The Daily Grind and Workaholism

Normark

Normark

Joined
Nov 7, 1999
Messages
6,651
Hey Guys...

My name is Eric, and I'm a Workaholic...

I bet there are a bunch of you that know exactly what I mean..

Do you find that your daily life,, from the moment you wake up, til the minute you go to bed revolves around work and knives.

I've got the luxury of having two completely different businesses..One obviously is sheaths,, and the other is custom plating.. Well the custom plating I've kind of let go for the last year over personal reasons, and now I'm also starting to make knives,, so I can bounce back and forth a little when I get bored,,or I'm just tired of it and need something else..

Theres only so many hours a day you can build sheaths, and I literally put 12-14 hours a day in...

The last few days have been nice, as I can go out the back door of my shop and do some yard work and get away from the knives a little..Well kind of anyway.

Anyway I guess what I'm getting at, for you guys that are full time and don't work away from the house.. Does it ever get to you.. Day in and Day out,, the same thing everyday ??

Not to say that I don't like what I do, or that I'm tired of it.. I've been self employed since I was about 19 and I'm almost 41 now,,so I'm quite use to doing the same thing everyday..

This winter has been Ok, as I'm into a brand new shop with twice as much room as I had,, and now I've got windows,, where before I was in the basement..A complete change of scenery has been a godsend. It's also nice to be able to grab the crossbow or pellet gun and blast stuff out the back window,, or just go for a walk in the woods behind the house for an hour or so,,just to relieve the stress...

So,, what do you guys do,, when work gets to you,,and you start climbing the walls in the shop ?

ttyle

Eric...
 
Wow man, that sounds like heaven to me. I go to a thankless, boring corporate job I'm locked in at because of security and pension/health insurance/etc. Then I come home and do housework or pay bills or just drink beer until I go to bed. Often I get up real early to get a little shop time in but mostly it's just a few hours on weekend mornings. I'm holding out the full time status for retirement, in another 10 or 15 years. I'll be old. There's nothing I would like better than the freedom to get up every day and make stuff - make what I want, when I want. I know that you don't have complete freedom to do that but you're so much closer to it than I am that I really envy you. The image of stepping out the shop door into a Spring day just makes me smile; you are a fortunate man.
 
My chiropractor (yeah, unfortunately you can't adjust yourself. Well, at least not your own back, ahem...) Anyway, my chiro practices out of his house. Nice little home office setup, and to me it'd be a dream because the overhead is non-existant (my home bills are nothing compared to my office bills), so I've always been envious of him. He, on the other hand, would give his left arm to get out of there, so I think I can see how work and home may be a tough combo because when you're at home you're still at work.

My wife was out of town with a friend (hopefully another girl) overnight last night, and I came home after 12 hours in the office, ate a quick bite and went down in the basement and started grinding. The thought "Gee, if only I wasn't married, I could do this every night" crossed my mind and that's when I decided to turn the lights off and get the hell out of the basement!!!
 
I know that being self-employed doesn't make it as much of an option, but you gotta step away from it a bit to realize why you're doing it in the first place. Do something you enjoy with a buddy or ladyfriend ;). Go camping, fishing, drinkin' or whatever floats your boat. Whatever it is, do something relaxing and impractical. :)

And let's see some pics of those knives!
 
I don't know if I could handle being fulltime depending on knifemaking to pay the bills. I work six nites a week (11pm. to 7am.) I come home, go to bed, sleep about 3 or 4 hrs. then get up and work on knives. I've been doing this all winter. With the spring and summer I may not be able to do this because of yard work. :barf: I guess I'll lose more sleep. Knives are on my mind 24/7. I spend to much time on the computer too. :rolleyes:
Scott
 
And let's see some pics of those knives!
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Yeah. This guy is holding out on us. He's going to drop a serious bomb on our asses with his first picture. Bastid! :D
 
Hey Guys....

LMAO..

Steve writes :

"My wife was out of town with a friend (hopefully another girl) overnight last night"

OMG,, we could all only hope Eh !! LOL.. HOT!

Yes,, I do believe I'm very fortunate..

I'm very much enjoying having a new shop, with some room to move,some new shop toys, although I've filled most of that now, and will have to expand into one of the bays of the garage..This will be the new metal grinding area,,as I have to keep the metal and plastic operations away from each other...

As far as the work is concerned,, Yes,, I'am the boss, however my customers are my boss and believe you me,, they keep me hopping and on a true north compass.

I'am also very fortunate that I have the customer base that I do,, many of which are long term customers, a great many of which I consider friends far more then customers.

A few people have said that they spend a lot of time on the computer,, yes,, this is very true.. The computer keeps us in close contact with the outside world, clients, trends, friends and future business possibilities... It's a real time killer,,but needs to be done...

As far as my knives go.. LOL well thats to be determined yet..
The morning after I got my grinder, I set out to chisel grind a knife, a Wharncliff...
The grind turned out Nearly perfect, except for having to blend the plunge line, drill the holes, a little file work possibly it's ready for heat treat. Absolute beginners luck, as I haven't been able to re-produce the grind, and each knife is getting consistantly worse..
I'm afraid to touch the knife now,, As I'm sure i will surely bugger it up..

When I feel that I've got a product worth showing,, you guys will be the first to see it...I set myself up with fairly high standards,,so I'm very guarded about showing my work, and even progress to anyone just yet..

I'm seeing a pretty big curve ahead of me , although I have several friends who are helping me, Jim Wade, Jeff Diotte, and I've been picking Rick Frigault's brain a little.. However when they go home,, it's just me and the grinder,, A Scary enough thought on it's own...

Another thing I'm fortunate to have is all of the people here at BF.com.. I owe everything to you guys, and wouldn't be where I'am without you..:)

Thanks

Eric...
 
"My wife was out of town with a friend (hopefully another girl) overnight last night"

OMG,, we could all only hope Eh !! LOL.. HOT!
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LOL! :D I saw that one coming from a mile away. Couldn't have pitched it in any slower for you, Eric! Bam!

I'm right there with you. I started working on another knife this morning and I actually said out loud to myself "This s^%t is easier with my files! What the hell?!" I'm getting to that frustration point where you start to get irritated and thoughts of giving up sneak in. I have a 12 hour continuing ed class to sit through Saturday and Sunday, so I think it's some time off from this damn hobby that is much needed!

Part of my problem is that I think my platen is way off. If I try to flat grind it removes more material from the plunge cut and tip (this is a 2" blade, so minimal back and forth movement, mind you) than it does from the center of the blade, so I need to do RJ Martin's plate glass idea. Yeah, it's the equipment, not me, I swear! :D
 
Get on the forums, do the newspaper crossword puzzle, have my old Beagle dog take me for a walk, go to the gym, run errands, take a ride on my "2 wheels and a motor" if the weather is pretty, get the yard work done. I get accused of being a "chatterbox" when I get to interact with other folks.....
I used to do the 12-16 hour days, had a health concern (severe case of sleep apnea with a very high probability of heart attack or stroke) darn near take me off making knives for several months, am now successfully treating it, and back to knifemaking.
I am not going to be back into knives at the expense of all else again.
My best friend/wife of almost 37 years was a major support when I desperately needed her support to get treatment and get well. When she is home from work/dinnertime on, she is my life, not knives.
Sorry if I sound sentimental, but I am...am feeling very "mortal" right now.
Remember knifemaking is a craft, a career, or a hobby, whatever you choose. It might even be considered an art. Knifemaking is a wonderful opportunity to be creative.....but, while it is still high on the list, it isn't the vey most important thing in my life anymore.
I am not preaching, hope I didn't come across that way.....I just had my priorities reset for me by my recent health concerns and even more serious health issues that have hit several of my friends recently.
 
Eric-

I got an email the other day that really made me think. The jist of it, is a college professor is teaching his class and gets on the discussion of stress.

He holds up a glass of water and says, "this glass will represent stress."

The absolute weight of it is pretty much nill. If you hold it up for a second, it's no biggy, no stress.

If you hold it there for 5 minutes it starts to get heavy.

After an hour it's killing you.

After a week it's become the heaviest burden you could ever imagine.

He related that the stresses we encounter in life are much like that glass of water.

It really got me thinking, because when you're self-employed with knifemaking, and have your job local right out the back door... it's almost impossible to put that glass of water down.

You're always working, and always thinking of what you have to do now, next, and after that. Even more so than a regular job. Because you aren't leaving the office and driving home, leaving that stress at the office until the next day. It's really hard to get away from it like Michael mentioned, and remember the big picture.

If and when we do that, then you say, "Holy crap, I'm a full-time knifemaker, how cool is that???"

But sometimes it's awfully hard.

-Nick-
 
NickWheeler said:
Eric-

I got an email the other day that really made me think. The jist of it, is a college professor is teaching his class and gets on the discussion of stress.

He holds up a glass of water and says, "this glass will represent stress."

The absolute weight of it is pretty much nill. If you hold it up for a second, it's no biggy, no stress.

If you hold it there for 5 minutes it starts to get heavy.

After an hour it's killing you.

After a week it's become the heaviest burden you could ever imagine.

He related that the stresses we encounter in life are much like that glass of water.

It really got me thinking, because when you're self-employed with knifemaking, and have your job local right out the back door... it's almost impossible to put that glass of water down.

You're always working, and always thinking of what you have to do now, next, and after that. Even more so than a regular job. Because you aren't leaving the office and driving home, leaving that stress at the office until the next day. It's really hard to get away from it like Michael mentioned, and remember the big picture.

If and when we do that, then you say, "Holy crap, I'm a full-time knifemaker, how cool is that???"

But sometimes it's awfully hard.

-Nick-
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God Nick, you are so right with that info. I know I better watch it. Not only do I survive on very little sleep, I smoke, drink to much coffee and work to much.
Plus I work third shift, 11pm. to 7 am. I've been on that shift for 28 years. It's been proven that working nites shortens your life. I would love to be fulltime but I don't think I can handle anymore. Knifemaking is fun for me now, I don't want it to be a job. I already put in about 20 hours a week making knives. :eek:
Scott
 
NickWheeler said:
Scott-

Sounds like you're holding up about 6 glasses of water!!! :D

-Nick-
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Don't mention water. We gotta hump that shiit at work. Last week Deer Park 24 pk case was on sale. We sold 20 pallets in a week. :eek:
Scott
 
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