What keeps you from your shop?

[Don Farr]

Hi everyone, I have the worst time trying to find time to work in my shop. I was just wondering what keeps us from our shops. Mine is #1 my job, #2 things that needs done around the house, #3 honey do list, and #4 other ( Church functions, family stuff, shopping etc.) :confused:

Maybe if I knew that I was not the only one with this problem I would feel better.

Happy Holidays!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Don

[David Rose]

Oh yeah! My list is similar to yours. If I could just eliminate #1 I would be happy. No, wait a minute! What am I saying??? With so many folks still losing jobs I should be greatful for having work. So much for number 1. Number 2 means I have a house, so I better keep that one. Number 3 means I have a "honey" and surely don't want to eliminate her! Number 4 means I am still alive. Jeeze! I don't know how to help you, Don. But by now you have figured that out. :rolleyes:

David, who would love more shop time too


Hi everyone, I have the worst time trying to find time to work in my shop. I was just wondering what keeps us from our shops. Mine is #1 my job, #2 things that needs done around the house, #3 honey do list, and #4 other ( Church functions, family stuff, shopping etc.) :confused:

Maybe if I knew that I was not the only one with this problem I would feel better.

Happy Holidays!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Don

[Chris Padilla]

Don,

I had to laugh when I read the subject line my #1 is the same as yours! My "bill-paying" job.

#2 on my list would be the same as yours, too: upkeep of my house and while that does include woodworking, it also includes fixing things like leaky plumbing, leaky sprinklers (my personal bane), leaky roof, pool/mowing/lawn care, and recently a lot of masonry work. Hmm, lots of water problems I noticed....

I have a 22-month old daughter (first) and so she takes some time but thank God my wife and her mother-in-law (my wife is from Belgrade, Yugoslavia, therefore her mother doesn't speak much English) do most of the cooking and caring for my daughter.

Gee, and I've been wondering why my projects take 10x longer than I think they should! :rolleyes:

Chris

[Chris Padilla]

I have a question to go along with #1 (which I bet is on most people's list):

What if you could eliminate #1 and do woodworking the rest of your life? The caveat here is that this would now REPLACE #1. Do you think woodworking would be as much fun if you HAD to do it for a living?

I would tend to think, "NO!"

Chris

[Don Farr]

Hey Chris, Your list is very much like mine. The pool is closed for the winter but now I have the Leaves and other fall debris to deal with. The honey do list never ends. In fact the last thing on my wife's Christmas list was to hang pictures. Got to go , Honey do is callig. :D

[Dennis Peacock]

Same as everyone elses number 1. Other than that.....I do my level best to spend as much time as I can in the shop. LOML has too many things for me to MAKE and if you could see our furniture...you would understand exactly what I am saying.!!!! ;)

Turning ww'ing into your fulltime job? Once you turn a HOBBY into a BUSINESS....then all the fun and excitment soon deminishes to a "force" that makes you get in the shop and work on projects that YOU really don't want to work on. A hobby into a business mostly causes anxiety and additional stress to "produce" to try and create enough money to replace your existing salary. Workmans Comp, Insurance for a business, state and federal taxes, additional electrical service to the shop since some power companies will not allow a business to "share" an electric meter with a common household. Not to mention that you would need to be willing to work a LOT more hours to crank out the quality that customers will demand and expect since you are a custom shop. Employees to help speed the process? Don't even think about it. Been there and done that....and ain't a bit fun.

Now....no more chat...gotta get out in the shop. :)

Merry Christmas to all of my SMC Buddies...!!!!!!!

[John Miliunas]

Don, don't think you're the Lone Ranger on this one! Similar lists all over the place! BUT, Chris does indeed bring up a very valid point: What if? What if that Walnut (insert project here) *had* to be done by such and such a date or you don't get paid? What if the client doesn't like it? What if that part on your jointer broke 2/3 of the way through the project and you find it's on back-order until 3 weeks after your project needs to be delivered? What if you used a batch of glue on your last delivered project a couple months ago, that you only now find out has been failing? The "what if(s)" can go on and on. I know there are folks, even on this forum, who do indeed do this for a living. My hats off to them! They are talented and highly skilled, but also very courageous! Not only in the monetary sense, either. One of my biggest "fears" is, what if I start doing WW for a living, but then find it to be more of a "job" than a form of relaxation? For now, at least, I think I'll hang on to my "regular" job. When my woodworking makes me rich and famous, I may consider getting rid of the "bill paying" job. :cool:

[Don Farr]

Good point guys, Some times we need a new prospective of things. I should be thankful for every minute that I have in the shop.
I know that other things are more important, like family and friends. Well, I just hope you understand my dilemma.

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

I have a question to go along with #1 (which I bet is on most people's list):

What if you could eliminate #1 and do woodworking the rest of your life? The caveat here is that this would now REPLACE #1. Do you think woodworking would be as much fun if you HAD to do it for a living?

I would tend to think, "NO!"

Chris

As somebody who walked away from a perfectly sedentary computer gig that paid way too much money for what I was doing to start woodbutchering full time, I'll confirm your 'NO!'

Yeah, it beats the hell outta having to answer the alarm clock and wear decent clothes and I can come and go as I please even more than I could when I had a 'real' job (I had it made!), but it's not fun anymore. It's what I do so I have enough money to buy lottery tickets and cigarettes, and give LOML enough dollars to add to hers to keep the electricity on and groceries in the pantry.

I seldom have time to do anything for myself anymore, and when I do it anyway, I feel guilty because it's not producing income. Do I still enjoy it? Yes, I do. But it's not fun. Make sense?

KC

[Jim Becker]

The "real job" (and it's travel) is definitely the major barrier to being in the shop, but there are certainly a lot of other distractions. Even on weeks when I'm home, my day stays busy beyond 6p and by the time LOML gets home at 7:15-7:30p and we deal with dinner (in or out) there really isn't any chance to go into the shop for useful work time. So it's weekends for the most part for me...

As to the situation that Chris raises, I work in an industry (telecommunications) that has been hit hard by layoffs. My company was 34,000 people in October of 2000. We are 14,000 or so now. So, although I don't think I'd want to turn my hobby into my livelihood, it certainly would be part of a back-up plan should what used to be the unthinkable happen. 'Have tools...can work. In fact, I'd probably end up consulting in my field and building furniture to help make ends meet when engagements were not available.

[Phil Phelps]

....you guys have jobs. I have a shop......

[Brian Knop]

That's easy. My wife, four kids, two cats, one dog and a job that always has me working around 400 HRS of extra overtime a year.
Brian

[David Klug]

Well I'm retired now so I can spend quite a bit of time in the shop and I do, but my occupation was truck driving and there is no way I would have traded that for woodworking full time.

Dave

[Eddie Severt]

Not counting my job or family time, the things that keep me out of the shop are:
1. Taking care of farm animals (12 horses, 4 cows, 8 dogs, 5 cats, etc.)
2. Farm repairs.
3. Vehicle repairs. (I do all my own work on our vehicles and farm equip.)
4. Repairs to our 150 yr. log old house.
This leaves little time for the list of things my wife and kids want me to make, but I try.
Eddie

[Jason Roehl]

I'd say that the number one thing that keeps me out of my shop is fatigue. My job as a painting contractor is generally a quite physical one, and I don't like to putz when I'm at work, so when I get home, I'm usually pretty beat. The fact that the garage/shop often is a dumping ground for work tools that are in the way/not currently needed is also a problem. 100 year-old house, wife and 3 kids keep me busy, too. But, when I'm in there and actually accomplishing something, I tend to find more time to be in there, too...

[Stewart Crick]

I have a question to go along with #1 (which I bet is on most people's list):

What if you could eliminate #1 and do woodworking the rest of your life? The caveat here is that this would now REPLACE #1. Do you think woodworking would be as much fun if you HAD to do it for a living?

I would tend to think, "NO!"

Chris

Chris,

I did just that in July. Forunately my wife makes enough to pay the bills, but that still doesn't change the fact that I already have a 4-5 month back log of commissions and deadlines. It's even different then when I had LOML imposed deadlines. My outlook on cost vs quality has totally changed. I'm also, to an extent deadline vs perfection driven now. And then there's buisiness liability insurance. I could go on and on...

My bottom line, yes it changes things.

Stu

[Byron Trantham]

As somebody who walked away from a perfectly sedentary computer gig that paid way too much money for what I was doing to start woodbutchering full time, I'll confirm your 'NO!'
KC
Kirk, your right on. I worked with computers for 25+ years and during that time I started a computer business. It was quite successful but after about 8 or so years of it I got very disgusted with computers (customers actually). I had turned something I liked very much into drudgery.

I retired about 2 1/2 years ago. I started woodworking about 9 years ago. I just love to build things; computers, local area networks, wide area networks, tables, cabinets, you name it. So here I am again faced with trying to make money with a hobby. The difference is I don't need the money so my customers and I have an understanding when I accept a job - you get it when you get it! I've just started my second year for hire and so far everything has worked out well. I still get stressed occasionally because I don't have enough room to keep multiple jobs running at the same time (not enough space) so I press myself to "get it done." I have called customers and asked if they are in any particular hurry and most of the time their pretty cool. Bottom line is if you can keep your love of woodworking (or any hobby) in perspective you can have both - money and time. Sorry about the ramble but I have thought about this dilemma for a long time.

[Steven Mendes]

Not having a shop is the main culprit. I live in a 2 bedroom apartment, all my ww tools are in my closet (my wife call it a garage). Hopefully things will change for the new year.
Steven Mendes

[Steve Clardy]

....you guys have jobs. I have a shop......

Me too. 7 days a week, 10-12 hours a day. Not as FUN as it used to be, but wouldn't have it any other way.
Steve

[Richard McComas]

Hi everyone, I have the worst time trying to find time to work in my shop. I was just wondering what keeps us from our shops. Mine is #1 my job, #2 things that needs done around the house, #3 honey do list, and #4 other ( Church functions, family stuff, shopping etc.) :confused:

Maybe if I knew that I was not the only one with this problem I would feel better.

Happy Holidays!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Don

We have been getting snow so often I can't get to the shop because I'm to busy taking picture of the wife shoveling snow.

[Jim Becker]

We been getting snow so often I can't get to the shop because I'm to busy taking picture of the wife shoveling snow.

You may be sleeping in your shop if you don't help her shovel!!