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Are wives (or husbands...) that bad?

SomeGuy

SomeGuy

Hobbyist
I see lots of little comments in the threads here about wives not being happy with our hobbies in some way or another...either us spending too much time in the shop, spending too much on tools, too much dirt, taking up too much space and so on.

Just a little tongue-in-cheek going on? Or do your wives actually give you a hard time?

Mine definitely doesn't, she isn't per say interested in the hobby but will entertain me at least by coming out in the garage and seeing what I've done each day for 5 minutes. Even better though, she has suggested that when we finish the basement of the house, rather than putting in a bedroom, I should put in a small second shop. It wouldn't be for my metal working related things, too messy for indoors, with the fumes and chips and such. I'm thinking it would have a workbench for electronics works, a desk for a computer and 3d printer, some storage space for parts/materials and bigger portable tools (e.g. mitre saw, table saw), and that sort of stuff. Would actually give me a lot of flexibility by freeing up some space in the garage (like my bolt bin), for other equipment.

Anyway, so how supportive are your signficant others of your hobby metal working?
 
my very understanding wife knows exactly why I have a shop and why she can’t park her car in the garage. When I get too annoying she tells me to go downstairs and cut metal until I’m once again fit company.
 
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I would say you are very lucky if you have a supportive and tolerant companion and you should cherish it. Although I suspect many of the comments here in question are somewhat tonque in cheek they are also serious to varying degrees. Personally mine is largely supportive but does express concerns about space and heavy machinery that she will have to deal with if she becomes widowed. I think she imagines that she will have to pay big bucks to have someone dispose of all my "junk" to the landfill. I have to carry on an ongoing PR campaign to convince her that there is a significant market out there for this stuff and she would just have to call in an auctioneer. Actually it has come to mind that it could be very helpful if knowledgeable friends were available to advise her in the event an estate sale was necessary.
 
Canadium said:
I would say you are very lucky if you have a supportive and tolerant companion and you should cherish it. Although I suspect many of the comments here in question are somewhat tonque in cheek they are also serious to varying degrees. Personally mine is largely supportive but does express concerns about space and heavy machinery that she will have to deal with if she becomes widowed. I think she imagines that she will have to pay big bucks to have someone dispose of all my "junk" to the landfill. I have to carry on an ongoing PR campaign to convince her that there is a significant market out there for this stuff and she would just have to call in an auctioneer. Actually it has come to mind that it could be very helpful if knowledgeable friends were available to advise her in the event an estate sale was necessary.
Click to expand...
We have a deal - she goes first. Easier for me to get rid of 130 sweaters than for her to get rid of 3000 lbs of tools and machinery
 
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Canadium said:
Personally mine is largely supportive but does express concerns about space and heavy machinery that she will have to deal with if she becomes widowed. I think she imagines that she will have to pay big bucks to have someone dispose of all my "junk" to the landfill. I have to carry on an ongoing PR campaign to convince her that there is a significant market out there for this stuff and she would just have to call in an auctioneer. Actually it has come to mind that it could be very helpful if knowledgeable friends were available to advise her in the event an estate sale was necessary.
Click to expand...

Ditto
 
Mine is uber-supportive. I'm considering another shop re-design so last night we discussed it.
"You need to make it so that it works for you. So whatever that takes I fully support"
She's a keeper!
 
SomeGuy said:
I see lots of little comments in the threads here about wives not being happy with our hobbies in some way or another...either us spending too much time in the shop, spending too much on tools, too much dirt, taking up too much space and so on.

Just a little tongue-in-cheek going on? Or do your wives actually give you a hard time?

Mine definitely doesn't, she isn't per say interested in the hobby but will entertain me at least by coming out in the garage and seeing what I've done each day for 5 minutes. Even better though, she has suggested that when we finish the basement of the house, rather than putting in a bedroom, I should put in a small second shop. It wouldn't be for my metal working related things, too messy for indoors, with the fumes and chips and such. I'm thinking it would have a workbench for electronics works, a desk for a computer and 3d printer, some storage space for parts/materials and bigger portable tools (e.g. mitre saw, table saw), and that sort of stuff. Would actually give me a lot of flexibility by freeing up some space in the garage (like my bolt bin), for other equipment.

Anyway, so how supportive are your signficant others of your hobby metal working?
Click to expand...
She encourages me to buy stuff! I have spent decades mastering the art of looking REALY SAD when i don't have something I want.. It's a win win situation.
She's happy I stop pouting.
I'm happy with a new toy.
 
Doggggboy said:
She encourages me to buy stuff! I have spent decades mastering the art of looking REALY SAD when i don't have something I want.. It's a win win situation.
She's happy I stop pouting.
I'm happy with a new toy.
Click to expand...
Hah! I used that technique to buy a motorcycle. Every time one passed us on the road I'd let out a small whimper... took a year but but it worked :P
 
My shop stuff is willed to my brother to make it a little easier on my better half should something happen.

For my situation, it's much tongue in cheek but the primary source is "her" comments. Although she sees the space, mess, unfinished projects, etc. etc. etc. as a pain in the butt she also appreciates when I build/design something for us/the house. If I'm working on someone else's stuff there's not as much appreciation... regardless of who it's for, there is admiration for being able to solve some sort of issue by creative problem solving and having some degree of "maker" skills.

She'll keep me company for a little bit in the shop but tires of it quickly - she's been "stealing" my space because she's gotten interested in making basic wood working projects but we're incompatible when it comes to working together... she doesn't have "maker" influence from family and thus lacks a lot of exposure, experience, and theory - it's best if I keep my "why'd you do it like that?" questions to a minimum and just wait to be asked before I make any suggestions.

Happy wife equals happy life.
 
Doggggboy said:
She encourages me to buy stuff! I have spent decades mastering the art of looking REALY SAD when i don't have something I want.. It's a win win situation.
She's happy I stop pouting.
I'm happy with a new toy.
Click to expand...

If there were a portmanteau word that combined pathetic and genius, this would be a good occasion to use it.
 
Oh my...... Where do I start.....

Mostly it is tongue in cheek for me. But many a serious thing is said in jest.

Mine really doesn't like me spending so much time in the shop. She would rather I stayed up at the house and used my equipment there every hour or so instead. To keep her happy, this would have to last 45 minutes on and 15 off for a 3:1 duty cycle until the machinery stopped working or I had another accident.
 
Mine understands 100%. She runs a small yarn dying business and is obsessed about yarn and fibers as much as I am with all my hobbies. The only thing she jabs at me about is that her hobbies actually generate money and mine are the complete opposite (she's not wrong....). Although I'm starting to pick up some side work/make products to sell, and this Jan has been pretty good thus far.

One half of our basement is her knitting machines, loom, sewing and yarn stuff, etc, the other half contains my workbench (electronics, 3d printers, etc), bandsaw, scrollsaw, wood lathe (and kids areas). The garage is all mine for machining and fabrication stuff, and the barn contains the rest of my junk and my "wood shop" (disorganized mess). I occasionally build machines for her business to make her more efficient and that buys me some tolerance lol. We often joke about how much manufacturing capacity is contained within the walls of our small 1000sf home.

Some of our most enjoyable nights are spent working downstairs in our respective half's. Me building and painting fishing lures, or other stuff at the bench, and her winding yarn or running a knitting machine etc. She doesn't come out in the garage much, but occasionally she'll hang out in the doorway for a quick convo, and point to something and ask "have you always had that?"

I enjoy her companionship. We have many things in common, and activities we like doing together that bring us joy, but at the same time, need our own hobbies, our own spaces, and our own pursuits that bring us happiness without the other person involved. We are not always on the same page about everything, but we 100% on the same page about that.
 
My wife has been telling me for a years to plan for retirement.

While I am turning a room in the basement into a little machine shop, I have been building alliances with business people in the Cambridge area to support my interest in aviation, precision machining and developing technology for manufacturing.

My wife has enjoyed working from home (4 or 5 days a week) since Covid started.
She is turning Into a home body, so the more time I spend in my basement LAB the less time she has to worry about where I am !!
 
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