Any weird hobbies out there?

Forum Sponsor
kruzuki said:
I'll bite.

I have a collection of over 120 hardcover books and thousands of magazines, brochures and catalogues related to motorcycles (I read them all & go into every used book store I see and buy all their bike books.) My oldest book is from 1913.

I'm also a reptile geek. I have a couple of pet lizards at home, in nice terrariums.
Click to expand...

Books are cool.

Riceburner said:
Rob, will that mail actually stop a sword or just decorative? Rings seem pretty flexible. ...yer a Whovian too?

Collected pens for a long time, now have to get them used up and no one writes anymore.

Have a few swords, but they are mostly the kids. They are better armed than I ever was.

Gonna try making some PVC bows sometime.

Used to keep fish, but gave it up...
Click to expand...

I think that my last comment answers the Whovian thing. Unfortunately I seem to kill fish.

The mail that I'm making is mostly costume/decorative, since I'm not welding nor riveting the links. A good welding rig would cost a couple of thousand dollars. I've got a personal suit made with 12 gauge, 3/8" aluminum rings that would stand up to a few swings and I'll soon be reassembling that black anodized scale suit using 16 gauge, 5/16" mild carbon steel rings.

Once you get going, PVC bows are pretty easy to make. I've made and given away 5 at this point and can turn out a pretty good one with oak Siyahs in maybe 4 hours. This guy's videos were very helpful in getting the technique down:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_U6Yek0YgKHN_A-iTAwZbg
 
I used to paint miniatures... everything from 28mm to 54mm scale.
A "competition" level piece would take about 45-50 hours to complete (remember, these miniatures are about 1.5 inches tall plus whatever their platform they're standing on etc is).
A stellar example of the stuff is here:
http://www.crystalbrush.com/2014-winners-2/

Unfortunately, I never reached that level, but did win 7 "Golden Demons" at various Games Workshop painting competitions over the years.
 
When I was on vacation recently I came across a lady that made all sorts of things from soda/beer can ring pulls. It sounds cheesy but they looked amazing. She made bags, clutches, jewellery and clothing. I think you could probably get a good set of aluminum armour from the same technique too.

Me...I collect Lego Technic models and do them over the winter when I'm not riding. I find it very relaxing and the way these Scandinavians design the models and gearing etc is ingenious at times.
 
I quilt.

Thinking of getting into custom bike covers and race canopies. Not the actual canopy but somehow attaching to the existing one for advertisement/promo. Gonna be tricky as the tents are usually not great and I don't want to add to the failure rate of these things.
 
I make pepper mills. There has been a lathe sitting in the corner of my workshop for a decade or more, seemed it should get used. Lee Valley sells the mechanisms , so $20 for the inerds and about $10 for the wood blank and a couple hrs and you have a peppermill worth about $5 at any garage sale. Going to corner the market.
 
crankcall said:
I make pepper mills. There has been a lathe sitting in the corner of my workshop for a decade or more, seemed it should get used. Lee Valley sells the mechanisms , so $20 for the inerds and about $10 for the wood blank and a couple hrs and you have a peppermill worth about $5 at any garage sale. Going to corner the market.
Click to expand...

Sadly that seems to be the economics of most hobbies. My mom knits, to make a really nice cable knit sweater costs over $100 in wool and takes about 100 hours. I don't know what the upper end of sweater prices is, but it's definitely better financially to get a job at mcdonalds. I spoke with a guy that made really beautiful wooden canoes and he made under minimum wage even though he sold the canoes for ~5k.
 
GreyGhost said:
Sadly that seems to be the economics of most hobbies. My mom knits, to make a really nice cable knit sweater costs over $100 in wool and takes about 100 hours. I don't know what the upper end of sweater prices is, but it's definitely better financially to get a job at mcdonalds. I spoke with a guy that made really beautiful wooden canoes and he made under minimum wage even though he sold the canoes for ~5k.
Click to expand...

100% true. I can't sell anything homemade to make a profit even if I wanted to. Time effort and a bit of money goes in, love comes out in my case. And sanity, quilting is therapy for me, even more so than riding.
 
meme said:
100% true. I can't sell anything homemade to make a profit even if I wanted to. Time effort and a bit of money goes in, love comes out in my case. And sanity, quilting is therapy for me, even more so than riding.
Click to expand...

I lucked into a market with my jewellery, for a while at least. At one point I had sold enough of it to cover all of the materials I had bought up to that point, to the tune of $700-$800. Sadly that's been burned through at this point and I only get the occasional commission request.
 
Used to collect matchbooks from any bar, restaurant I was in from around the World. Some where very unique. Then realised all I was doing was showing off. So I dumped them.
 
Ya, you gotta supply a demand. I like to insert inappropriate vignettes online. Free.
 
@cycling - I used to collect shot glasses from around the world. From both places I personally visited, and then some friends started getting them for me from parts of the world I've never been to, and will most likely never travel to. Then I ran out of space when I lived at my parents' place, and now I just don't have the space for it. So I've got over 100+ shot glasses from around the world just sitting there and gathering dust.
 
mimico_polak said:
@cycling - I used to collect shot glasses from around the world. From both places I personally visited, and then some friends started getting them for me from parts of the world I've never been to, and will most likely never travel to. Then I ran out of space when I lived at my parents' place, and now I just don't have the space for it. So I've got over 100+ shot glasses from around the world just sitting there and gathering dust.
Click to expand...

I understand that. For me it had to be where I had been, not given to me.
 
I used to collect coins & monies from around the world. Some dated back to 50's
 
GreyGhost said:
For the past few years, with the crazy escalating house prices, building things to make the house look better has been a good hobby.

Basement cabinets (replaced a window blind they had over the electrical panel)
2up9roy.jpg


Garbage Shed
jzwhw3.jpg


Deck
2n668t4.jpg

rhvgyd.jpg


Shed (Coming Soon) (The ladder is removable)
2vnqc8p.png
Click to expand...

That's an amazing hobby. This is something I want to learn.

My hobbies are not weird, unfortunately. Photography, gym, blogging, writing. Recently I got into making travel videos. It is very time consuming and requires fast machine.

I did combine my passion of riding, photography and writing into one. The story below has bike lowspeed lowside, another bike almost catching fire and panties on shoulder.
https://ingloriousrider.wordpress.com/my-adventures/ottawa-montreal-trip-july-2015/
 
RockerGuy said:
I used to collect coins & monies from around the world. Some dated back to 50's
Click to expand...

How do you store them? I have some cool bills from Poland, Barbados, India, Australia, Iraq that I would like to keep properly instead of in a box hidden away.
 
miggs said:
Shoot guns
Click to expand...



Casually or anything organized...?

I neck-deep in 3-gun competition, IPSC, USPSA and whatever else I can get to.
'Shoot competitions all over Ontario and the Eastern US. New York, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Missouri, West Virginia, Kentucky and as far away as New Mexico.
I also load all my own ammunition.
Once in a while I can combine motorcycles and shooting by riding to a competition. Easy enough if it's just a handgun match.
 
black_CG2 said:
That's an amazing hobby. This is something I want to learn[/URL]
Click to expand...

Just start doing it. Prior to the deck it was just a skil saw, chop saw (bought for a hardwood flooring/retrim project) and a drill. To make lighted crown molding and bevelled railings, the deck needed a table saw (which now lives on a shelf above my garage door so it's out of the way. Keep your fingers out of the way of the sharp bits and you'll do fine.

If you can beg/borrow/steal a miter saw (hell an old school manual mitre box would work), learning how to cope trim isn't hard and makes much nicer joints that the builder grade trim with mismatched mitres. You only need a $10 coping saw and a couple files. I would never go back to mitres for inside corners (maybe for 45's, coping those is a giant PITA).

As an aside, my parents neighbour in florida just bit himself with a sliding miter saw. He doesn't remember what happened but he chopped his left forearm deep enough to cut finger tendons but not enough to hit the bone. My guess is he plunged at the back and it ran towards him. Youtube is a great resource for learning how to use tools safely (watch a variety of videos as some are so very wrong).

2sj1l.jpg
Forum Sponsor
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom