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New Hobbies in the Future

I have built 3 spice racks so far over the past 35 years..... when I get a rail saw, or table saw, I'll be unstoppable. :lol:
What's a rail saw? Radial Arm Saw? Had one but it wasn't all that good but my table saw was an old Craftsman and was pretty good surprisingly plus a good armful of woodworking power tools. For some reason I still have a router....and way too many power hand saws or 'Skilsaws'
 
Well first we need to determine at which stage I am at. 79 in July. I already have a 34 foot sail boat, a 41 Ford tractor, 4 motorcycles for regular use. A 007 Chev pickup for winter use, and my 77 Dodge camper van. And some small fishing boats. The van has kept me busy this last three winters, along with the boat engine that needed a bunch of work last winter.
The 318 and 727 have kept me busy this winter.

For the warmer months we have plenty to do with trips in the van, sailing, fishing, and a bunch of other things.

This year I need to make a decision about the sailboat and unload some Yamaha motorcycles. They are getting too heavy to push around, and I do not need them.
 
Out of all the things mentioned, how come y'all ain't admitting to this one??? I still do even though I no longer have a MOPAR to either drive, enjoy, or wrench on...cr8crshr/Bill:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::usflag::usflag::usflag:

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Unfortunately, years ago got rid of my Lionel and American Flyer trains. Still have HO and Aurora T-jet stuff !
 
RC cars, it's a no-brainer. The hobby-grade RC cars have much of the same functional suspension & steering parts as full-size cars, but with electronic motors, speed controllers and servos instead. They can get spendy too, but decidedly more affordable than full-size cars. And you can choose from a plethora of makes, models & bodies. You can go for drag cars, offroad cars or on-road cars. They look great on your shelf. If you like wrenching on stuff, RC cars are a great hobby. The only downside is our failing eyesight...makes peering at tiny screws and parts a bit more challenging.

The hobby seems to be declining though as most kids nowadays want to buy something that's ready-to-run out-of-the-box, building and wrenching seems to be dying out with today's "I want it NOW" generation.

I got into the RC car stuff back in the day. Started with the Tamiya Grasshopper upgraded the motor and ball bearings. That thing was fast. Then bought the Kyosho Icarus and then the Associated RC10 for off road and RC12 for track. Had a hard time driving that RC12, so I would run asphalt tires on the RC10 and put a NASCAR body on it.

Those where the days.
 
I got out of the Air Force in 75, went through a divorce and married again in 77. The new wife's brother was a dirt track racer and for the next 20 years I was heavily involved in his race team. After I had my fill of racing 2 or 3 nights a week I decided to go fishing. Floating around a lake fishing for Walley and Crappie soon turned into Bass fishing and that turned into tournaments and a fully equipped Bass boat. After 10 years of tournament fishing I sold my boat and got into Steelhead fishing then metal detecting then geo caching then photography. When I retired in 13 I bought my 2nd of 5 classic cars and have been working on something ever since. Last Summer I told the wife that we needed a good cruiser that I didn't have to work on all the time. She went to work on the interweb and found several cars for us to look at, all within 1 1/2 hours from home. She finally found a drop dead gorgeous 2010 Mustang GT 4.6L Tremec 5 gear with 14,500 miles on it. I put my 66 Belvedere up for sale last Fall, listed here in classified, and when it is gone I still have the Mustang and metal detector and GPS and way too much camera equipment and enough fishing equipment to choke a whale to keep me busy. By the way, I'll be 74 this year, have some health issues but still get around fairly well. The wife and I were talking about taking the Mustang to Tennessee this Spring and running the Tail of the Dragon in both directions then visiting some friends in NC.
 
I'm figuring I'm about 5 years from retirement. I've already gotten more and more into cooking in recent years - which is very therapeutic and enjoyable for me. I'd like to eventually get a smoker and get into that. Maybe even before I retire. I'd like to do more reading and get back into making models in retirement. Outdoor activities (hiking, etc...) are also things I do now but would like to increase with retirement. I also want to work on getting rid of car parts and other "stuff" while I'm able, to reduce the amount my wife and daughter will have to deal with after I'm gone. All of this is with the hope that I'm still healthy and able bodied (walking again :)). I try not to put too much of this stuff off until retirement, because we need to enjoy every day now. We never know which is our last. I do have high hopes for more discretionary time to do what I want, though. For now, work is the dominant consumer of my time.
 
Damn, what did you use to cut the wood with, your pocket knife?
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:lol:


So.......are you halfway to building #4?:lol:
I didn't spend 35 years making them.... oi vey. :lol:

The latest one has been on the wall for 25 years now.
 
I got into the RC car stuff back in the day. Started with the Tamiya Grasshopper upgraded the motor and ball bearings. That thing was fast. Then bought the Kyosho Icarus and then the Associated RC10 for off road and RC12 for track. Had a hard time driving that RC12, so I would run asphalt tires on the RC10 and put a NASCAR body on it.

Those where the days.
Now you're talking with the old stuff. I started on a Hornet and upgraded to the BigWig.. jeez damn near 40 yrs ago. Got 3rd place in the 4wd indoor season '88. Had to lower it and make swaybars and other stuff. Lots of fun.

Now spicerack making?? I hadn't considered!! :lol:
 
Once I enter the retirement village I will get my name on the waiting list to join the pigeon feeding team. There is also the excitement of a competitive crochet tournament to take in there.
:lol:
 
You can get those rails to use with any saw.

...or you can get the 49" clamp.

...or make your own from a 1x4 and C clamps, like I did before those things were available.
 
Guys race those here, a lot of young bracket racers do it in the winter.
Believe it or not, they pay as good or better than a real drag strip.

I also would like to get into building model cars again. Maybe when I retire.
When I was a kid in Concord Calif. we had a place called Buzzy Bees,
on the Corner of Concord Blvd., sort of big place, 50k sqft a RC cars & hobbies shop
was an old dealership I think, (next door to Service Center Speed shop)
Buzzy bees they sold models & bodies, air planes etc.
we had competitions against different towns & hobby shops, like tournaments
mostly kids 8-14 (IIRC) & they had an adults class too,
they were really cutthroat & would fight a lot

I had 40/41 Fords & Willys my favorites for drags, gassers,
a few others altered & dragster, they didn't do so well
had some cool ones with bodies, like GT40s, Cobras, Chapparral or CanAm cars
they had a scale dragstrip, like 1/16:1 (1/12:1 maybe)
& a radical road course with like 12 lanes
it was for 1/24-25:1 scale IIRC they were a lot bigger than the slot cars today
road-course had like 16-17 turns, really wide took a whole huge room up
they would haul *** & fly off, if you didn't slow into a few of the corners
guys would stand in the center or known bad corners,
just to put cars back on the track

(place was a muffler shop last time I saw, been 10+ years since I've been back there now)

I had a box/like huge suitcase 24" tall like 18" deep, w/opening hinged front,
w/shelves, drawers & supplies extra tires wheels, even bodies in the lil' drawers,
made out of 1/4" ply & Masonite IIRC
that my stepdad Bob built me, to carry my racecars, trinkets
I was decked out, I was into it bigtime
he built a few cars frames/w cages to stiffen them for me from scratch too
with braising/brass rods (he was an amazing fabricator of the day, pipefitter by trade)
& I'd pick out a body, paint it underside, they were clear, usually some metalflake color
had the white tires for the road-course & the black stickies for the dragstrip
spent many a weekend not at a real track down there with Bob

I went thru a big model faze when I lived in Alaska, in my 20's
just to thwart off cabin fever
I'd sit at the kitchen table watch TV, it was dark a lot in winter months
& build 1/24-25:1 scale models mostly...
I had a lil hobby shop in the close by shopping center,
I'd buy like 3 models
just to get good engines or good rims & tires or blower motors etc.
all detailed out
(I think I was getting high on the glue, I went overboard)
Built a bunch of Monster Trucks or 4x4's too when it 1st started,
from scratch, same deal buy stuff/several to build 1 & had a crapload of spares
& make my own
When I moved back to Calif. I gave them to my nephew,
he blew most of them up with firecrackers or traded them for sports equipment or balls

Wall of text - Holy wall of text Batman, Budnicks is reminiscing again.jpg
 
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I am retired from motorcycle riding, I won't be doing any more demo derbies, and I may be done with all other forms racing though I'm not 100% sure since I still have a race car.
But I will never move to another hobby from cars as long as I can use tools and drive. If it ever gets to point I can't do that, then there is probably no reason to even think about taking up a new hobby anyway.
 
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