What are your other hobbies?

[mtcm76]

I belong to a few forums on other topics of interest to me. I am one of the newer members of this forum and just wondered what were some of the other hobbies of members here.

I am mechanically inclined but not very artistic. I love doing things with my hands but am somewhat limited in things that interest me because I am not the type of person that can make something from nothing. I can not take a piece of wood, use a knife, and end up with a chess piece or nothing like that.

In addition to liking things that are mechanical I also like things that are old and possibly crafted by people from past generations. I love history and just down right love old stuff.

At the age of 10 my father and I started a coin collection. For many years we would go to coin shops, pawn shops, etc. to look for items to go into our collection. Where we were from there were no coin shows and coin collecting clubs like what is available today. For several years we put together a pretty nice collection. Unfortunately that collection had to be sold some years later when my mom got sick to cover medical expenses.

While collecting coins I also got interested in stamp collecting. I started that at about the age of 12. It is something that I still do today but it is not one of my main interests at this time. My collection is US and World Wide, mint and used. I currently have about 15,000 stamps. Nothing of much value though and when you consider that when the collection is sold it will go at a wholesale price...so not much there to get excited about.

I started restoring antique radios about 15 years ago. Though my dad went ot electronics class after WWII he didn't do that for a living. He did tinker a lot in the attic and I was always there to watch and assist. I have restored probably several hundred radios. I do not collect though. I usually give them away to friends, family, and co-workers. At this time I have about 100 radios in my garage awaiting restoration. I call that my retirement stash. No, it will not be sold to suppliment my retirement but is there to keep me busy during my retirement.

I just started working on fishing reels recently. I have not decided if I want to collect or just do like I do with my radios. I enjoy tearing them down and learning about the different mechanisms that were designed and developed. So far it has been a fun hobby and unlike radios and such I seem to find a lot available at antique stores, pawn shops, and resale shops. Of course I am not looking for something of value but more something to occupy my time. The hunt and the repair is what I find appealing.

I would be interested in hearing what other hobbies you enjoy. Did you start with fishing reels which lead to something else. Did you start with something else that lead to fishing reels?

[RAM]

Many of us in ORCA started collecting reels because we began fishing as kids with family, hence we have an innate tendency to relate old tackle to good times. At least I think that is true. It has been for me. Reels in particular are intriguing due their mechanical nature (versus painted wood-aka "lures"). No problem with collecting lures (I have some) but there is not much there but lures. The variety and relative complexity of reels is what appeals to most ORCANs I would guess. A lot of different companies involved, and a lot of history. Reel history is a big part of ORCA.

I do collect fishing accessories (oilers, etc. reel- related), some art work I can afford, but little else other than reels. "you gotta try to keep it under control!".

Since you like to tinker with doodads, reels are going to please you. No shortage in sometimes complex and sometimes crazy designs and features. Welcome to a sort of nutty but friendly forum. By the way, we have a great book on the repair, maintenance, and cleaning of reels. A must for guys like you. Go to the ORCA Store for details.

Keep at it! Bad Bob (various aliases)

[dbummee]

I started out collecting strictly reels, using whatever lures that came into my possession
as trade bait for another reel I wanted. Of late, though, I'm finding that I enjoy taking an old,
bamboo flyrod, that has been abused and abandoned to the attic or the barn, and returning it, for the
most part, into what it once was. A time consuming job yes, but at my age, time is about all I have left.
I have about 30 of them hanging around here now, much to my wife's disgust, but I always remind her
that they're money in the bank. I can't imagine that she believes it, but is only humoring me.

Tom DuRose

[john elder]

I recently got to journey back to my first love, woodworking. I mostly end up doing restoration projects, since I also enjoy that and it doesn’t require the attention/time needed to complete something like this poplar/cherry tacklebox, made in the style of the leather-bound boxes of Vom Hofe:

Wooden hinge just to prove I could…not really practical for the boat, but fine for the display:

Lots of room for painted sticks:


a place for flies to stick:

and the most important spots:….for the reels!

[Jonathan P. Kring]

Pretty cool John, didn't realize you had that talent!

[jimbofish]

Nice work! Especially the wooden hinge.

I did a double take on the compartments under the lid, until I realized there were two pair of hinges, not one.

[Mike N]

John: that's a great tackle box and shows real talent. Nicely done.

[Mike N]

This past fall, I went to a local sawmill and bought some "waste" slab cuts of cherry, oak and a few exotic woods. A few weeks of sanding and many quarts of tung oil and polyurethane later, I had a couple of fairly nice coffee tables and benches to give to friends as gifts.

[mtcm76]

John, That is awesome work. I like the corner joints of the lid and box. Very nice work guy.

[john elder]

Thanks for the pats, guys! Wood is just beautiful and forgiving compared to metal; my projects always seem to take unexpected turns, but if it's good wood, it rarely ends up in the fireplace!

[Reel Geezer]

This fully functioning wooden version of the Meisselbach Surf Reel is further evidence of John's woodworking talents.

[RAM]

Mike, Deke-Really nice work! Keep it up!
Bad Bob

[Jonathan P. Kring]

Mike and John, you could open a business "Woodworkers Extroidenaire". I have a few other hobbies besides reels, none very productive. Golf ( Not a good player), Play harmonica (Not very well), junk collector as Elder could attest, collect fishing books, fish when I get motivated, limited bicycling, I can do a pretty fair job of irritating others, not sure if that's a hobby, but I can be pretty good at it. Being retired, you can do pretty much as you please, collect whatever you wish and just enjoy life.

[Bill Sonnett]

As a boy, collecting butterflys, stamps, seashells (all of these have gone by the wayside long ago). For many years I was into doing taxidermy, particularly birds . At present I still have an active collection of close to 50 years duration in collecting pre-1960 bass fishing books and have enjoyed birdwatching for many decades. And of course collecting and fishing with old tackle, (reels, rods and lures) as well as continued research and writing about the history of freshwater fishing in America that have the largest portion of my attention.

[stidog]

I was actually debating for a couple years on what hobby to take up. The 65 mustang went with the Xwife, work gave me zero time to put the Shelby in shows. At a flea market I stumbled across a V8 insignia off a 37 Ford. Thought that would be neat, but that collection ended up a collection of 1.... Then dad got a Marhoff from a neighbor and it needed a box, and I saw neat stuff on ebay....