How do you divide your shop time?

[LCHIEN]

Do you have to account for your time in the woodshop?
For me, it's time doing what I want to, to have fun and feel creative and enlightened.

If I had to account for time it would be work. If you have to say I spent 10% of my shop time (and exceeded my budget) working on shop related items, then it sounds dangerously like bean-counting to me. You'd better evaluate why you are in the shop - for income, relaxation, creative outlet, whatever.

When I'm not having fun, I take a break.

[monte]

Since I'm retired I can spend all the time I want in my shop and use the time anyway I want to. I probably make things for the shop as they are required and I usually put a project on hold while I make the required item.

[stewchi]

I am right there with you Alex, there is a lot of stuff that I need to do in my shop that doesn’t get done. My shop is my second job sort of In the last 8 year I have lived in 2 old homes that needed a lot of work. My shop was necessary to fix up these houses. I made a lot of money on both of them when I sold them. But when I was in the shop I always felt guilty if I was working on self satisfy things. So I never got around to building shop fixtures or shop furniture or much of anything. I did however make dust collection and anything associated with it a priority. This cut down on cleaning and getting sick which boosted productivity and moral
We just moved into a newish home that doesn’t need much work and I was excited about that because I wanted my shop to be more of a hobby and less of a job. However with a 2 ½ year old and my second child on the way, I am not sure I am at a place were I can have a hobby. I have to choose between playing with my daughter and building a mobile base for my BT. My daughter is the squeakier wheel and boy can she squeak. In general with limited time and resource the only hobbies I can have at the moment are ones that also make/save money or increase health, or are associated with raising my kid(s) otherwise I can’t justify it.

[plarval]

I find myself on a 2:1 ratio of "shop" projects to finished projects. The shop list is growing shorter, however, so my ratio will probably be changing soon. Teaching, coaching, kids, the weather all play a role in making me really pick and choose my projects and really limits my shop time, which can be frustrating. If I decide to tackle one type of project, it can seem like I'm really neglecting the other since it seems to take much longer with limited shop time. Nothing worse than hitting your stride during a project, and then having to take a few days or even weeks off. Sometimes it can be difficult to get the motivation level back up.

[jziegler]

Right now, I don't get to spend too much time on shop projects, and I wish I could. I've been throwing in a few simple ones, but I need to do more. Many of my tools are just sitting on cheap HF workbench/sawhorse stands. Not a great way of doing it. If I get the garage rebuilt and move out there this spring/summer, I'll do a little more. I don't want to do too much with a temporary basement shop.

Of course, right now a driving factor is that I moved into an old house with a horrid kitchen. Now that a fair section of the kitchen is almost done, I get to move on to other projects. I have a couple more things in there and then I move on to built ins for the study. And after that I may actually get to do some fun projects.

So, I guess my response is that it all depends on your priorities. I'd love to be one of the do whatever you want types, and probably will be someday. Until then, I have home improvements that I have to build. I don't mind and love the end result. I'm getting better and faster at them.

-Jim

[scorrpio]

My philosophy is to do shop upgrades only when need arises for a certain project. Although sometimes I build things post-factum.

Really, constructing something for the shop does not take a lot of time. I usually think out the design during spare time (like on bus from work), and I don't sand/finish my shop stuff beyong basic sharp edge removal. And keeping things simple also speeds things up. I.e. I will never waste time/money building, fitting and finishing a dovetail-joint drawer for my workbench if a $3 rubbermaid container will do.

[padboy]

No Guilt Here

I am unapologetically "self-serving" when it comes to my shops(yes, i have 2 of em: musical instrument repairing and wood working). In this life, there are always those who are quite willing to attempt to dominate others lives by instilling a sense of "guilt". From my observation,this group seems to be composed of religious zealots,vegetarians,politicians,social activists etc......
I'll quit now before I begin ranting!
Happy trails to all

[TheRic]

I’m a newbie to woodworking. Bought my BT3100 at Xmas last year and it’s still in it’s box. Heck the box is still even covered in it's shrink wrapping. I’m hoping to use it before the warranty expires, the past 15 months have just been one thing or another. Anyway my priority list is setting up my garage. I figure I will use most of my time to set up the shop, for two reasons.
First once a shop is organized you can normally get a project done quicker. You don’t have to move things around to be able to work on something. Also you waste a lot less time looking for something, since you know where it’s suppose to be. Also you notice a lot quicker if one of your kids / brothers borrowed something (but a messy garage helps hid it from them).
Second I figure I can practice in the garage. If I mess up, it won’t matter since it’s only in the garage, verses the living room, family room, etc.
Once I get the garage set, and decent at building things. More and more time will be used for things in the house. The reason I'm doing woodworking is first: going to be for relaxing, second: for improving the house and life of others, third: if time permits selling items, to pay for more tools.

[91FE]

what shop time?

[ddamoore]

"Making workshop tools or fixtures I consider somewhat self-serving"

Isn't that what woodworking is all about?

Yep...what he said.

[vaking]

Thanks for your replies, I think I got the picture. I believe if I had thought about it deeper before asking I might have figured it out myself. The picture I am getting is:
Many people come to woodworking because they have new (or old) houses and are expecting that woodworking will allow them to fill those houses with custom-made pieces of their own work. This is not about income - more of a self-satisfaction. The reality is that in order to make quality things one need to have well-equipped and organized shop and skills - all those things you don't have at the beginning. Those that are new to the woodworking spend disproportionate amount of time on workshop needs. As the time goes by - the ratio changes. Those that have been doing it for a long time - have established workshops and have even hard time understanding the issue. No big discoveries - just a realization how important it is to manage expectations. It is also important to stay on course and keep making custom things for your house even at the beginning of your woodworking. Workshop projects are not sufficiently representative to teach you all the skills. Your first few projects will not be museum-quality but they will be used and they will teach you to make better things.
Thanks again for all your input.