What other hobbies?

Oldenginerod wrote:

ian1954 wrote:Making a smell, a mess and a noise!

Covers most things!

I can do that without leaving the room

I like beer too

KariFS wrote:

Oldenginerod wrote:

ian1954 wrote:Making a smell, a mess and a noise!

Covers most things!

I can do that without leaving the room

I like beer too

With beer also added to the noise and mess and smell, you will certainly have to leave the room sometimes....

Oldenginerod wrote:

ian1954 wrote:Making a smell, a mess and a noise!

Covers most things!

I can do that without leaving the room

So do I!

Interestingly - one man's hobby can be another man's chore.

Gardening - I regard as a chore. Cut the grass and the damn stuff grows again. Trim the bushes ......... Plants die and need replacing ....

Motorcycling - I have had over 70 motorcycles. Currently have the BMW R1200 GS - I regard this as transport. I never get on a bike and ride it for fun! (Miserable old git is wot I am!)

DIY - Chore of chores! Painting, decorating, plumbing and electrickery. I do this because I am too mean to pay anyone else.

Once you have built a wardrobe



The second becomes boring





The hobby part is the smell, the mess and the noise!



Even electrickery can get messy until finished





All DIY seems to involve ladders - up and down - I can do without the exercise!



Painting being the worst example - only a smell, no noise and trying to avoid a mess!



Woodwork can be pleasant - a smell, mess and a noise all at the same time!



Laying floors - tedious!!



However, eating traditional British Fish, Chips (Fries) and Mushy peas - plenty of salt and vinegar - wash down with quite a few pints of beer (Guinness)  is the most satisfactory method of producing a smell, mess and a noise at home!

Ahh... The darned wireless-lan quit mid-post and the pic of my Honda is upside down (Edit: fixed that, I think). Owning and maintqining computers are a major chore (and PITA) for me. Had to continue post on the phone.

I do like to play with my motorcycle, I don't ride much but maintenance and improvements are my thing. I rode maybe a little over 1000 km last summer. I like to take photos, it used to be a hobby when I used my Canon AE-1 my dad gave me. I even developed some bw photos myself.  Now i just use the iPhone and try to make the best of it. I've never had a proper digital camera.

Here's the two hobbies combined:



I also have a stamp collection I used to collect stamps when I was a kid, and sort of re-started that at a time when life was chaotic, I had a lot of things going on and completing tasks was even more difficult for me than what it is now. My stamp album was about the only place in the world that was in order and that I had a total control of. Here's a page of my album, some common stamps from '60s and early '70s.

akjgardner wrote:Guns Guitars and camping

ian1954 wrote:Making a smell, a mess and a noise! Covers most things!

Lemme guess .... you both also ride motorcycles.

My 1971 Honda CB100 with SL125 engine:


How it rides:

I have enjoyed collecting and restoring firearms for years, everything from military surplus and antiques down to the most common .22.  I would guess that I have owned a minimum of 600 various types, mostly rifles but a significant number of handguns and shotguns too.

I also enjoy model railroading and of course, driving and rebuilding MG automobiles.

Edit add:  Nice woodworking ian, love the wardrobe.  And kari no need to sush the stamp collecting.  First thing I did when out of diapers.  Still do it, got thousands.

rsv1cox wrote:I have enjoyed collecting and restoring firearms for years, everything from military surplus and antiques down to the most common .22.  I would guess that I have owned a minimum of 600 various types, mostly rifles but a significant number of handguns and shotguns too.  




I also enjoy model railroading and of course, driving and rebuilding MG automobiles.

Edit add:  Nice woodworking ian, love the wardrobe.  And kari no need to sush the stamp collecting.  First thing I did when out of diapers.  Still do it, got thousands.

An image like this in Australia would have the Federal Police breaking down your door and you'd be instantly locked away.  I bought a .177 air rifle as a kid with my pocket money (that which I had left over after buying kits & fuel etc).  To keep it, I had to do firearms training, get a firearms licence, register it as a firearm and keep it locked in a secure and approved steel cabinet.  I could do more damage throwing a brick!!  

Fortunately, I think we would still be safe with the stamp collecting and model railroad, but then you never know what the authorities have on their agenda.

Rod.

I am thankful to live in the good old US of A. Without getting to deep in the political aspect of things, freedom of will is a wonderful thing.

I do have an 03 Federal Firearms License, everything is recorded and documented.....and locked up.

Bob

When I was a kid.. my first "nice" bicycle was a 3-sp. Raleigh. In my teens I had a Raleigh 10-sp.. I think it was a "Firebird". It got stolen. Fast-forward to 1997 (I'm 37) I acquire a Raleigh "Record" for $9.00 at a yard sale. It needed new tires. The 27" were out of style and expensive. I think I paid over $30.00 for the new pair. Since then there's probably less than 500 mi. on them.. and they're in good shape.

Took these pics this afternoon..



Below is a newer Huffy "Savanna" with a set of bags.



and here's matching "His and Hers" Columbia 3-sp's. These were ridden the most recently by my wife and I.



We don't ride much.. and they're mostly "my" thing.. My Grandfather loved bicycles.. and I loved him very much.. So just to keep them around, reminds me of him.

Daaaaaamn, some of y'all got it goin' on, I'm quite impressed. I never thought I was a Renaissance man, but now I feel like a simple man. I successfully drag raced home carport hotrod Camaros in the 80s. Should have taken pics of the '69 orange SS and the black '67 SS. Pics are all over CEF here and there, my '69 Chevelle SS too.

I have been a surf fisherman since I was 3.

Writing. That's one of the reasons I hang out so much on forums.

But airplanes and CLPA is dominating my time and mind for the past 5 years, though I've never stopped CL flying since I was 12.

Rusty

I've been building electric guitars and amplifiers for the last 15 years or so....

Here's the most recent project - best amplifier I have ever built.  25 watts of parallel, single-ended mayhem. It's like a Marshall Superlead in a 25 watt package:


Here's some links to some other projects:



Double Cut Guitar

Telesnorter

Squier Tele Rebuild

Strat Project

Ravelle Style Guitar

Vibrostream Amp Project

JCM 800 Clone Project

6V6 Plexi Project (Now w/EL34s)

Single Ended Lead Plexi Project

Parallel Single Ended Hiwatt DR103 Project

Between finishing up odd musical projects (sll Ash Les Paul build, and Davis 201-A PA Amplifier donor amp project) and remodeling our basement, I still haven't gotten back to my Stuntman 23 project.

I looked through your photos and found your stuff very impressive. How many of these things do you make or is it just a hobby?
(BTW, my first attempt at modelling was also a Stuntman 23 powered by a Fox 0.09. Built it about 52 years ago!)

Amazing  diversity of the forum. Looks like I’m pretty much in the guns, guitars and motorcycles group with golf, models and collecting almost anything filling in the gaps. Did competitive shotgun shooting for about 25 years but have retired from that.
Last two projects have been resurrecting an early Cox Black Knight Stuka (which reminds me must post the after pictures on the forum) and finally repairing my old ironhead sportster which has been languishing under a sheet at the back of the workshop since 2003. I hadn't meant to leave it that long but time sure slips by.



The steering head bearings fit into cups which are a press fit into the frame headstock. Stupid idea as they work loose. There is a replacement headstock but this entails a major dismantling of the bike to fit and access to specialist equipment to ensure it is fitted true.



So I made a jig to hold the replacement cups true in the headstock and then tigged them to the headstock.  



Drilled two small holes in each cup so as to be able to knock the cones out if they ever need replacing again and touched up the paint around the headstock.



Filled the holes with black selastic to keep the weather out, fitted new bearings and reassembled the front end fitting larger triple mid-glide clamps (2” wider) so as to give more clearance at the wheel  to fit better brake callipers at a later date. The original ones require a bit of Flintstone assistance. Replaced oil, filter and brake fluid. Test ride went well with just the oil line seals needing replacing. Not bad after sitting for twelve years



Heading into winter down here and raining hard as I write so will drain fuel out tomorrow and park it up. Come summer fit a new battery and we’re away. If it starts raining while I’m riding so be it, but I don’t mind admitting, if it’s pouring down before I leave then these days I take the car.

I am mainly a collector of plenty of things. Searching fossils is a typical summer and holiday occupation. On May 8, I was in Millau, famous for the giant bridge over the river Tarn. As this date is a holiday over here to celebrate the German surrender in 1945 - 70th anniversary this year -  all shops are closed, I spotted a rock formation on the roadside nearby where I found an ammonite of diamater 8 cm, some bélemnites and a fish, which was a first for me.



I also like old vehicles. I own a 1956 Citroën 11B Traction avant. The car is converted to 12V and the engine has been replaced by an ID engine with cross flow aluminium head. I made a 4 in 1 stainless steel exhaust for it. The next thing to do is to replace the existing solex carb by an SU 1 3/4". SU carbs are the best and simpliest carbs ever made.







Lieven

That is some nice custom exhaust header work, Lieven. Is it stainless steel that was used?

Dave, I didn't realize that some models of Harley's had head bearing problems. That is some impressive welding repair done to mitigate that. I repaired a friend's 2012 Yamaha V-Star 1300 Tourer. The drive belt pulley needle bearing grenaded at 22.2k miles (36.4 km)



First time I needed to use my 5 lb. (2.2 kg) sliding hammer puller to remove the axle. bearing collars welded to each other from the heat.



Including installing a new tire, repair costed him $115 US. Outer needle bearing ring did not provide enough area to be grasped by a puller. I took the extra time to drive it out using a 27 mm socket and hammer with 1/2 inch extension covered with a cast iron plumbers cap to protect the extension from hammer damage, removed covers on the permanent sealed ball bearing and relubricated it, since grease had leached out from heat, filed scarring from the axle shaft. Dressed axle with a file.

If done by a dealer, given their high labourer costs would have simply replaced drive pulley hub, axle, both bearings, etc., a $485 repair in addition to tire replacement.

One wouldn't expect such a repair on a low mileage relatively new metric bike. I surmise that all bikes have problems crop up, regardless of make and model. Loose head bearings requiring retightening is common to Kawasaki Voyager XII's (I have the 2001 model).

Jim, that is impressive electronic kit building, I can relate. In high school, I assembled a Philmore 5 tube table radio kit. It was a demonstrator for an electric shop class my father taught at my high school. Did a Graymark 3 tube 550 kHz to 30 kHz regenerative shortwave receiver kit. It used plug in coils to change frequency bands. Also built a 5 tube Graymark superheterodyne shortwave receiver, made my own printed circuit boards and assembled a 2 transistor broadcast band receiver.

Ya, Wow that exhaust header is a work of art! Nice job.

Well I like too get out in the air hate being stuffed up in the house and house work , This time of year its gardening , working on broken stuff , shooting some clays with my son . Use to love dirt biking but my body just want let me get stupid anymore           Speaking of work time to do breakfast and go do some jobs $$

crankbndr wrote:Ya, Wow that exhaust header is a work of art! Nice job.

Thanks guys. Yes it's made of stainless steel all the way to the tail pipe. The exhaust flanges were laser cut. I also made the muffler. Where the 4 pipes leave the engine compartment, I had to make a joint to be able to assemble the lot. Below a few more pictures taken from other angles and during the build.









Lieven

Eric, I enjoyed reading the stickers on your tool box!!

Lieven, do you remember that I live at one hour drive from Millau ???

And near Lodève you can see this footprint,
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One wouldn't expect such a repair on a low mileage relatively new metric bike. I surmise that all bikes have problems crop up, regardless of make and model. Loose head bearings requiring retightening is common to Kawasaki Voyager XII's (I have the 2001 model).[/quote]

Hi George
Yes I agree. Having had a fair selection of various makes and models from all corners of the globe I certainly havn't come across the perfect bike that had no inherent problems whatsoever. They all seem to have some weakness somewhere, alas some far more than others. There were a few that were absolute disasters.

Like your garden, Eric! That's the trouble here in SoCal, not too much room for growing stuff.
Chris...

This is a very enjoyable thread. It's a cross-section of the fabric that we're made of. Most of you know that I play piano (keyboards). Here's a thread with more info.

https://www.coxengineforum.com/t5667-my-other-hobby?highlight=hobby

I had two gigs with two different bands last weekend. The above thread link refers to the 5-piece Southern Rock band (StilBurnin") which I've been playing in since around 2009.

I do however play in a side-project; "Mason's Alter Ego" (aka "The Jeff Mason Band".. also a 5-piece) that plays an eclectic variety of material dating back to the 60's.. but we're rather proud to perform some particularly difficult tunes (from a Musician's standpoint) by Steely Dan; "Pretzel Logic, "Josie" and "Rikki Don't Lose That Number".. as well as other artists/bands having heavy vocal-harmonies.. The Mama's and the Papa's; "California Dreamin", The Sweet's; "Love is like Oxygen", Rainbow's; "Since You've Been Gone".. The Doobie Brothers; "Listen to the Music".. and Neil Young's; "Cinnamon Girl". Other's include Jackson Browne, Elvis Costello, Joe Cocker, Bob Seger,  

Here's three sets from last year.. Lot's of great tunes.
Set 1
1. If you could only See
2. Use Me Up
3. California Dreamin'
4. My Life
5. Give a little Bit
6. So into You
7. Brown Sugar
8. Cinnamon Girl
9. Lagrange
10. Since you’ve been gone

Set 2
1. Fly Like an Eagle
2. The Stake                                
3. Josie                            
4. Leave your Hat on
5. Feeling alright                        
6. The Core                                
7. Bell Bottom Blues                    
8. Doctor My Eyes                        
9. Running on Empty                  
10. Roll with the Changes    

Set 3
1. Riders on the Storm          
2. Love Her Madly                      
3. Roadhouse blues    
4. Southbound              
5. Superstition
6. Ain’t no Sunshine
7. Pump it up
8. All for you
9. Sultans of Swing
10. Going Down

I got involved in this band back in 2006 which at the time.. was an "originals" band. (JMB-"Jeff Mason Band) My brother was the drummer. There is an album (CD) of the material that was professionally mastered by Bob St. John in Florida. The tunes are somewhat "dated" in style.. but we all enjoyed playing them. We only did two shows for that album.. but they were fun and well attended.

Here's a vid of our first show.. featuring a JMB tune called "Now".. although my brother had left the band by this time.. and I had more hair!  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KUcPs1OiKE