Hobby Thread - January 3, 2026 [Angler Rex]

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) its first spin of the new year and it landed on ice fishing.

What are you hobbying?

As per usual Hobby Thread etiquette, keep this thread limited to hobbying. All (legal) hobbying is welcome. Discussion of current events can go in the afternoon open thread or hang out here and talk hobbying or switch between. Pants are optional but please fully assess the temperature situation if you choose to go without. As always, puns are welcome and encouraged.

Play nice. Don't be a troll and do not feed the trolls.

Ice fishing? Apparently ice fishing is a thing for people in cold weather climates. Bundle up, find a frozen pond or lake, drill a hole, drop a fishing line, and wait.

Dino is not wise in the ways of ice fishing and does not enjoy being cold. That means Gray Box wisdom and energy needs to help with this theme (especially if the Horde is talking current events on the open thread).

Are you wise in the ways of ice fishing? If so, please share. If not, contribute your own hobbying interests and projects.

Gotta start somewhere:

Underwater camera:

Ice Thickness Safety Chart: How Thick Should Ice Be for Skating, Fishing and Driving?

Short answer: If you're going skating or ice fishing with a group, stay off ice less than 4 inches thick.

But wait, there's more!

3 inches - A single person on foot
4 inches - Group in a single file line
7 1/2 inches - Passenger Car (2-ton gross)
8 inches - Light truck (2 1/2-ton gross)
10 inches - Medium truck (3 1/2-ton gross)
12 inches - Heavy truck (8-ton gross)
15 inches - 10 Tons
20 inches - 25 Tons
30 inches - 70 Tons
36 inches - 110 tons

Anything that can be done, can be done with more:

This is more crafting than ice fishing, but enjoy this project to make a lure. Pretty amazing end result.

Ice fishing shack and bar in Quebec. Alcohol seems to be a common theme of ice fishing.

Advice:

Clever cake with an ice fishing theme:

Horde hobbying with foam - anyone else do hobbying with foam?

From Persnickety to you:

I had to make some gingerbread men for a parade, so I used foamboard sheeting. Seems once you start making gingerbreadpeople, you can't stop. I assume it's the fumes from using a hotwire foam cutter.

So I made big gingerbread men and bigger gingerbread men and a few smallish gingerbread men, than a gnome just to wrap things up.

'Twas fun! I would like to make more whimsical but useless items, but feel it's best that I step slowly away from the hotwire cutter for a bit.

From The Neon Madman:

I've been kind of working aimlessly so far in the shop this winter, but I found myself with a need to cut foam and have always kind of wanted a hot-wire foam cutter, so I made one. Fairly simple and seems to work quite well so far. The wire came from a thrift-store hair dryer, wood was scraps around the shop, and I already had the rest of the bits and pieces.

I experimented with a cutout that I happened to need for a case for one of my cordless hole punchers. The first try is a little messy and rough, but foam is cheap and cloth on top will mask any irregularities (oooh, definitely red velvet).

Dino note - I always appreciate people that can make their own tools. Well done.

From the theme last week:

Hat tip: JQ

Did you miss the Hobby Thread last week? We did a Year in review theme. 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, contribute your own. Send thoughts, suggestions and photos of your hobbying to moronhobbies at protonmail dot com. Do mighty things.

posted by Open Blogger at 05:30 PM

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