a whole world out there of pencil collectors??  I didn't, but I do now.

I go through phases in my pencil collecting, but if it's a pencil, I collect it.  I collect wooden pencils.  I collect mechanical pencils.  I'm currently in a mechanical pencil collecting phase, primarily because I currently have more wooden pencils than 50 of me could ever use in five lifetimes.  My wife doesn't even bother asking anymore what UPS delivered today. 

Now let me tell you, collecting pencils is a spectacularly exciting hobby!  I mean, I'm sure most people think the only thing more exciting than collecting pencils is probably collecting stamps (I have one of those collections too, but it was willed to me).  That, and watching grass grow and paint dry, but by golly, I collect pencils.  And, I'm damn good at it too, dammit!

So, I felt it was critically important to share this information with everyone here.  I have no idea why!  I guess it's because I'm a dork, a dork with a cowboy hat, and I didn't already have enough to do with raising cattle on our ranch and working full time in aviation engineering, so I needed a hobby!

I collect pencils.

P.S. - If anyone ever has a question about a pencil, or pencils in general, please feel free to ask.  I will do my best to answer your questions, hopefully not boring you into a catatonic state in the process, and tell you about this spellbinding hobby I have.

That is all.

I do love a good writing pencil and pen. I have a big collection, don't know why. My husband and former co-workers said I had a sickness.   I do have quite a few of the Pentel mechanical pencils and my current favorite ink pen is the Pentel Energel 0.7. Have them in every color they make. Retired now but use to work at my County Courthouse in Deeds and Records, had to have a variety of pens, pencils, highlighters, and sticky notes. Love me some sticky notes, too.

[CelticBanshee3]

Fun thread!  

Im retired, but am now a fine arts major back at college.  I took a ceramics class and loved it but was terrible on the wheel.   The day I bought my own pottery wheel was the first day of the lockdown for the plandemic.  No brag, but Im proud to say I now sell my work as a studio potter in a busy gallery.  I hope to get back to school next fall.   Here is a little chocolate, blueberry creme teapot, for a sample. 

Very nice!

[CelticBanshee3]

During the whole PLAN-demic, the lockdowns and the oppression of, well, our freedom in general, I decided there was only so much news I could take before I was saturated to the point of insanity.  So, I decided to take up a hobby.  I decided I was going to learn how to play the guitar.  You see, I had the same notion about 40 years ago when I was in college...I was going to be the next Eddie Van Halen, I was!  Well, that didn't work out back then, I sucked at playing the guitar.  BUT...I'd kept that old Peavy electric guitar I'd bought, and it bounced around with me when I moved about fifty times with my career.  During the lock-downs and the Martial Law like oppression which followed to protect us from...well...I have no idea what the fuck we were being protected from, other than being shielded from seeing what was really going on with our government's death spiral.  We were required to put masks on our face, and THEY put masks over our eyes, but I digress.

During the WU-cold, I decided to play the guitar.  I dug out that old Peavy electric guitar and started learnin myself some guitar.  This went on for a couple of weeks until I received a Certified letter in the mail one day.  It was a Cease & Desist Order, from an attorney...on behalf of my dogs!  Did I mention that I really SUCK at playing the guitar??  So, my plan of learning to play the guitar was pretty much a bust.

Then I started another hobby.  I used to love doing woodwork, but my wife turned that hobby into a bunch of work, so screw that.  And there were many others, just like that.  So anyway, I had this new hobby.  Only problem was, I didn't know I had a new hobby.  I just thought I was doing my usual thing of sitting on my ass while I'm waiting for hip replacement surgery (which really sucks by the way).  But I was getting more and more involved in this hobby I had no idea I even I had.  This last part is actually true, believe it or not.

I woke up one day, and someone emailed me to ask me about...a pencil, of all things.  My brain was on autopilot (it may have been the pain meds, I dunno), and before I knew it I had written this person 4-5 paragraphs of some wickedly detailed information on...pencils.  "My Gawd!", I said to myself,..."I collect pencils now...as a hobby!".

It's true, I am a fairly avid pencil collector.  Now, as an Engineer approaching retirement, and an old school Technical Draftsman from back in the day when they used to do such things, I'd always had a keen interest in all manner of writing instruments (i.e. Pencils, Pens and anything else which will write).  I have a really interesting pen collection (fountain pens mostly), but pencils are what I'm really focused on.  Did you know there's a whole world out there of pencil collectors??  I didn't, but I do now.

I go through phases in my pencil collecting, but if it's a pencil, I collect it.  I collect wooden pencils.  I collect mechanical pencils.  I'm currently in a mechanical pencil collecting phase, primarily because I currently have more wooden pencils than 50 of me could ever use in five lifetimes.  My wife doesn't even bother asking anymore what UPS delivered today. 

Now let me tell you, collecting pencils is a spectacularly exciting hobby!  I mean, I'm sure most people think the only thing more exciting than collecting pencils is probably collecting stamps (I have one of those collections too, but it was willed to me).  That, and watching grass grow and paint dry, but by golly, I collect pencils.  And, I'm damn good at it too, dammit!

So, I felt it was critically important to share this information with everyone here.  I have no idea why!  I guess it's because I'm a dork, a dork with a cowboy hat, and I didn't already have enough to do with raising cattle on our ranch and working full time in aviation engineering, so I needed a hobby!

I collect pencils.

P.S. - If anyone ever has a question about a pencil, or pencils in general, please feel free to ask.  I will do my best to answer your questions, hopefully not boring you into a catatonic state in the process, and tell you about this spellbinding hobby I have.

That is all.

I do love a good writing pencil and pen. I have a big collection, don't know why. My husband and former co-workers said I had a sickness.   I do have quite a few of the Pentel mechanical pencils and my current favorite ink pen is the Pentel Energel 0.7. Have them in every color they make. Retired now but use to work at my County Courthouse in Deeds and Records, had to have a variety of pens, pencils, highlighters, and sticky notes. Love me some sticky notes, too.

Just to add, my hobby, or what I love to do the most, is Genealogy. I have very a large family on my Mom and Dad's side. I enjoy the puzzle of finding who is related to who, the history, the good, the bad, and the ugly.

[DesertBorn]

During the whole PLAN-demic, the lockdowns and the oppression of, well, our freedom in general, I decided there was only so much news I could take before I was saturated to the point of insanity.  So, I decided to take up a hobby.  I decided I was going to learn how to play the guitar.  You see, I had the same notion about 40 years ago when I was in college...I was going to be the next Eddie Van Halen, I was!  Well, that didn't work out back then, I sucked at playing the guitar.  BUT...I'd kept that old Peavy electric guitar I'd bought, and it bounced around with me when I moved about fifty times with my career.  During the lock-downs and the Martial Law like oppression which followed to protect us from...well...I have no idea what the fuck we were being protected from, other than being shielded from seeing what was really going on with our government's death spiral.  We were required to put masks on our face, and THEY put masks over our eyes, but I digress.

During the WU-cold, I decided to play the guitar.  I dug out that old Peavy electric guitar and started learnin myself some guitar.  This went on for a couple of weeks until I received a Certified letter in the mail one day.  It was a Cease & Desist Order, from an attorney...on behalf of my dogs!  Did I mention that I really SUCK at playing the guitar??  So, my plan of learning to play the guitar was pretty much a bust.

Then I started another hobby.  I used to love doing woodwork, but my wife turned that hobby into a bunch of work, so screw that.  And there were many others, just like that.  So anyway, I had this new hobby.  Only problem was, I didn't know I had a new hobby.  I just thought I was doing my usual thing of sitting on my ass while I'm waiting for hip replacement surgery (which really sucks by the way).  But I was getting more and more involved in this hobby I had no idea I even I had.  This last part is actually true, believe it or not.

I woke up one day, and someone emailed me to ask me about...a pencil, of all things.  My brain was on autopilot (it may have been the pain meds, I dunno), and before I knew it I had written this person 4-5 paragraphs of some wickedly detailed information on...pencils.  "My Gawd!", I said to myself,..."I collect pencils now...as a hobby!".

It's true, I am a fairly avid pencil collector.  Now, as an Engineer approaching retirement, and an old school Technical Draftsman from back in the day when they used to do such things, I'd always had a keen interest in all manner of writing instruments (i.e. Pencils, Pens and anything else which will write).  I have a really interesting pen collection (fountain pens mostly), but pencils are what I'm really focused on.  Did you know there's a whole world out there of pencil collectors??  I didn't, but I do now.

I go through phases in my pencil collecting, but if it's a pencil, I collect it.  I collect wooden pencils.  I collect mechanical pencils.  I'm currently in a mechanical pencil collecting phase, primarily because I currently have more wooden pencils than 50 of me could ever use in five lifetimes.  My wife doesn't even bother asking anymore what UPS delivered today. 

Now let me tell you, collecting pencils is a spectacularly exciting hobby!  I mean, I'm sure most people think the only thing more exciting than collecting pencils is probably collecting stamps (I have one of those collections too, but it was willed to me).  That, and watching grass grow and paint dry, but by golly, I collect pencils.  And, I'm damn good at it too, dammit!

So, I felt it was critically important to share this information with everyone here.  I have no idea why!  I guess it's because I'm a dork, a dork with a cowboy hat, and I didn't already have enough to do with raising cattle on our ranch and working full time in aviation engineering, so I needed a hobby!

I collect pencils.

P.S. - If anyone ever has a question about a pencil, or pencils in general, please feel free to ask.  I will do my best to answer your questions, hopefully not boring you into a catatonic state in the process, and tell you about this spellbinding hobby I have.

That is all.

I do love a good writing pencil and pen. I have a big collection, don't know why. My husband and former co-workers said I had a sickness.   I do have quite a few of the Pentel mechanical pencils and my current favorite ink pen is the Pentel Energel 0.7. Have them in every color they make. Retired now but use to work at my County Courthouse in Deeds and Records, had to have a variety of pens, pencils, highlighters, and sticky notes. Love me some sticky notes, too.

Just to add, my hobby, or what I love to do the most, is Genealogy. I have very a large family on my Mom and Dad's side. I enjoy the puzzle of finding who is related to who, the history, the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Ive been thinking of doing some research into my ancestral tree.  Which is your fav site to get started?   My daughter took a blood sample from ancestry.com and it didnt seem right, as it didnt line up with family lore on either side!

[FlyingClayDisk]

Ive been thinking of doing some research into my ancestral tree.  Which is your fav site to get started?   My daughter took a blood sample from ancestry.com and it didnt seem right, as it didnt line up with family lore on either side!

That's because those places most likely don't have as much to do with genealogy as they do with collecting and cataloguing people's DNA.  Just read the disclaimers, they specifically exclude selling your DNA data from their privacy statements.  They throw in words like "for official purposes", "and/or related business ventures", "partners and related business entities" into their exclusions...which all translates into -->BIG BROTHER (at least IMHO).

Now, we could get all worked up about this (and some do), but the unfortunate reality is if you've ever been to the hospital or your doctor's office to have blood drawn, if you've carefully read the HIPPA and Privacy statements, they make the same exclusions.  So, in some respects it may be a moot point, but still it's just the principle with me; I'll be damned to "pay" for someone to spy on me, and you just know they're getting funding from the fed to share data!

Just a crazy 'CT' thought.  :-)

[FlyingClayDisk]

I do love a good writing pencil and pen. I have a big collection, don't know why. My husband and former co-workers said I had a sickness.   I do have quite a few of the Pentel mechanical pencils and my current favorite ink pen is the Pentel Energel 0.7. Have them in every color they make. Retired now but use to work at my County Courthouse in Deeds and Records, had to have a variety of pens, pencils, highlighters, and sticky notes. Love me some sticky notes, too.

Well see?  There's a perfect hobby for both some nice pencils and pens as well as a whole bevy of sticky notes!  Just killed (3) birds with one stone, and you have a perfect excuse to get a couple nice pencils / pens to keep track of everything.

[DesertBorn]

Learning CNC. Also how to post images. Anyway, I am finding this relaxing and entertaining at the same time. I did this last Saturday and plan on trying a couple more this coming weekend.

Very cool!   Good antlers!

[CelticBanshee3]

During the whole PLAN-demic, the lockdowns and the oppression of, well, our freedom in general, I decided there was only so much news I could take before I was saturated to the point of insanity.  So, I decided to take up a hobby.  I decided I was going to learn how to play the guitar.  You see, I had the same notion about 40 years ago when I was in college...I was going to be the next Eddie Van Halen, I was!  Well, that didn't work out back then, I sucked at playing the guitar.  BUT...I'd kept that old Peavy electric guitar I'd bought, and it bounced around with me when I moved about fifty times with my career.  During the lock-downs and the Martial Law like oppression which followed to protect us from...well...I have no idea what the fuck we were being protected from, other than being shielded from seeing what was really going on with our government's death spiral.  We were required to put masks on our face, and THEY put masks over our eyes, but I digress.

During the WU-cold, I decided to play the guitar.  I dug out that old Peavy electric guitar and started learnin myself some guitar.  This went on for a couple of weeks until I received a Certified letter in the mail one day.  It was a Cease & Desist Order, from an attorney...on behalf of my dogs!  Did I mention that I really SUCK at playing the guitar??  So, my plan of learning to play the guitar was pretty much a bust.

Then I started another hobby.  I used to love doing woodwork, but my wife turned that hobby into a bunch of work, so screw that.  And there were many others, just like that.  So anyway, I had this new hobby.  Only problem was, I didn't know I had a new hobby.  I just thought I was doing my usual thing of sitting on my ass while I'm waiting for hip replacement surgery (which really sucks by the way).  But I was getting more and more involved in this hobby I had no idea I even I had.  This last part is actually true, believe it or not.

I woke up one day, and someone emailed me to ask me about...a pencil, of all things.  My brain was on autopilot (it may have been the pain meds, I dunno), and before I knew it I had written this person 4-5 paragraphs of some wickedly detailed information on...pencils.  "My Gawd!", I said to myself,..."I collect pencils now...as a hobby!".

It's true, I am a fairly avid pencil collector.  Now, as an Engineer approaching retirement, and an old school Technical Draftsman from back in the day when they used to do such things, I'd always had a keen interest in all manner of writing instruments (i.e. Pencils, Pens and anything else which will write).  I have a really interesting pen collection (fountain pens mostly), but pencils are what I'm really focused on.  Did you know there's a whole world out there of pencil collectors??  I didn't, but I do now.

I go through phases in my pencil collecting, but if it's a pencil, I collect it.  I collect wooden pencils.  I collect mechanical pencils.  I'm currently in a mechanical pencil collecting phase, primarily because I currently have more wooden pencils than 50 of me could ever use in five lifetimes.  My wife doesn't even bother asking anymore what UPS delivered today. 

Now let me tell you, collecting pencils is a spectacularly exciting hobby!  I mean, I'm sure most people think the only thing more exciting than collecting pencils is probably collecting stamps (I have one of those collections too, but it was willed to me).  That, and watching grass grow and paint dry, but by golly, I collect pencils.  And, I'm damn good at it too, dammit!

So, I felt it was critically important to share this information with everyone here.  I have no idea why!  I guess it's because I'm a dork, a dork with a cowboy hat, and I didn't already have enough to do with raising cattle on our ranch and working full time in aviation engineering, so I needed a hobby!

I collect pencils.

P.S. - If anyone ever has a question about a pencil, or pencils in general, please feel free to ask.  I will do my best to answer your questions, hopefully not boring you into a catatonic state in the process, and tell you about this spellbinding hobby I have.

That is all.

I do love a good writing pencil and pen. I have a big collection, don't know why. My husband and former co-workers said I had a sickness.   I do have quite a few of the Pentel mechanical pencils and my current favorite ink pen is the Pentel Energel 0.7. Have them in every color they make. Retired now but use to work at my County Courthouse in Deeds and Records, had to have a variety of pens, pencils, highlighters, and sticky notes. Love me some sticky notes, too.

Just to add, my hobby, or what I love to do the most, is Genealogy. I have very a large family on my Mom and Dad's side. I enjoy the puzzle of finding who is related to who, the history, the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Ive been thinking of doing some research into my ancestral tree.  Which is your fav site to get started?   My daughter took a blood sample from ancestry.com and it didnt seem right, as it didnt line up with family lore on either side!

Your daughter would only be able to trace her direct maternal line. Males have both mitochondrial DNA and a Y chromosome, so they can trace both their maternal and paternal ancestry. So it really depends on which line you are researching. I use Ancestry.com mostly because of access to the census, compiled family history, newspapers, and old military records. Getting started is easy, just start with yourself and work you way out, Mother & Father, Maternal Grandparents and Paternal Grandparents, where and when they were born, married, buried. My ancestors moved around a lot. I have quite a few gaps left to fill. My goal is to find when we first crossed the pond and from where.