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Ask HN: What's your tangible hobby?

by selmat on 2/16/19, 8:19 PM with 4 comments

Most of us are working with virtual things - software, network, marketing, analytics, etc.

I still have an inevitable need to do something tangible. Especially at spring. I am more than happy if I can repair something at home, car, do some gardening, etc. But nothing regular.

Wondering if you have any tangible hobby. Have you web or blog where you share you hobby-expertise? I'd like to read what other people are doing in their spare time.

  • by mindcrime on 2/16/19, 8:47 PM

    I like to build electronic "stuff", or at least play around with building circuits and stuff. For quite some time now I've been sitting on a half-dormant project to build a "retro-computer" based on a Zilog Z80 CPU. That led me into trying to learn to program an EEPROM with an Arduino, and I got as far as breadboarding part of the programming setup. I'm using an Arduino Uno, which doesn't have enough digital output pins to represent both the address bus and the data bus of the EEPROM simultaneously, so I started down the path of using shift-register chips, etc, yadda yadda.

    Anyway, I keep all my electronics stuff at the local hackerspace and sometimes I go up there and pull my breadboard and parts box out and play around.

  • by samstave on 2/16/19, 8:50 PM

    I have a hobby of making leather wrapped Mason Jars, and give them to friends... I made these today.

    https://imgur.com/gallery/n53TnlT

    I pickup broken granite from the granite shop and make plant stands with leather feet:

    https://imgur.com/gallery/jsRNEhX -- these have the first vintage leather feet - the new ones have the plugs from the stamped leather on the mason jars.

    I make custom lockpicks from spring-steel from Street Sweeper blades (dont seem to have any images though)

    ---

    I make custom lamps from random parts I find at antique stores...

    https://imgur.com/gallery/NaSea

    ---

    I like to make things for my bike:

    https://imgur.com/a/ikKKT

    ---

    I do it as therapy for depression and to express myself. Don't do any of it for profit - but I have had a lot of the bike parts stolen, or people admire them so I give them to them...

    My next project is a leather hipster bartending apron, just because I want to make one - but I dont have the funds to quite do that at the moment.

    And I am working on making my own leather based bike grips - but I am still working on the right jig for the die, as my parts are not coming out perfectly consistent when I do it by eye.

    On the to-do, aside from the apron:

    * Living wall

    * Some planting boxes

    * Get access to a laser cutter for some leather things

    * Completely cover my bedroom floor in leather (I have a leather-piece throw covering in the center of my carpeted room, and its the most amazing feeling with bare feet walking on it - I want to see how much a whole room that way will cost.

  • by Finnucane on 2/16/19, 8:57 PM

    My main hobbies are photography—I still have analog gear, but I am old, and music. I have two banjos I am learning to play.

    I agree that having things to do away from the screen is important.

  • by abstractspoon on 2/19/19, 5:37 AM

    Building or repairing furniture. And I certainly suffer if I don't make time for it.