{"id":3241,"date":"2016-01-26T12:27:12","date_gmt":"2016-01-26T18:27:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thmsblog.com\/?p=3241"},"modified":"2021-10-19T13:15:14","modified_gmt":"2021-10-19T18:15:14","slug":"keeping-it-enjoyable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.thehobbyistmachineshop.com\/?p=3241","title":{"rendered":"Keeping It Enjoyable"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"runningman\"<\/a>I am catching up on my Kozo Hiraoka Pennsy A3 Switcher project reading. When a project has been on the shelf for a while, I find it good to revisit everything I have done in the past and refresh what lies ahead in the project. It\u2019s all good.<\/p>\n

Building a project like this is very detailed. Each step is not all that bad and Kozo has a very good process of explaining the how-to. My enthusiasm is increasing as I can clearly see that nothing (yet) seems to be beyond my current shop tools and my abilities. It\u2019s all now just having the materials and doing.<\/p>\n

A project like this is not inexpensive. But since I am doing my best to make it enjoyable and not a construction race to finish, I can spread material cost over any time span with which I am comfortable.<\/p>\n

I am still doing my silver work which has now become self-supporting and in fact providing some cash flow. I should probably be building the A3 with sheets of Sterling silver. Uh\u2026 No, maybe not.<\/p>\n

OK, it\u2019s all about the parts. Making all the bits and pieces. I just love how all the parts fit together and that I have total control of turning raw materials into something totally relevant to the project.<\/p>\n

There is a certain aura of enjoying the process of using the tools, a gut feeling, something visceral. It\u2019s like driving a sports car. There is a feeling of knowing what your car can do and being able to use that multiplied ability that such a machine provides. Same as using a screwdriver or a vertical milling machine. It\u2019s that ability and control of power to use tools to make things, that is so much of being human.<\/p>\n

Whoa! Spinning off into a machine tool fantasy or something. Ha! It\u2019s OK to laugh at oneself. Anyone reading this already knows what I am feeling, maybe not expressing it quite this way. A simpler explanation may be that it is just fun to do.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the key, enjoyable. I am working to keep my retirement as much fun as I can. If I want to work for profit, I can do that too but I don\u2019t want to make the workshop a place I don\u2019t like or want to spend time making things.<\/p>\n

This activity is a part of who I am. It interests me. It didn\u2019t just happen. I have worked for this place and time in my life. My sharing is just that, sharing my hobby. I am showing what can be done and encourage others to explore and develop their skills, serving as an example.<\/p>\n

The only competition is with myself to improve my skills and abilities. It\u2019s like distance running. A few may want to set a new world record, but for the vast majority of hobby runners it is all about making the effort at your own speed and perhaps a personal best.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am catching up on my Kozo Hiraoka Pennsy A3 Switcher project reading. When a project has been on the shelf for a while, I find it good to revisit everything I have done in the past and refresh what lies ahead in the project. It\u2019s all good. Building a project like this is very […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":77778,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[79,21,129],"class_list":["post-3241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-workshop","tag-a3","tag-hobby","tag-workshop-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.thehobbyistmachineshop.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3241","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.thehobbyistmachineshop.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.thehobbyistmachineshop.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.thehobbyistmachineshop.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/77778"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.thehobbyistmachineshop.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3241"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.thehobbyistmachineshop.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3241\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3809,"href":"https:\/\/blog.thehobbyistmachineshop.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3241\/revisions\/3809"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.thehobbyistmachineshop.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.thehobbyistmachineshop.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.thehobbyistmachineshop.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}