I’ve been software developer for +7 years, and I must say I also love woodworking. Since is something completely out of my scope as developer, it requires patient and is pretty relaxing working with your hands like this. No client changes, no meetings, instant feedback… and no dependency managers.
My friends/family: this is amazing, you could sell these!
Thank you for the compliment, but no. Absolutely no. I make plenty of money at my day job. I enjoy making sawdust and wood chips, and want to keep enjoying it.
Because you think “Oh, I made a mistake, I’ll be sure to fix it later”. You never fix it later. You mostly just add layers of shit on top of it and pray nobody asks you in the future “Hey, WTF were you doing there?”
Sewing for sure, especially machine sewing. I feel like I’ve got as much time invested in fighting and maintaining our sewing machines as in our Windows machines. 😛
And then there’s that whole transition between pattern (spec) and outcome that is oddly reminiscent of far too many of my software projects!
Curiously, what sort of fights do you have with your sewing machine? I just started getting into sewing a couple months ago. I’m currently using a borrowed machine and haven’t had any major issues yet. I was hoping to buy my own soon and wanted to know if there were specific features that commonly cause problems.
Tension. Always tension. My mom had the same battles. My aunt never had trouble.
I suspect that buying a new mid-grade machine or better from a reputable dealer is the secret. I’ve bought a couple of $50 used machines because I don’t want to spend 10 times that or more if it turns out that I’m not going to actually use it. I already do enough of that. 😀
Go find a sewing club and get their advice. That’s what I’m doing the next time the bug bites.
Since my last comment, I learned that my local library has a few machines and a serger that you can reserve time on. I think that is going to be how I avoid buying my own for a while, and possibly a social setting I may learn from others.
I haven’t yet started blacksmithing, but it’s the next logical progression. Other than a (very!) occasional boat and the odd bit of furniture or cabinetry, I seem to spend most of my time making tools, jigs, and fixtures.
When I was on the fence about teaching English any longer, a friend of mine encouraged me to try software development because “[I] know languages, and [I] like to build things.” I still feel a lot more comfortable with a saw and clamps, but I think he’s right.
I’m a software engineer who does woodworking, and I approve this message.
But my favorite explanation: you grab your hand saw, and it works. You don’t find out that the latest npm japanese-hand-saw-tooth package is incompatible with plywood, and you need to downgrade the package or buy new plywood to make a cut.
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