The things a new hobby can get a person into.

[Modat22]

I was just chuckling at myself at some of the things I've done when chasing a new hobby/trade. Woodworking got me into saw milling, which made me get out my engineering books, which made me become a better welder, which made me get into machining, which made me go into sand casting.

Now making new guides that work easier has me diving into ancient metal working, which is getting me into old methods for case hardening materials and is now getting me into pottery.

I used to think many of the above things where unrelated.

About the pottery research, I'm getting ready to machine some new guide rollers that are not the proper steel for quench hardening, so I'll have to add carbon to the first few thousandths of the steel to case harden it. It can be done by just about anyone with a little persistence.  Basically you place the part needing the treatment in a vessel (usually stainless steel or a stainless steel foil) and surround it with a carbon source. One of the old methods of doing this was to make a clay vessel, put the metal needing treatment in there and pack it with, bone, rawhide, horns etc. put a cover on the jar to limit oxidation and cook at 1400 degrees for about 4 hours, then dump the contents into water with a slight film of oil on its surface (to help reduce cooling fracture)

What have your hobbies gotten you into?

[Dan_Shade]

you're farther down the road than I am....

i have some old blacksmithing/gunsmithing books.... it blow my mind how smart the old-timers were.

we go buy everything from a store.

[Modat22]

I like some of the ways stuff was done. Granted it might be done faster now a days but the cost of the equipment to accomplish it limits its usefulness for many people.

[Brad_S.]

My hobby of restoring old gas pumps got me into sandblasting, sheet metal work, welding and auto body painting. Having those skills led me into restoring an old sign which once had raised glass lettering which you can't buy anymore, so that is leading me into mould pattern making and glass slumping.

[submarinesailor]

Glass slumping?

[Murf]

What have your hobbies gotten you into?

Mostly a heap a trouble with da meeesus........  :

[Texas Ranger]

Glass slumping, if the same thing we do, is building a form, placing flat glass, or several layers of flat glass, over the form, and heating till the glass slumps and fills the form.

[thurlow]

Wasn't really a hobby, but.........from the time we were 12 or 13 until we  went off to school/left town for a job/joined the military, a group of guys in the (farm) community spent almost every Sunday afternoon on horseback/playing what ever ballgame was appropriate for the season.  The horses were our transportation, since none of us had automobiles, even toward the end of the era.  I'd been vaguely aware of this female type person  ;D who'd been around for years because she was my youngest sister's best friend.  One day when I was 18 or 19, she cornered me outside as I was saddling up;  she commenced to asking a ton of questions about the horse, accoutrements, etc and as we talked, I became aware that she was no longer a child  8).  Next thing I knew, she'd somehow got invited to go horseback riding the next weekend.  Men are so easy; it was like shooting fish in a barrel :D.  We went "steady"...........doesn't that sound quaint.........for a while, broke up for a while; got engaged and about 3 years after the initial horseback ride, got married.  To this day, she's only been on a horse about 5 or 6 times.  Been married 40 years this past May.  Horses got me into marriage...................

[Murf]

Thurlow, sumat tells me it was a particular end of da horse dat gotcha in trouble......  :D

[scgargoyle]

Actually, my career as a tool maker has gotten me into a lot of hobbies, cuz I think I can build anything (and usually can!) I started out woodworking b/c I wanted a boat and couldn't afford one. That led to other woodworking projects, and all the equipment this entails. Somewhere along the way, I decided that having a lathe and a mill in your garage wasn't so odd, and a metal bandsaw and a mig welder. I tinker w/ old trucks and tractors, so all my stuff comes in handy. Now that I have a 7 acre woodlot, you can just imagine the new toys I'm going to 'need'. I've actually started sketching up my bandmill...

[mike_van]

A short field trip with the cub scouts got me into maple syrup making -

[DomR]

Sometimes we just don't know when to stop do we guys.  I started out farming which kept me so busy I didnt' play so when I sold the farm I started playing softball.  Met a guy and started building houses. Too busy to play ball.  Then a guy asks if I can put a new floor in his boat. the boat looked like fun so I bought one and my first pole and bait at the age of 35.  Too busy to fish but I did learn how.  At this point I have a degree to teach Elementary school that I got by age 40 and a welding shop that I started to pay for it.  I have no Idea what I'm going to start on next but when you can't say no.....
1 neighbor needs new windows, another a roof, water lines, kitchen cupboards ect.  When you can't say no you don't have time for hobbies.   

[JimBuis]

I fell in love with minibikes then motorcycles. Used to keep my motorcycle in my bedroom. Started doing my own mechanicing when I was about 13. Started working on cars. Got the notion that I could work on anything. Did electrical, plumbing, electronics in the military, boilers, etc., etc.  Along the way somewhere I made some sawdust. Now I'm a woodshop teacher.  Within the next year, I hope to be a sawyer......at least parttime.

Jim

[Qweaver]

One problem (some would consider it a good thing) with these new hobbies is all the new tools that have to be bought.  By the time I get my cabin built...I'll have to build another one just to justify all of the money expended on tools. ( I just got my new Grizzly band saw un-crated and assembled this morning) 
I remember learning to case harden by repeatly heating to red heat and dipping in a case hardening powder of some kind and then quenching in water.  We were making wear plates for something.  It was many years ago and I don't know what the powder was except that it was made just for case hardening and it worked well.   BTW, grade 8 and better bolts "quench" harden very well.  I often use them to make spurr of the moment tools and punches.

[Dangerous_Dan]

The powder is called "Kasenit" surface hardening compound. I have used it to harden the surface of low carbon steel and it has worked ok. Penetration is .010 to .050 inch if I remember right.

[Modat22]

I enjoy reading the things others have gotten into. Its really a neat thing seeing how different trades cross into even more trades and skills.

[Don_Papenburg]

After my Handy Andy toolset ,my dad bought a Forney welder from Ralph Rinckenburger a traveling salesman. He tought my dad to weld sortof. and I got to watch and learn . My dad finaly gave up on welding and then it was my job. After hs I got a job welding slated floors for pig houses and a little sand blasting experiance . In the mean time I had built a motor bike  and started on a car.  learned to make molds for fiberglass . took metals classes at the comunity collage , learned a little sheatmetal and foundry skills .  Worked for a roofing siding company  hanging aluminum and doing aluminum trim .  Now I have been woodworking for years and got into old tractors  with my dad . that lead to a show or two at Grand Detour were I met a blacksmith that needed a woodworker for a special project . They wanted to make a replica of the very first plow that John Deere had made . after a year of research we started to make the plow I made the frame from oak  and steam bent the handles . I have a large supply of ruint handles ;DThat got me into blacksmithing .
Old cars and trucks helped with sheat metal sandblasting and painting . casting parts for old tractors

[Quartlow]

I have a bad habit of watching someone do something and then saying, "I can do that"  :D
Which has led to doing all my own mechanical work, welding, cutting, body work, electrical, plumbing, woodworking of all shapes and sizes, Reapairing CB and Ham radios, and on and on. I really need to learn to keep my mouth shut   :

[SPIKER]

quartlow sounds really fimilar to me too, but usually it is I'm getting rangeled into doing/helping for someone else, where I learn oHOW for myself and know I can do it then I never seem to have time for my own projects ;) eh eh :

Mark M