How do you occupy your time when you are retired?

Hi,

Just popped on for a few minutes before dinner is ready.

Since retiring 20 years ago I've been ultra busy.

Restoring vintage radios for the first years;
Learning french polishing and veneering the traditional way using hot hide glue.
Huge amounts of work around the bungalow from drains to chimney pot.
Making hardwood furniture both fitted and free standing.
Lots of machinery restorations including lathes and bandsaw.
Designing and making my own machines from a 2" belt grinder; 4" belt sander and 4hp saw bench.
Assembling a cyclone extractor.
Pyrography.
Woodturning.
Remodeling the garage into a full blown fully kitted workshop.
Learning Tig welding and metal spinning.
Full interior upgrade including coffered ceiling to master bedroom including wainscot paneling to lower walls; new fireplace mantle and panelwork to walls in front room; no end of decorating.
Replace all DG units to bungalow front.
Design; make and install new front porch.
Over the last few weeks repaint three rooms and replace six lots of glazing.
Make and assemble two garden huts including digging out and laying bases.
Masses of heavy work in the gardens including creating a wildflower meadow.
Just a few of the jobs/projects I've done.

More recently design and create a 975 amp brazing machine and this will now be followed by a 2,500W induction heating project.

Got to go lots to do; I'm never bored. A few pictures included.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

@Retired I love that 16 drawer chest.

 

@Retired looks great, you do keep yourself busy.

 

Hi,

Thanks shiney. Due to gas installation regulations we had gas installers here to install the high efficiency gas fire; tiled surround and hearth; I enjoyed making the wooden mantle.

Thanks Victoria; my lovely wife enjoys card making so I decided to surprise her by making this chest of drawers for her; it's in solid oak and very heavy. Here's a few more pictures for you;


Comb joints.
Some of the components being machined.
Made to fit in the kitchen; I also made the kitchen and door etc.
The drawers with bottoms glued waiting for glue to set before trimming to size. Home made router table on right I used for machining the comb joints and drawer front beading.
Close up showing beading detail. Finish is stain and polyurethane matt varnish; if care is taken whilst applying the polyurethane no would guess what the finish is.
It's surprising how much oak is needed for such a project; sorry about picture quality it's often winter whilst I'm in the workshop.


Part of the kitchen.
Another picture of the kitchen. It's all solid hardwood. I enjoy woodworking amongst other hobbies.

Thanks Logan; keeping busy keeps me fit; I like to encourage others to leave their comfort zone to try different things.

I'm just enjoying a mug of tea before heading up the mountain to have a look at the meadow before the forecasted storms flatten more of the flowers.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

@Retired Yes, I remembered after I posted the your wife makes cards. It is truly a lovely piece of furniture.

 

Comparing the raw oak with the stained and varnished finished product is quite an eye opener, it looks just like a 1750 oak chest of drawers I had to leave behind in England, (except your joints are considerably more precise).
I must see what the ferretaria has in the way of stain ...

 

Hi,

Many thanks Victoria; my wife loves her new oak chest of drawers but she quickly filled it with card crafting materials; I'm sure if I had made it double size it would also be quickly filled; I wanted to make something really special for her and it was worth it when I presented it to her.

Thanks Giri; I'd be still cutting the joints if I had to hand cut them but using my home made router table was very fast indeed; care is needed in accurately adjusting the comb cutting jig by running test pieces but once set then every joint fits perfectly. I like making and using jigs for multiple items the jig is always worth the time and trouble to make and doesn't usually cost anything the jig constructed from offcuts; I use jigs too for metalworking.

I didn't understand "ferretaria" but I learn so much by being nosy;

ferretaria at DuckDuckGo

My wife and I like traditional dark timber having seen lots in our stately homes also we like the coffered ceilings so I installed our own coffered ceiling seen in the pictures #107. If you decide to try staining please try the stain first on similar timber to what you want to stain; stain can turn out quite differently to what is expected and once something is stained it's difficult to go back usually involving bleaching which fortunately I've never had to resort to.

Keeping on topic as to what I do in retirement I could spend many hours posting about my hobbies in fact over the years I have spent considerable time on forums so here are a few more examples; my hobbies are extremely varied;


Our neighbour came round one day almost in tears distressed having spilled nail varnish remover onto the top of a valued table this being one of a nest of three tables. It did look a mess where the table finish had been damaged right down to bare wood. These were solid hardwood tables not veneered so I decided I couldn't make the damage worse and I have considerable cabinet making skills from my radio restoration days. Here the original finish is is being removed using a Stanley Scraper; not a job I'd recommend for a novice especially on a treasured heirloom.
Original finish removed and the top prepared for staining then refinishing.
Here's the table fully repaired; who would guess I used polyurethane varnish over the stain. I must add that I'm not smart or a know it all it's just that I'm a dinosaur having had years of practice repairing and making all manner of things; I've made many mistakes over the years often making the same mistakes but I never quit.
I wanted a new computer desk so made my own; this is heavy and solid; I designed it with seven single 13A sockets recessed across the back so only one cable was dangling down the other cables neatly tied out of the way. The framework is sold oak.
Back to my vintage radio restoring days; I designed and made this bespoke power supply having wound the transformers to give six different connections in both positive and negative voltages; here a vintage Bush battery radio is being powered by the PSU.

I've also restored many big machines this is an industrial 3 phase 415V Startrite 24" Volant vertical bandsaw; this has onboard blade cutter; welder; annealer and joint grinder; I also installed my own 415V 3 phase supply to power these big machines.

I'm never bored and usually on the go from getting up to going back to bed; I enjoy leaving my comfort zone to try something totally different


I fully restored a petrol mower only to then find its petrol tank to be leaking; I like a challenge and although I've been arc welding for over 50 years I've never tried Tig welding which is needed to weld aluminium and I saw this as a challenge; my wonderful wife treated me to an expensive Tig welder then I spent a great deal of time making lots of scrap; welding aluminium is very difficult indeed; I thought it would be easy because as I say I've been arc welding forever and I can also weld steel using oxy/acetylene but I really did struggle with Tig. The original petrol tank can be seen top right; the new replacement tank can be seen bottom and just for fun these mowers had two types of tank installed so I copied the other type as well.


Another recently learned new skill is metal spinning; I was restoring two vintage coach lamps whose six reflectors were in very poor condition so why not make new relectors and off I went to learn metal spinning making lots of mistakes but I stuck with it and above are the new reflectors.

I don't like easy things much better to struggle and make all the mistakes; metal spinning is not only very difficult but highly dangerous;



I've rambled on enough; I've taken a bit of time out but this afternoon I'm installing a new double 13A socket to power the new fridge and freezer just bought; these need their own power supply and not from an adaptor so double socket it is for safety but I need to isolate the circuit hence have to wait until the kitchen is clear.

For anyone approaching retirement may I suggest if you haven't got an hobby now's the time to get an hobby or two; so many retire after a lifetime at work not having an hobby then drop dead through boredom watching TV day in day out; both my wife and I have multiple hobbies which keep us young and active; it works for us.

Never say "I can't do that".

Kind regards, Colin.

 

Stunning work Colin, the two-tone computer desk is really elegant, and I really envy your workshop since having to let mine go. I´ve just taken refuge indoors with an ice-cold Guinness after an hour spent sorting out the workshop and immediate surroundings. The shiny red cabinet is installed and many tools have found a resting place there.

This was my calling card when I had a proper job, but I also ventured into lathe work :-




This cupboard latch uses an embrittled mild steel spring, so it´s a design which can be easily made.




Finished my beer, back into the furnace for me ...

 

Here the Ironmonger is a "ferrageiro"and the hardware store a "loja da ferragens" or commonly a "drogaria" not drugstore, they are farmacias.

 

When shopping in the market, I´m a pobre huérfano inglés (poor English orphan) since the Yorkshire war cry HOW MUCH ?!?!? seems to have little effect, my familial plight however seems to be the subject of mirth ....

 

Hi,

Thanks Giri. The ironwork looks very impressive. Your woodturned items are excellent and robust enough to last many generations; it's a lovely hobby woodturning isn't it. The cupboard latch is a design I've not previously seen; how do you cut the backing plate; I used to use an oxy/acetylene "burner" which gave a similar cut then was fettled. Excellent pictures too.

Yes Yorkshire "How much" is something I often use and usually followed by haggling.


Here's a very interesting but highly dangerous hobby.Vintage radio restoration; just one of many full restorations I carried out having adopted this hobby from scratch when I retired in 2000. Bush 1937 valve radio as bought it being an ugly duckling so I couldn't make it look worse.
The same Bush radio finished and in full working order. I also learned how to French polish seen on this cabinet.
A 1957 Ekco TV/Radio I restored; see below.

The Ekco TV as bought.
The Ekco TV cabinet fully restored and French polished. We still have this and it still works.
I enjoy woodturning when I have a bit of time; these are box top finials.
Here's what the finials are used for; turned lidded finial boxes. There are so many interesting hobbies to choose from.

Another busy day and already tea time so got to go.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

@Retired they all look great well done.

 

Retired, I cut the backplate with a hacksaw and an angle grinder, then I melted round the edge with oxy-acetylene. This one was probably part of a larger order for an Elizabethan Great Hall, and I used oxy-acetylene to obtain the final finish.



In the Seventies there was a man in Lancaster who mended radio valves, and with those huge electrolytic capacitors I can imagine the danger. I was taught to work on a thick rubber mat, with one hand in my pocket, to avoid creating a path across my chest/heart when I worked with radar.