Sick of woodworking??

[Bill McNutt]

I have been a medieval re-enactor for over twenty years. I actually got into woodworking through re-enactment. The lesson I learned in being deeply involved in any hobby was that if I'm not having fun doing this, do something different.

I used to be a medieval archer. Then it got to be work. So I pulled back from that part of it, and threw myself into woodworking. I still have my armor and my bow, and I shoot every now and then, and it's fun again.

My advice would be for you to do something different. You look like you've been doing cabinetry. Build a boat. Turn a bowl. Tiller a bow.

Take a different path. Not only will your enthusiasm for the craft return, but you will be able to return to cabinetry in time with a renewed sense of purpose.

Bill

[patriarch]

Andy Dingley wrote in news: [e-mail]:

And don't go back to golf, either. Talk about useless, frustrating, and a waste of time. (Yes, I sorta played this morning. Waste of time.)

I'm working on a couple of similar arks/boxes. The several I've done already are nice, but not exactly what I was after. Thanks for the links. It will help with the research.

Patriarch

[Joseph Smith]

[Mike]

I'm planning a wall cabinet as my first "real" project but wanted to practice on smaller items first. The finger-jointed module approach is an excellent idea. Thanks!

Or Krenov's "With Wakened Hands".

Cheers, Mike

[Charles Erskine]

Woodworking projects don't have to produce useful and practical (and boring)household items. Think wooden toys, sculptures, a little sliding-lid box for your block plane, etc. Spend a year not making anything too big to pick up with one hand. Use your power tools to make whittling and carving blanks. Have a private two-by-four contest (what can you design and make from a single 2x4?).

[Ba r r y]

I'm glad that works for you, I'm completely opposite.

I *like* 50 projects going on at once.

Barry

[Ba r r y]

Unbelievably good advice.

Relax, it's fun...

Barry

[Andy Dingley]

Used to be.

Neighbours and friends wives ! 8-(

Just google for "bathroom shoji" and "ludic potlatch"

[Andy Dingley]

I finished mine today. It's in the ammonia box tonight, then it'll get some waxing tomorrow and be done. Photos sometime soon.

Do you know much about arks ? I've found very little documentation on them and not many examples of them to go and study. Plenty of flat-topped coffers or framed chests, but not many with the "ark" lid.

Any idea how they held the bases on ? I had to guess and did it by two huge tenons in the end and sitting the edges of the base in grooves in the sides.

Quite a fun thing to make. No machine tools, no measuring instruments. I did the whole thing with a couple of chisels, one saw, and a couple of planes.

[Swingman]

... and that's _exactly_ what I would do if I didn't exercise some sort of discipline. Nothing would ever get finished. Sort of the woodworker's corollary to "Physician, heal thyself" .... "Wooddorker, know thyself". ;>)

[Rick Cook]

Do a google search of "medieval chests", or "viking woodworking" You'll get a lot of good ideas on arks and similar chests.

--RC

[Andy Dingley]

There are almost no web resources on ark chests, and many are wildly inaccurate. Most of them are from SCA people who think that screwed plywood around a beer cooler is "period".

There are some useful sites around on Norse work, but that's a whole different period.

A few pictures from one of the few useful sites:

site also says there's an ark in Abergavenny museum - there isn't, it's a flat-topped clamp-front coffer. Couple of bible boxes and an armada chest too. Worth seeing, but it's not an ark.

[Greg O]

Did that, a few times, in differant order. I still did not want to go out to the shop! Greg

[Greg O]

My god! You are gonna punish me for not woodworking?! Greg

[Greg O]

That is where my wife usually finds my when I tell her I am ging to work in the shop for a while. Feet up, dinking a beer, watching the tube! Greg

[Greg O]

LOL! I feel sorry for you! My missus really does not give me any crap about anything, no nagging at all. At least when I am not in the shop I have more time to spend with her! Gre

[Greg O]

Right now that all sounds like work! Greg

[mac davis]

works for me... I have both, and the neighbors usually come by on Monday nights with their lawn chairs and beer coolers to watch Monday Night Talking Nonsense.. umm.. I mean foot ball..

Mac

[mac davis]

sometimes when I don't feel like actually MAKING something, I'll throw a scrap between centers on the lathe and just make shavings... great therapy and kind of fun..

"what are you making, dad?"

"A mess, why do you ask?"

works for me... *bg*

Mac

[Larry Jaques]

On Sat, 25 Sep 2004 10:59:22 -0500, "Greg O" calmly ranted:

Yes. You are hereby sentenced to watched 7 days of Changing Rooms, Carrol Duvall, BlobVilla's Restore America, and DIYNET's wonderful offerings such as "Woodworking."

That'll larn ya.

-- Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life. ---- --Unknown