Lost my enthusiasm

[BloomingtonMike]

Threads like this are what I think about when I see a hobbyist go pro. Nice to be able to do what you want when you want when there is no bills dependent on it

[Cian]

I have no interest in being cooped up in my little shop with no windows for hours on end doing things that I never really enjoyed doing.  I love playing with the tools, and having a finished item to show, but the rest, not so much.

That's a strong statement.  I say why spend your time forcing yourself to do something you don't enjoy then?  Walk away.  Hobbies are personal endeavors - it's for YOUR enjoyment and not others.  If you're not having a good time, pursue other things then.  Life is too short.

As for me, I always enjoyed woodworking (and photography too).  I dont partake in them continuously though.  Heck, there was a year or so I didnt even do any woodworking at all and even now it is fleeting.  I have several hobbies, admittedly, however, I do enjoy woodworking and look forward to the next time I can get into the shop.  Again, just like any other form of entertainment, it's not for everybody, so pick what floats YOUR boat.

[Bill Wilson]

I've got a shop full of tools I spent a lot of time rehabbing, and am a bit trepidatios about selling them should the desire to do woodworking return.

Thanks in advance,

How long can you realistically let them sit idle, before it causes problems? 
Are you looking to re-purpose the space? 
Do you need the $$ from potential sales ?


Woodworking doesn't have to be an all-or-nothing thing.  You have a talent for it and are capable of making useful things.  There are practical implications to consider. Will you still be called upon to make stuff for the family?  If someone needs something built or repaired, do you want to have the space and equipment available to do it?  If you sell out, will you regret not being able to take on those projects? 

Give it some time.  Let the shop sit idle, if that is practical.  After some time, you may have a clearer image of what direction you want to go.  You might find that the desire has returned.  You might find that you dread ever making sawdust again.  You may find that you fall someplace in the middle.  Don't rush  the decision, if you don't have to.

[NickNC]

I’m in a similar spot, and although not quite 60 yet, I found it’s been brewing for a while.  It started when I noticed that although I’ve been driving pickups for 35 years to support the hobby, I one day noticed I only put the tailgate down once in over a year, and that was only to haul trash from the office.  The mass of tools I’ve acquired to use for that “when I retire” hobby of woodworking have slowly been sold off.  Not that I don’t like woodworking, or even shop time, it’s more of a lifestyle and environmental change.  Plus, you can see I don’t get here often.
 
I’m at the point of downsizing my life, so I don’t need any more furniture, and most of the people I’ve made things for in the past are at their saturation point of needing or wanting more “stuff”.  My mainstay was custom speakers – who uses them anymore?  Plus, it comes down to money and priorities.  While there are very few days I can’t spend in the shop due to weather, unless it’s something I’m getting paid for, or making for someone special, I just can’t justify the cost any longer.  And I know I’ll lose interest if I have to make it a business.  I do wish I had unlimited funds to just build what I want, when I want, and sell it for a profit, but I’m just not that good.
 
It’s not a health issue – in fact just the opposite.  I’ve had the blown discs in my back and neck surgically repaired, so all that titanium has left me feeling pretty good.  So good that I’ve found myself spending more time out of the house and shop – also dabbling in photography and more recently dabbling in drone documentation for construction sites.  It pays fairly well for the little effort (once you stop crashing them) and it does allow one to be creative of sorts.
 
I have held on to some of the basic tools – I’m still the office fix-it guy, and I will never get rid of my bench, but now it’s full of drone parts and a laptop.  I also like traveling, but while I love my pickup, like you, I don’t “enjoy” it, and that too will be replaced next month with a more comfortable, road-friendly vehicle that  I’ve worked all my life to afford.  I’m thinking a Mercedes (hatchback of course, just in case I want to haul something).
 
People’s tastes and what not change over time, as well as what brings them pleasure.  Likely why I have two ex-wives.  Some never lose the wood bug, but for me it’s just been slightly replaced with something else.  As has already been mentioned, it doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing thing, it hasn’t been for me, but sometimes we move on to other things.  It took about 6 years for me to empty half my shop.  Sure, it’s a shame all that money spent on tools – hurt like heck when I finally sold my PC dovetail jig at a quarter of the cost, but hey, the guy was a high school shop teacher, so it is getting some use (and I did enjoy it while it was mine).  I now consider the tools I sold as rentals.

[daddo]

I've been like you for years. I got to think "Whats the purpose"? No one really appreciates the hard work it takes to build something- they just want to know what it costs. They don't care about the skilled procedures, just the final product, and if it has no real purpose, piddling in the shop is a waste. That's when I went a little abstract and started making things different and unexpected like curved furniture, what I call "Crazy legs" for tables, swing out drawers instead of pulled. I changed the Adirondack chair to flow instead of square pieces (Wait till you see the next one).
The purpose is learning and changing from the norm or the typical.

Then I got into metal working which increased learning 10 fold and my interests came back.   I wanted to make a bushing within .0005" of tolerances, learn bearing loads and uses for different types, metallurgy, gear designs, techniques and so on. It's fascinating.

Being able to go from wood to metal intrigues my interests. A far cry from almost selling it all off a three years ago.
From here, I may decide like you in the future to quit, but if I do, Ill have something else to learn.
At 64 this year- I want to learn how to sail!

I think my worst time is the summer when it is just too hot to be in the shop unless it is a job I must do and pay big $$ to run the a/c. I love the winter- coffee, radio, music, TV, seeing the fire outside at the burn pile while it is nasty and cold.

I can't tell you what you should do- you must decide that. We are always changing- perhaps do what you would really love to do, that is my best answer.

[Gary G™]

Doobes,

What would happen if you were working in the open air, such as in your driveway or backyard—would you still be doing things you never really enjoyed?
If so, sell and get out of the dungeon.
I love the process of building stuff.
I love the smell of fresh milled timber and fussing with joinery and designing built objects.
I love putting a finish on the wood and having other people enjoy it as much as I did making it.
Life is too short to have a hobby you don’t enjoy!!

[doobes]

Thanks all.

Lot's of good advice to contemplate. 

We've set a window (2020) for retirement that I will use as the "line in the sand" so to speak on making any hard decisions. The tools are already very old so are not losing any of their capability sitting in my environmentally controlled basement workshop. 


cheers,

[handi]

Hard to tell from your description which aspects you do not enjoy. The part about “never really enjoyed” might mean that you just walk away from woodworking.

On the other hand, your comment about being cooped up inside a windowless shop is pretty easy to fix, if not inexpensive.

At least to me, a clean, well ordered shop with lots of natural light is a joy to work in. A shop building with large open doors on each end and large windows along the sides would allow you to open it right up on nice days, almost like working outdoors. (I have seen workspaces in the Caribbean that were literally without Walls, just a roof to keep the sun off.)

A simpler solution would be to construct a long porch-like overhang on one end with an extended concrete slab leading out under it. Tools and workbenches on wheels can be rolled out into the fresh air to work when weather permits.

Another thought, based on your photography interest, is to combine the two. My business is built around filming just about everything I do in the workshop. Taking high quality photos, making them interesting, and showing unique perspectives adds an entirely new dimension to my work.

Just a few thoughts off the top of my head.

[EricU]

I would say for a number of years I didn't want to do woodworking enough to clean my shop to the point that I could actually do projects.  One issue is that if I did make any furniture, it would clutter up the house more.  Trying to declutter the house for the last couple of years.

But I have never lost the desire to do more woodworking in the future.  I'm sure in 25-30 years it will be time to divest myself of my tools, but not yet.

[Bibliophile 13]

It’s okay to walk away from a hobby. It’s also okay to just let your shop sit idle for a few months or even a year or two.

I’ve had dry spells of a few months when I just don’t want to pick up my tools. So I didn’t. When I needed to build something or found a project that grabbed my interest, I got back to woodworking.

I think that if I were in your position, I could see a few possibilities.

You could just let the shop sit for a while and see what happens to your interests. Woodworking may come back to you at some point, or you may not miss it at all. Take six months or a year off and see what happens.

You could start cleaning out the shop, selling your least essential tools, and seeing how you feel about downsizing. Sometimes it’s a relief to get rid of some stuff. A cleaned-out shop might be more pleasant to work in.

You could remodel the shop, adding some natural light (if possible) and try to make it a more pleasant workspace. New flooring, new paint, reorganized storage—those can make a space feel far more welcoming and easy to work in.

You could do a massive purge of the shop. Sell all but the most essential tools, and put the money into your new hobbies. Other people will enjoy using the tools, and you get to repurpose the shop space.