It has been a year since I wrote in this blog. I haven’t given up my hobbies, I have just been pouring all my blogging energy into my other blog.
I have been bitten by the hobby bug again. I want to become a Maker. I am not sure why I put a capital M on that, but being a Maker looks better than being a maker. I have always wanted to make a clear resin container for the gearshift knob from my first car. I kept it when we sent the car to the scrap heap. I had always liked those clear paperweights, but didn’t know what they were called.
So, I searched YouTube and found out that they make them out of epoxy nowadays. I found a whole bunch of people with incredible shops full of the best and most amazing tools turning out cool projects on a weekly basis. They’ve got dedicated shops and shops crammed into one and two car garages. They’ve got it all.
These videos cause a bit of envy, but I also know that the pressure to create, and the pressure to maintain an audience is high. I also see that companies that do sponsorship for these channels seem to be demanding more explicit advertising. A quick glimpse of the product is no long enough to warrant the amount of money these companies are spending to provide the tools.
So, I do what I always do. I have bought a woodworking magazine and watched a bunch more videos. I would have taken a whole stack of magazines out of the library–but thanks to Covid-19 or the Coronavirus, the library is closed. I have gone to Amazon and made out a list of books I might buy–then again, I hope that I can just take then out of the library at first. While some might be worth having, others may not. Others may not be appropriate for my low skill level.
I don’t have a lot of tools, but I probably have enough to make a box or so some stuff with epoxy. I am certainly not going to rush out and buy a cabinet saw, a drill press, a router, a jointer, a planer, a spindle sander, and a mitre saw–though of course I want to .
For that matter, I am not really sure what I want to build. I was thinking of a planter for the back yard. I wouldn’t mind building a jewelry box for my girlfriend–but that might be a curse because she might be expecting me to fill it also.
I’ve got a band saw–but it would need a new blade. I’ve got a router table, a jig saw, and a detail sander. I also have a drill. I am sure I could put something together.
Any advice you could give me about tools, or easy beginner projects would be wonderful. I would be interested in books or videos–also if you could get me sponsored by a Canadian tool company, that wouldn’t hurt either. Conversely, if you have a way to discourage me from starting another hobby, that would also be appreciated.
Tons of Hobbies 