
Ask HN: What's your tangible hobby? - selmat
Most of us are working with virtual things - software, network, marketing, analytics, etc.<p>I still have an inevitable need to do something tangible. Especially at spring. I am more than happy if I can repair something at home, car, do some gardening, etc. But nothing regular.<p>Wondering if you have any tangible hobby. Have you web or blog where you share you hobby-expertise? I&#x27;d like to read what other people are doing in their spare time.
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mindcrime
I like to build electronic "stuff", or at least play around with building
circuits and stuff. For quite some time now I've been sitting on a half-
dormant project to build a "retro-computer" based on a Zilog Z80 CPU. That led
me into trying to learn to program an EEPROM with an Arduino, and I got as far
as breadboarding part of the programming setup. I'm using an Arduino Uno,
which doesn't have enough digital output pins to represent both the address
bus and the data bus of the EEPROM simultaneously, so I started down the path
of using shift-register chips, etc, yadda yadda.

Anyway, I keep all my electronics stuff at the local hackerspace and sometimes
I go up there and pull my breadboard and parts box out and play around.

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samstave
I have a hobby of making leather wrapped Mason Jars, and give them to
friends... I made these today.

[https://imgur.com/gallery/n53TnlT](https://imgur.com/gallery/n53TnlT)

I pickup broken granite from the granite shop and make plant stands with
leather feet:

[https://imgur.com/gallery/jsRNEhX](https://imgur.com/gallery/jsRNEhX) \--
these have the first vintage leather feet - the new ones have the plugs from
the stamped leather on the mason jars.

I make custom lockpicks from spring-steel from Street Sweeper blades (dont
seem to have any images though)

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I make custom lamps from random parts I find at antique stores...

[https://imgur.com/gallery/NaSea](https://imgur.com/gallery/NaSea)

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I like to make things for my bike:

[https://imgur.com/a/ikKKT](https://imgur.com/a/ikKKT)

\---

I do it as therapy for depression and to express myself. Don't do any of it
for profit - but I have had a lot of the bike parts stolen, or people admire
them so I give them to them...

My next project is a leather hipster bartending apron, just because I want to
make one - but I dont have the funds to quite do that at the moment.

And I am working on making my own leather based bike grips - but I am still
working on the right jig for the die, as my parts are not coming out perfectly
consistent when I do it by eye.

On the to-do, aside from the apron:

* Living wall

* Some planting boxes

* Get access to a laser cutter for some leather things

* Completely cover my bedroom floor in leather (I have a leather-piece throw covering in the center of my carpeted room, and its the most amazing feeling with bare feet walking on it - I want to see how much a whole room that way will cost.

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Finnucane
My main hobbies are photography—I still have analog gear, but I am old, and
music. I have two banjos I am learning to play.

I agree that having things to do away from the screen is important.

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abstractspoon
Building or repairing furniture. And I certainly suffer if I don't make time
for it.

