Hobby Thread - December 28, 2024 [TRex]

Welcome hobbyists! Pull up a chair and sit a spell with the Horde in this little corner of the interweb. This is the mighty, mighty officially sanctioned Ace of Spades Hobby Thread.

We gave the Ace of Spades Wheel of Hobbies(TM) a spin and it perked up and reminded us that this was the LAST HOBBY THREAD of the year. Goodness.

Will you indulge a few random words in recognition of the year end before we get into the usual shenanigans? TRex treasures the people who make things happen. Hobbyists are the makers, the creators, the crafters, the builders, the designers, and the visionaries. You are those people. Thank you for being here. Thank you for sharing and contributing. Thank you for encouraging others. Thank you for the notes (especially from shy lurkers who are kind enough to pop in periodically to affirm their existence).

Inspiration is a wonderful part of the Hobby Thread. It happens when someone is inspired and takes action. It might be to pick up a forgotten project, attempt a build, or learn something new. TRex respects those with a bias towards action and the bravery and humility involved in tackling something new.

Another fun part of the Hobby Thread is connections between Gray Box friends through shared memories and interests. The Horde is a collection of oddballs, but there are likely to be some among the Horde that resonate with each other. If not, at least the Horde will sympathize and empathize and offer encouragement and support.

Thank you for being among the Horde and thank you for being involved with the Hobby Thread. A special prayer for those among the Horde that are struggling with loss, health challenges, or the other weirdness that life can produce. No Hordeling is ever alone. Shoot me an email any time if you require confirmation.

A special word of thanks to the COBs and contributors. I have no idea what I am doing. No, really. No idea at all. We are making it up as we go. They have been helpful and supportive and none of this is possible without them. Thank you. Anyway...on with the show.

Rather than a theme of a single hobby, tonight we shall speak of accomplishments and aspirations.

Looking back, what were your favorite hobby projects from the past year? What new skills did you learn? What did you boldly attempt and succeed in doing? Has anything from prior Hobby Thread themes inspired you?

Looking ahead, what do you plan to tackle in the coming year? Are there hobby projects that have been on your list that you FINALLY want to address or complete? Are there new skills that you want to learn or new hobbies that you have always wanted to try?

We are looking for pure and undiluted enthusiasm, optimism and ambition. This is not about guilt for prior hobby attempts or a competition for who has accumulated the most unbuilt kits or unfinished projects. Looking for the positive parts of hobbying: pride of accomplishment and the fresh energy that a new year brings.

As per usual Hobby Thread etiquette, keep this thread limited to hobbying. Politics, current events and religious debates can live in threads elsewhere. Even though it is arguably religion, college football is fair game. Play nice. Do not be a troll and do not feed the trolls.

TRex knows what you are thinking. What can we do with all these cardboard boxes from Christmas? Surely there must be something crafty that we can make instead of throwing them all away!

Building a cardboard safe? Wow. Will someone among the Horde tackle this challenge? Please send a note if you do. Would love to hear about your experience and see your result.

This gets the official 2024 TRex award for whimsy. Someone out there in Hordeland has to give this a try:

Are you wise in the ways of the sock monkey?

Sock monkeys trace their origins to red heeled socks made in 1932 called the Rockford Red Heel. They were made by a company called Nelson Knitting Mill. In the early 1950s, people made monkey toys and dolls from the socks. Naturally, a legal battle ensued over patent rights when one woman obtained a patent and sued another maker who was also making sock monkeys. The person being sued went to the company for help to declare the patent invalid. In the end, Nelson Knitting Mill ended up with the rights and Rockford, Illinois became the home of the sock monkey. Today, there is actually such a thing as the Sock Monkey Museum.

Looking for a new hobby for 2025? Learn how to play the bagpipes!

Remember this from our 3D printing Hobby Thread theme in early November?

Thomas Bender was inspired and built one of his own.

It took me about a month to put together in fits and starts.

If you have all of the nuts and bolts on hand and order the turntable on Amazon, it should take less than a week to print and assemble. When filled with concrete and assembled, it weighs 10lbs.

Aesthetically, it is beautiful, sadly, it is not very useful.

It has two main problems, first, the mechanism that opens and closes the jaws is a fine dot pitch 100mm bolt, which takes forever and a day to open and close, second, being that the clamping parts are made of plastic, they cannot apply enough clamping force to hold anything.

The authors main use for the vise was to paint miniature figures, and for that task, there are no equals. There are people who have modified the jaw plate to allow you to mount small metal vise assemblies, replacing the plastic vise assemblies.

Outstanding. Thank you!

Daughter of Piper was busy building things out of Legos over the Christmas holiday. The first is a poinsettia. It has 608 pieces. Yes, that is right. 608 pieces.

The second build was cherry blossoms.

Well done and thank you for sharing! Did anyone else tackle Lego builds over the holiday?

We spotted a color wheel in an antiques store earlier this week. Everything OTHER than the color wheel and shiny metallic tree was for sale which tells you something.

ANNOUNCEMENT: We are going to do a theme that includes gingerbread houses at some point in the very near future. Interested to hear about your builds and your memories. If you have a photo or two of a gingerbread project that you would like to share, shoot me a note. Other gingerbread forms like gingerbread men are in scope. Gingers are a different topic and thread entirely.

Did you miss the Hobby Thread last week with a theme of Christmas and Hanukkah crafting? The comments may be closed, but you can re-live the content.

Notable comments from last week:

Words of wisdom:

"Because despite all our troubles, when things are grim out in that wide round world of ours, that's when it's really important to have a good hobby." Posted by: tankascribe at June 22, 2024 07:41 PM (HWxAD).

If you have trouble finding something in the content or comments that resonates with you, hijack the thread for your hobbying as you see fit. We will feature a different theme next time. Send thoughts, suggestions and photos of your hobbying to moronhobbies at protonmail dot com The color wheel is not for sale. Neither is the poinsettia.

posted by Open Blogger at 05:30 PM

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