***SURVEY: THE IDES OF JULY*** *LINK*

Re: ***SURVEY: THE IDES OF JULY*** *LINK*

Alan Turner


>Before I had a second full time job (starting a woodworking school) crammed into my already full time job (to pay for the new adventure), I used to set aside the hours from 4 am to 7 am for quality shop time. That will not work for everyone, but it worked for me for a number of years, and I hope to get back to it soon. An understanding wife that does mind the sound of whirring is a critical feature.


PFW

Re: ***SURVEY: THE IDES OF JULY***

Greg Betit, Vergennes, VT.


>The problem for a busy person with a woodworking hobby is that there are not many long periods of time that can be alotted to woodworking. I have a shop that is my and only my domain, so I can leave a project in a half finished state and expect to find it where I left it. Another help in this situation is having projects that are readily broken up into operations that have a short duration. My passion is Windsor chairs, and much of the piece parts can be made on a catch as catch can basis (with much detriment to efficiency). I currently have pieces to 4 different chairs started, a surplus of spindles, and one chair ready for final assembly.

One of my problems in this scenario is that nothing ever seems to get finished. This is an uncomfortable thing for me. Sharpening tools is one thing that gives me a feeling of "doing something", but you don't really have something to show for the time spent. Sometimes I will just make something quick like a Welsh stick chair, a peg leg stool or a spoon just to make something from start to finish. I find this kind of work real satisfying; I'm not using precious resources, and there are no constraints based upon a recipient's expectations. Thus empowered, I find I'm working fairly efficiently in this mode. But the best part is I'm having fun.

Greg

Re: ***SURVEY: THE IDES OF JULY***

Todd O. Cronkhite Maine Native Now in FL. :~(


>currently I am in a Time Goldmine. I work part time Mon-Thru at night from 5-10 p.m. I get into bed by midnight, get up between 6-7 a.m. and am free to do as I please until 2p.m. when I must get ready for work. Fridays I am off work so all day is shoptime. With so much shop time during the weekdays I try to limit it on the weekends so as to spend some time with the Mrs. I am 44.5 years old, retired Military, and have no minor children at home. I don't feel badly about having all this Time now as I feel that I am merely getting back some of the shoptime that I lost out on while I was in the Military and was in a Time Desert. All in all I'd say that I'm getting at least 30 hours a week shoptime. :~)

Todd O.

Re: ***SURVEY: THE IDES OF JULY***

Jim in Burlington On


>I try to pick a project get interested in it then shuffle my life to get it done. Give other people in the house chore's to free up time for me.

Huh?

Larry Williams


>There's something other than shop time or juggling the things that need to be done for the shop? Care to fill me in? I tried to take a day off a couple months ago but got bored pretty quickly and just went back to work. I might have enjoyed the nap; I'm not sure, I think I slept through it.

Re: ***SURVEY: THE IDES OF JULY***

dave jeske


>Since I work from home, I am able to spend plenty of time in the shop. For April, May and June I worked 7 days a week 12-16 hours per day except on Sunday when I cut back to only 8 hours! I made lots of chisels but was not able to do any woodworking. I am hoping to manage my time in the future such that I can spend one day a week doing woodworking. Working from a home shop can be very challenging in terms of finding the right balance between work, family and personal time. I look forward to reading the results of this survey!

dave

Re: ***SURVEY: THE IDES OF JULY***

Deirdre Saoirse Moen


>I generally work in the shop an hour a day on weekdays, usually as two half-hour stints. Since I only do hand tool work, this frequently necessitates a break (for fluids, if nothing else) in the middle.

I usually try to pick a good day to spend about 3 hours working at a stretch, again with short breaks in the middle. There's usually at least one day a week in which I don't make it in there at all.

Re: ***SURVEY: THE IDES OF JULY***

Angus Barclay, in New Zealand


>Being self employed, and having a toddler daughter, a young schoolboy son and a wife who sometimes works night shifts means there's little time during the week for woodworking.

The only reason I get any shop time during the week is because I can't leave the property without going past the shop door. But any opportunity to walk past the shop is also an opportunity to walk into the shop and I like siezing opportunities, so I'll sneak into the shop for 10 to 20 minutes if I get half a chance.

My shop is a separate building and well soundproofed, so I can do a bit of woodworking in the evenings without disturning family or neighbours. But most evening woodworking is done by browsing Wood Central and two other favorite sites.

I also sneak a bit of woodworking into my life during really long boring meetings - by doodling design ideas or writing shop project related notes. Cut lists look just like any other hastily scribbled notes to all the other bored people at the same meeting!

I also fit woodworking into running. A 10-mile run provides plenty of time to figure out joinery details that will make three secret compartments in a single spice cabinet.

Weekends are when I spend quality time with the family (rugby, hockey, story reading, the beach, visiting friends, barbeques, beer, etc). But the family understand that I also need quality time with real timber and tools, so I can usually manage an hour or two of actual woodworking on at least one day of every second weekend. I really appreciate those precious few hours because I know how rare they can be.

regards

Angus Barclay

Re: ***SURVEY: THE IDES OF JULY***

Stephen Kirk in Quakertown PA


>Wow, some interesting answers so far. My woodworking is just a hobby, and the full time job usually eats up most of my schedule. I'm doing good if I get a couple hours in throughout the weeknights, and then maybe some 4-5 hour straight sessions on a weekend. Since my shop time is so sporadic, I've come to the realization that a weekend project will take me about 2 months to finish.

The one thing that having very limited shop time is teaching me is that organization and comfort are the key to getting anything done. My shop is just a garage, but I'm trying to keep a bench clear and ready to work on, tools in easy reach, tool settings easy to change, wood in a handy location, etc. That way, if I only have 45 minutes to work on a weeknight, I don't spend the first 30 cleaning my bench, moving tools to get to wood, looking for my chisels, etc. I can usually get to work using only about 5 minutes to refresh my memory of what I was doing. And if the shop is inviting and comfortable, I'll be even more likely to go in and work.

Have another part time hobby too! Like last night, I was going to finish a couple of drawers for my drill press cart, and it wound up raining all night. I didn't feel like starting anything else, so that's a good time to indulge my video game hobby. Sometimes, no matter how bad you want to work, it just doesn't happen.

Re: ***SURVEY: THE IDES OF JULY***

Edward in Vancouver


>I'm not a woodworker, I run a catering business, and when I have time, I want to be as far away from food and customers as possible.

Hence the woodworking. Like a drug addict dealing with withdrawl symptoms, the more stress in my work day, the more time I find to lock myslef up in the garage and play with my tools and wood. Average hrs per week? Anywhere from 4 to 12. Right now I'm just starting to teach myself about dovetails (My constant companion is a copy of Ian Kirby's "Pefect Dovetails") and have just spent two very peacefull hours dimensioning, laying out and sawing a series of lines, while the rest of the faimily watches a dvd of "Lord of the Rings"....