My wife keeps yelling at me....

[Jason White]

Mostly I'm just a tool whore.

sleep in the shop,,,,uhmmm and whats so bad about that.....lol..

what is it about wood that captivates us so much?!!

Not trying to steal thread but I just want to mention that one time i came across a website that believed that working with certain woods would have an effect on your mental behavior. makes you wonder eh

[Michael Koch]

So whats the problem. I figure that if we all were to make the things that our wife wants us to make, we would have to spend 8-12 hours a day for about a year in the shop. As it is, it takes at least 2 hours to even get your thoughts together to do anything in the shop. Am I missing something..Mk

[Jason White]

Great advice!

JW

I used this approach when explaining my passion for woodworking....Honey, some men have the hobby of being unfaithful, some men spend most evenings in a bar, some men are workaholics and are never home, some men are sports fanatics and are either playing them or watching them with their buddies. I work with wood as my hobby in my shop at our house, which in my opinion is way better than most alternatives. Then when I want to buy a new tool or wood or other supplies, I make sure I ask her if she would like to go with me and we can make an afternoon or evening out of it. Stop some place and have a nice dinner and if it's something expensive that I'm going to buy, I make sure gets something out of it too. A new dress or shoes or whatever she would like to get while we're out. An hour shopping with my wife is far less painful than listening to complaints. It's give and take and it works wonderfully for me!

[Jerome Hanby]

Guess I'm lucky. My wife called me yesterday from the local thrift store. They had a Boice Crane jointer for $150. I told her it sounded like a good deal, but we could use the money for something else. She proceeded to tell me if I didn't get it then I'd be kicking myself later. She bought it and told me to pick it up on my way home from work.

just FYI, they also had what looked like a King-Sealy built Craftsman band saw, so if you're in the Birmingham, AL area...

[Joe Shinall]

I get grief everytime I buy a new tool. Or buy something to help me with some organization in the garage. I hear "you'll never be happy with the way your shop is arranged." But after about a day of that, I then talk about building a piece of furniture and ask her for her input and it's all good. I just better make sure I don't deviate from her design!

[Richard Wagner]

Just make certain that you always have one of her projects "in progress". What is done when you are not working on hers will go unnoticed.

You really do want to keep track of how many projects are completed though. If the numbers get too lop sided, that won't go unnoticed.

[Gene Howe]

I used this approach when explaining my passion for woodworking....Honey, some men have the hobby of being unfaithful, some men spend most evenings in a bar, some men are workaholics and are never home, some men are sports fanatics and are either playing them or watching them with their buddies. I work with wood as my hobby in my shop at our house, which in my opinion is way better than most alternatives. Then when I want to buy a new tool or wood or other supplies, I make sure I ask her if she would like to go with me and we can make an afternoon or evening out of it. Stop some place and have a nice dinner and if it's something expensive that I'm going to buy, I make sure gets something out of it too. A new dress or shoes or whatever she would like to get while we're out. An hour shopping with my wife is far less painful than listening to complaints. It's give and take and it works wonderfully for me!

A very wise man!

[Van Huskey]

Simple solution:

http://www.amazon.com/AO-Safety-9054...8261558&sr=8-1

[johnny means]

Maybe being a professional gives me a different point of view, but I think continual shop projects defeats the whole point of woodworking. Didn't we all start out with the idea of how great it would be to build our own furniture, cabinets, jewelry boxes, etc. It seems to me thatvehis is a trap that many woodworkers fall into, trying to set up shop morphs into a pursuit of the perfect shop, which is akin to chasing ones own tail. If your wife is noticing that you never build anything, maybe she has the perspective that you lost to the shop bug. They're right about everything else, right.

[fRED mCnEILL]

"My wife keeps yelling at me....
...because I spend more time (and money) building things for my workshop than on furniture for her."

You could just respond with "so whats your point?

[Chip Lindley]

As soon as the man says *I DO*, the new wife starts saying *Oh No You Don't!* with increasing frequency.

You are engaging in a worthwhile pastime. But too many significant female others never see it that way. They HATE competition of any sort! If her only rival is a new tablesaw, she should thank her *lucky stars!*

At my age, getting locked out of the bedroom is a cloud with a silver lining! LOL! I have cable in every room and several nice couches to choose from.

[Bill ThompsonNM]

Find some nice jewelery -- and put it in a handmade bandsaw box.. they're very fast to make and look great.. That's one project in the non shop column...

[Byron Trantham]

Is my situation better or worse?

Her hobby is quilting and sewing.

It turns out ... you can spend a HECK of a lot of money on toys for THOSE hobbies, too!

So ... she doesn't gripe, but ...

a) We spend 2X what we would if it were just my shop, and

b) I'm not carrying around any of her homemade purses, but she is getting a nightstand, a vanity, etc., etc.

I feel ya'.


I feel ya'

You can't begin to compare sewing costs to woodworking! My wife, too, sews and embroiders. We added up "our hardware". Mine came to about $6K, hers - $28K!!! Now add in her very speicalized software to run those machines another $4K. Oh and don't forget about thread $6/spool, she has over 800! Do I have problems getting tools? What do you think?

[Bruce Page]

Spending time & money in the shop is better than spending it in the bar.

[Aaron Berk]

Maybe being a professional gives me a different point of view, but I think continual shop projects defeats the whole point of woodworking. Didn't we all start out with the idea of how great it would be to build our own furniture, cabinets, jewelry boxes, etc. It seems to me thatvehis is a trap that many woodworkers fall into, trying to set up shop morphs into a pursuit of the perfect shop, which is akin to chasing ones own tail. If your wife is noticing that you never build anything, maybe she has the perspective that you lost to the shop bug. They're right about everything else, right.

Good advice worth listing to.
I'm no professional, but I can vouch for the validity of the "shop bug". It is indeed a live creature that lurks in every mans shop. The bug has been in mine and I must say, it's bite goes unnoticed.

One of these days I may recover and start building "real" stuff


As for the SWMBO thing...... mine bought me a G0605X for my b-day, and tells me she wishes I had enough free time to really enjoy the new saw. And she means it

Bill ThompsonNM made a good point too! Bandsawn box and something bling-bling goes along way to quelch the perceived nagging.