Let's Here It For Our Spouses Who Tolerate Our Hobby

[Brian Ashton]

I can stand with that. My wife wants tools for gifts and she gives tools as well. We cast and form metal together. She indulges my hobbies and messes. She puts up with guitar building on the dining table. Casts being formed in the kitchen. Beer making on the back deck. Projects all over. I am lucky I actually finish projects. I am also lucky to have her.

Congratulations on your bride. She sounds like a keeper.

Ya know she's a keeper when she'll tolerate you cooking up experimental rocket propellent in the oven. Ah the good ol days. She knew not to ask if I came home without eyebrows LOL.

[Chuck Darney]

My wife puts up with a lot when it comes to woodwork but, as others have said, she gets the pick of projects to be done. That's great by me. I love doing it for her. She;s definitely my biggest fan.

I may spend lots of time in the shop but at least she knows where I am and comes out to visit often. She'll buy tools but has taken to buying only what I specifically ask for. I have several tools she's given before that languish because I have no use for them. She likes it much better than some of my other hobbies - like kayaking - where I'd be gone all day.

She also has quite a few good ideas. I tend to "over-think" problems. Her solutions are often painfully simple and well deserving a face palm moment from me.

I can't say enough about her support for this hobby. We celebrate our 29th anniversary today and I love her now as much as I did almost 30 years ago!

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Hey! I say lets hear it for us. I dunno about you all but my "hobby" saves thousands a year in repairs costs and making of things around the house that we wouldn't be able to afford otherwise by comparison to the cost to maintain it.

I don't know if we want to open that can of worms Brian... I think I'm upside down on that balance, by a massive amount.

[Raymond Fries]

Mine is awesome. She supports my choices of tools and the money I spend. She will always help me in the shop if I need an extra hand. I always have time for her though as family is more important than shop time.

[Frank Trinkle]

Rule #1.... NEVER allow your spouse to take a picture of you in your workshop. Otherwise there will be documentary evidence she can refer to when she asks if that Laguna Italian 20" bandsaw is the one you've always had? Or "wasn't that jointer thing green before...now it's red, and I always thought a hammer was a hand tool??"

Rule#2.... Never stop saying "I can make that" when she wants to spend $$ on furniture, kitchen supplies, repairmen, etc...

Rule#3... Gift certificates to expensive Christmas decoration stores works wonders if your wife is as much of an Xmas fetishist as mine! ($700 certificate for high-end Cathy Wolfhart Christmas store here in Germany stopped all questions about any of MY tools this year!!)

Rule#4... The "gift" of a Festool CT22 Dust Extractor for use as a house vacuum gets her acclimated to the color Green! All future Festool purchases are never questioned!

Rule#5... NEVER, NEVER, NEVER miss a birthday, anniversary, or holiday! She will NEVER NEVER NEVER forget that you did, and will "remind" you at inappropriate occasions!

I have to be VERY careful in dealing with LOML because woodworking is only one of "three" expensive hobbies of mine. The others are photography, and my airplane!!

[David Weaver]

I'd have to start another thread for "my wife doesn't like any aspect of it" to provide an accurate picture!!

[Mike Wilkins]

Hey Malcolm, those tool boxes were meant for the little person sitting on the floor, not for you. Shame on you trying to take that kids Christmas.
As for the wife; she has tolerated it for 35 years, and even supports my buying habits. Great find.

[Dave Sheldrake]

20 years as she's still my best friend

cheers

Dave

[Leigh Betsch]

SWMBO comes and goes on the issue. I get the "you better lay low" look some of the time but then agin I get the "go for it" signal at times. Right now it's a "go for it" signal. Just ordered a Bad Axe saw and working on a Jointmaker deal. Looks like its Happy, Happy, Happy around here for a while. Until I screw up again......

[Edward Mitton]

Great thread, folks.....
I am blessed to have a wife that not only encourages my woodworking penchant, but has become a participating enthusiast herself. In fact, she is the primary user of the shop lathe and scrollsaw! She's already turned out a number of very nice aspen vases, and cut many a small part for some toy projects we have built together. In addition, she has taken on the extra tasks associated with painting or staining many projects.
She was astounded when, this past summer, I announced that I was going to sell my table saw and become a 'Neanderthal' woodworker.
She knew I was dead serious when I bought an antique buck saw at a local antique mall. "What's that for?" "This, my Sweet, is for cutting your apen logs for turning!" She was amazed when she watched me saw off a custom length piece from an aspen log with my 'new' old saw, shave off bark, knots, and imperfections using a hand axe on a stump, and mount the resulting blank on the lathe for her to transform into a lovely vase!

The other night, she was with me in the shop, watching as I hand cut a v-slot into a 12 x 12 piece of maple stock, pull out an eggbeater drill to make a couple of holes, glue and screw the piece onto a handy chunk of 2 x 4 that was lying nearby, then clamp this whole thing into the bench vise. Again, "'What is that?" "This is my hand-tool version of your scrollsaw!" I grabbed a coping saw, a scrap piece of pine, and proceeded to show her how it all worked. She was duly impressed, but still opted for her electric scrollsaw.

Another really cool part about having a woodworking wife is the frequent times when she says something like..."Let's go shopping..at the Woodcraft store!" It definitely makes justifying a new tool purchase pretty easy.

[Rich Riddle]

Edward,

It's good to see your wife enjoys the hobby as much as you enjoy it. It would terrify me to fine SWMNO interested in the hobby. It's a sacred place, just like she has her special place.

[Don Morris]

Daughter of a Swedish Cabinet maker? No problem. One year bought me a Lie-Nielsen handplane for a Christmas present. Always asks when planning a tool purchase if that's the best available, as she knows good wood, and good tools are helpful to a good result. Of course never hesitates to ask to have something repaired, replaced, etc. She had me get the top-of-line TORMEK, years ago, but she has the sharpest kitchen knifes in town. On the other hand, she had me put in crown molding in every room, changed the door sills in a couple places from yukky metal to a nice looking grain wood, a beautifully finished wood grain flush solid core door as a desk, a 7' full extension drawer food storage cabinet, and several other built-ins, built to her specifications, etc. Each task of which required the purchase of another special tool, right?