People of a certain age.....

[RobertMP]

Went to my first woodworking show today and I came away feeling my age (nearly 52) !

Wonder if it is compulsory to be this age if you want to do woodwork as a hobby? There was grey hair everywhere. Suppose there might have been a few youngsters around the 40 mark but most were around my age or older.

I stopped working about a year ago and bought myself a Skoda Octavia estate car. I'd already noticed most other people driving similar cars were greys

Still I had a good time at the show and enjoyed watching the demonstrations and learnt quite a lot.

Think I'll just have to accept it and continue blending in

 

[andys wood shed]

AH but its friday

most of us youngsters were at work :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[houtslager]

and some of us are ex pats ! :wink:

 

[sliver]

And some of us are exactly the same age as you. :shock:

cheers, sliver. :lol:

 

[RogerM]

.... and some of us are older still!

 

[Anonymous]

....and some of us use names that break the trade description act (just)

 

[RobertMP]

AH but its friday

most of us youngsters were at work :lol: :lol: :lol:

I'll need some convincing that that is the only reason

 

[RobertMP]

....and some of us use names that break the trade description act (just)

That is some avatar you have there

 

[andys wood shed]

On a serious note its the same in engineering (mechanical) there are very few young people coming into the profession. which is a shame really.

Andy

 

[RogerM]

On a serious note its the same in engineering (mechanical) there are very few young people coming into the profession. which is a shame really.

Andy

.. but if you were working for Google or Ebay you would look out of place if you were over 30! Sign of the changing times.

 

[mr]

Suppose there might have been a few youngsters around the 40 mark but most were around my age or older.

I stopped working about a year ago and bought myself a Skoda Octavia estate car.

Hurrah I'm a youngster.

Double hurrah I only have to work for another ten years.

 

[RobertMP]

Double hurrah I only have to work for another ten years.

I'll take that as humour rather than a dig

I worked 12+ hour week days and Saturday mornings for 25 years building up a business so I've probably done enough hours to see me to state retirement age on a 40 hour week basis.

If the Chinese had not started making the same products as us I'd still be doing it and 30 people would still have jobs. We had modern CNC manufacturing (commercial lighting products - sheet metal, paint assembly etc.) but our customers started buying finished goods for less than our raw material cost so the decision was made for us.

Hmm must stop going off at tangents...sign of age maybe

 

[mr]

I'll take that as humour rather than a dig

Certainly was intended that way (humour) if not hopeful thinking on ,my part.

When my financial advisor chap first came round and asked me what age I wanted to retire at I, told him 40. I suspect Im going to miss that, but I'll settle for 50. Probably wont make it but I've spent the last 16/17 years averaging 15 hour days 7 days a week, at least up until this last year or so. My record was a 72 hour day, (on site the hours don't mean much in my line) I'm looking forward to "putting my feet up" while I'm still young enough to enjoy it. (no offence inteded to anyone there either).

Cheers Mike

 

[RogerS]

Curious how different decades have fared.

Those in their 70's and above probably fared OK ... endowment terminal payments well up to scratch, pensions intact.

Those in their '60s, starting to look dodgy.

Those in their 50's...well...endowments shot to hell, pension funds up the creek, unemployable on anything like a decent salary (for many of us)...maybe that's why you see so many of us at woodworking shows...noses pressed up against the shopwindow :wink:

Wonder how the '40s are going to fare?

 

[Anonymous]

The industry / hobby is full of old f**ts who aren't prepared to move with the times.

Just take a look at this forum, if there's more than 10% of people under 30 i'll be amazed.

Probably 70-80% over 50, if anything is done or said which is deemed to be slightly risky its locked or banned. However discussions on how to sharpen a chisel are allowed to go on for days, ney weeks. the same point being said over and over and over and over and over, when most sane people just want to cut their wrists. Good grief, I have aged just reading some of these posts.

Oh, where's my avatar gone. Never mind, i'll get me flat cap on, conform and post an exciting picture of a chisel

 

[Lord Nibbo]

Never mind, i'll get me flat cap on, conform and post an exciting picture of a chisel

A nice piccy of a plane might go down better! :lol:

PS.... I'm 59 in a few weeks time. Am I classed as young? or what?

 

[Anonymous]

I think Senior's a bit upset that his hilarious avator has been banned.

I agree with him totally that this forum needs livening up a bit with more of this kind of irreverence and humour. It's not necessarily about age, though. I know old men in their thirties and pensioners who are about 20 at heart.

What I can't stand is boring.

And talking about chisel sharpening is BORING!

Cheers
Brad

Incidentally Senior is one of the most accomplished woodworkers on these forums. His involvement here should be highly valued.

 

[Anonymous]

Never mind, i'll get me flat cap on, conform and post an exciting picture of a chisel

A nice piccy of a plane might go down better! :lol:

PS.... I'm 59 in a few weeks time. Am I classed as young? or what?

How about a fat bloke in his underpants holding a plane. :lol:

 

[Anonymous]

Oh dear...

I've just re-read my last post.

I'm going to have to award myself the OBN!

Cheers
Brad

 

[Argee]

The industry / hobby is full of old f**ts who aren't prepared to move with the times.

If you want to see proof of this in its most rampant form, visit any woodturning club!

Just take a look at this forum, if there's more than 10% of people under 30 i'll be amazed.

Experience generally comes with age, hence those with more experience - and therefore more likely to post - will be older, won't they? No stats can be available for the average age of learning lurkers, though.

Probably 70-80% over 50, if anything is done or said which is deemed to be slightly risky its locked or banned. However discussions on how to sharpen a chisel are allowed to go on for days, ney weeks. the same point being said over and over and over and over and over, when most sane people just want to cut their wrists. Good grief, I have aged just reading some of these posts.

I agree that some posts are tiringly repetitive, mostly caused by not reading the previous replies before committing a post to the thread - I've never seen the point of "me too" posts anyway. But surely you've also seen other fora where the lack of rules means that members spend loads of time sniping and generally being rude to each other. I can get that anywhere! At least civility is the norm here and I'm all for that. It doesn't stop exchange, just encourages decent behaviour - pity other forum mods don't follow the example.

Oh, where's my avatar gone. Never mind, i'll get me flat cap on, conform and post an exciting picture of a chisel

I'm not sure that I would have banned your last avatar, but I must add that I wasn't sure where the humour was within it. The higher the number of moderators, the less chance of consistency, I suppose.

Ray (62 in September)