Anyone Getting Much Shop Time Lately?

[projectnut]

Now that the weather has broken, and many of the pandemic restrictions have been lifted shop time seems a thing of the past. Since early March I can count the number of minutes spent in the shop on one hand. Most days it's just a pass through to pick up some tool needed for an outdoor project, or to set something on the bench.

Somehow lawn mowing, landscaping, and maintaining the gardens and shrubbery have replaced the hours I was once spending in the shop. Mowing and weed eating have become a routine every 4 to 5 days. 4 days is best, but if it goes over 5 bailing is almost a necessity. It seems kind of strange in that the weather man keeps saying we're several inches behind on the rain, and in a mild drought getting closer to severe by the day, but the grass is growing so fast it's hard to keep up.

Maybe it's just that time of year and it's taking me longer to do these things. Hopefully things will settle down a bit. Maybe I got a bit spoiled with all the time on my hands, but I really enjoyed last year's shop time. Instead of catching up on projects I have another half dozen or so in the partially completed stage. Hopefully I'll remember where I was on each one should I find the time to revisit them.

Anyone else having the rude awakening that the extended time in the shop may be a thing of the past?

 

[RJSakowski]

Just back from a six day fishing trip in northern Wisconsin so no shop time there. This morning, I made a new cover for a battery charger that had been savaged by a truck. I pulled the guts out and hammered the lower case back into a semblance of square, repaired a busted ammeter and made the new cover from a panel from an old IBM word processor. Total shop time, around four hours.

Now that I'm back, time to get back on my lathe controller. I am short a few connector housings and still have to test out the circuit boards. I had hoped to do that before the trip but I ran out of time. The basement shop is cool and with the dehumidifier and central a/c running it's a nice place to be.

 

[Ischgl99]

Business is finally picking up again, so between that and all the kids activities, I’m finding it harder to get much time in the shop. I still have a son home to cut the grass, but I spend a couple hours reminding him to do it lol.

 

[tjb]

For the last couple of months, I've been so busy with other stuff, I've barely had time to even look at my shop. Equipment repair, tractor work, clearing a section in the front pasture, fence repair, etc., etc. etc. My wife and I had a discussion this afternoon: we are not allowed to add any projects to our respective lists until at least one has been completed and removed. For several weeks, it seemed that even going wide open, the lists just got longer and longer. One project came off - two more went on.

Things are calming down a little. I did manage to finish the model tractor for my soon-to-be grandson (there's a thread on it). And the real biggie: I got my shop completely cleaned up from all the other projects and can now at least imagine doing some machining work.

I feel your pain.

Regards

 

[mmcmdl]

Shop time ? No . Grass time is more like it .

 

[FOMOGO]

Lots of time working on the shop, not nearly enough just working in it, on the things I really want to be doing. I have moved most of my welding equipment into that area of the shop, so that's something. Mike

 

[hman]

I've equipped my shop with a heatpump (used to be swamp coolers), and can enjoy shop time year round. Lots of fun projects out there. My normal sleep hours are 4AM to noon, and I spend a lot of nights (after midnight) out there having fun and making chips. I'm currently working on a trade show demo for a friend who owns a local pet door company - mechanical and electrical design, control panel wiring, Arduino software, and metal and wood fabrication. Don't want to send out pictures until I get an OK from them.

Among the recent infrastructure work is a compressed air de-watering loop. The shop came with an elaborate dewatering system which, unbeknownst to me, had developed a small leak. My compressor was running every couple of hours. I'd tried soaping all the new connections I'd made, but couldn't find the problem. Then a couple nights ago, I was standing next to the manifold and heard a telltale hiss. Ripped out the old system, bought a couple lengths of pipe, and built anew. There's a drain under each of the vertical pipes, with tubing leading outside. Obviously this ain't as good as a "real" dehydrator, but OK for my needs. And it's delightfully leak tight!

The old:


The new:

 

[westerner]

I had a nice project rebuilding the carb, and resealing the lower unit on my 'new to me' 25 hp Evinrude.
It took at least one day longer than I thought because I needed to build a bunch of seal and bearing drivers.

Sure did enjoy my lathe during the job

 

[erikmannie]

My only opportunities to work in the shop are Saturday mornings, all day Sunday, legal holidays & vacation weeks (from work).

I always take FULL advantage unless there is a clear family obligation (e.g. date night, birthday party, Mother’s Day lunch).

 

[vtcnc]

If I get a few hours in during the weekend I’m lucky in the summertime.

But during weekday evenings I can get two to three hours in if I want while everyone is doing homework or sleeping.


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