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05-17-2019, 05:24 AM
(This post was last modified: 05-17-2019, 07:16 AM by Hank Knight.)
Woodworking is my hobby. I don't find int relaxing. In fact I often find it very stressful. I'm up at 5:30 this morning because I've been lying in bed for a hour trying to figure out how to solve a problem with my current woodworking project - so I just got up. I do it because I like it - no, I love it. I like wood. I like tools. I like solving problems because it keeps my brain working. I like creating something useful and beautiful from an idea that began in my head, and I get great satisfaction from a finished project. But it's not relaxing. Someone on this forum said their woodworking consisted of beating boards into submission. I feel that way sometimes. I'm usually exhausted after a day in the shop, but it's a good exhaustion. It comes from hard work at at something I love to do, but it's not relaxing.
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I don’t do woodworking to relax, but there are some aspect of hand tool work that I find very relaxing. If I have experienced an event that has created stress, nothing is more therapeutic than going into my shop, grabbing a scrap piece of wood, and working it with a hand plane until it is gone or the blade is dull! The sight, sound, and scent of doing that just calms me.
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I don't. I do woodworking to be creative. This is why I very very seldom build the same thing twice. I also refuse to do much work for money. I have a decent day job... my woodworking is my time. I love to putter and tinker and this requires woodworking, electonics skills, welding and other skills. The need to create branches into construction and I am always building on to the acreage or remodeling a room in the house.
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I have always found it relaxing, even when things go wrong. The stressful part was dealing with folks who would order something then nitpick trying to lower the price when it was done. I rarely sell things now, mostly they are gifted, donated, or used for the home. Like others, I make things that fit specific needs in my life, take my time, sit in thought and work through obstacles, music in the shop...
If I get frustrated, I stop.
Start again later.
Jim in Okie
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(05-17-2019, 06:16 AM)Splinter Puller Wrote: I do woodworking to be creative. This is why I very very seldom build the same thing twice.
Me, too. I also find it relaxing. It’s also something to fill the gaps between trips.
Carolyn
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(05-17-2019, 04:37 AM)Duane N Wrote: After a lot of trial and error I came up with one made out of Cedar and 1 1/2" copper rings.
Nice. Where do you source the rings?
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I consider it recreation more than relaxation. An activity I enjoy engaging in voluntarily, as it's own reward. Any relaxation is a side benefit in the form of distraction from the other obligations and stresses of life.
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(05-16-2019, 01:42 PM)Handplanesandmore Wrote: From time to time, I hear people say they do woodworking to relax. Do you belong to that group?
Is woodworking a relaxation avenue for you?
Simon
Yes, it is.
It's not relaxation in the same way napping or watching something on the TV in a comfy chair is relaxing.
It engages a different part of my brain. It allows me to use my hands and creativity. I love the problem solving (I almost never use other people's plans for my projects). It is so different from the cerebral and emotional part of my job/ministry that it is a great contrast.
I'd say it is rejuvenating more than relaxing. More often than not I need to be rejuvenated more than I need to relax.
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I echo the comments of Peter.
Woodworking is a change of pace from my day job, where I am working with children and families, understanding their needs and difficulties, and helping find a solution. Trade a bench for a couch, and the work is not really different - both involve creative problem-solving. However woodworking is physical, and it is rewarding to work this way. It is generally a faster result, since some therapy can take years. Both are satisfying. A change is like a holiday.
Regards from Perth
Derek
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(05-17-2019, 10:04 AM)Peter Tremblay Wrote: Yes, it is.
It's not relaxation in the same way napping or watching something on the TV in a comfy chair is relaxing.
It engages a different part of my brain. It allows me to use my hands and creativity. I love the problem solving (I almost never use other people's plans for my projects). It is so different from the cerebral and emotional part of my job/ministry that it is a great contrast.
I'd say it is rejuvenating more than relaxing. More often than not I need to be rejuvenated more than I need to relax.
Peter, your comment fits my reasons as well.
I did pretty much the same thing in my profession and have had a string of hobbies that transformed work into play, in the same way. Woodwork is another, although with some practical applications which fit my personality more than a hobby, like golf.
It's problem solving with bits of mental stimulation, no damage incurred or wasted energy. I do a lot of mental woodwork, often losing interest with a project which assures me it, in finished form, will end up at a thrift store. Or, deconstructed for another project.
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