Quote Originally Posted by Tony Miller View Post
Hopefully my "sit behind a desk" comment was not seen as a bad thing. My day job is basically behind a desk doing technical consulting, my strop business is hands on making things. I should have more correctly said it seems like the young guys I meet (and hire) today have no interest in making anything physical. They want a job where they are at a computer all day using only their minds. It is still creating, it is still hard work but I still stand by the hands on creating something physical with the hands is fading.
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There will always be a few wanting a job producing somehting long ago lost, a grinder for Dovo, etc.... but they are few and far between.

Tony
No worries Tony.
I too like working with my hands. I like restoring straights, and I am slowly building my workshop by hand to try my hand at making a straight.
I spend quite a bit of time of this hobby, but doing this as a way to earn money and provide for my family is beyond my grasp. And to be honest, I think it would take the fun out of it, and leave me with stress instead.

I am lucky enough to really like my job as a programmer. I spend a lot of time after hours learning new things, reading books about programming languages / operating systems / ... to improve my skills and knowledge, and because I simply like doing it.

Imo, my job and my hobby complement each other.
My job provides the money that I need to provide for my family, and gives me the opportunity to spend a lot of time working with my hands without worrying about income.
My last finished resto took me over 20 hours. Then I spent an hour honing it, and I sold it cheaply.
The fact that I didn't need to worry about money allowed me to make a perfect-as-possible restoration for someone with a modest budget, rather than basing my price on the amount of time it took me.