How much time do you get to work on sets?

[stevehertz]

I'm thinking that I'm in a similar position to many of us. I have loads of sets that need attention but not enough time to work on them. Is that you? My problems are several fold.

1) I have lots of other calls and needs in life; a very large garden with trees and hedges etc that has been neglected for too many years, three different modes of part time work (I'm retired from full time employment), an ageing needy mom, my lovely partner to share good times with, other hobbies (too many), a veritable houseful of 'junk' from hobbies and related that I'm gradually getting rid of, house maintenance and redecorating.. and so on, you know how it is.

2) In all honesty, having too many sets that is good for me.

3) Having too many sets that have been started on and left because I'm stuck or waiting for a part etc. They take up far too much space due to them being in bits and gathering dust on a shelf. Then you forget how to put them back together again in the case of complex hifi items with multiple chassis, screws etc.

When I say "sets" I mean anything from a 30s radio or 50s TV to a 70s receiver or pair of speakers.

What about you? do you get enough time to work on sets and what - if anything - 'gets in the way' ?

[Station X]

My situation is much the same as yours Steve, except that I am fully retired. I can identify with all the points you mention. I'm thinking though that one day I'll be too old to work with machine tools, but I'll be OK with vintage radios apart from boat anchors.

Like many retired people I wonder how I ever had time to go to work and still indulge in hobbies.

[Paul Stenning]

I haven't had any time to work on sets for years! Work and socialising etc take priority. Living in a flat I don't have a garden etc to take care of, but I do have a lack of space for a workshop area, so any repair work I do (such as PCs etc) is in the kitchen.

[PsychMan]

I get very little workshop time currently with a new baby around, full time job, trying to improve my guitar skills, a house needing renovation in various places, an overgrown garden....Its a never ending list of tasks, but the key is planning, pacing and prioritising, otherwise you go insane! I get maybe 2 hours a week workshop time, if I'm lucky.

Workshop time hasn't consisted of vintage radios for a little bit, simply because other things have needed repairing, hifi amp, gluing a dining room chair, fixing a clock, getting my pantry transmitter usable..

The trouble when you become someone who repairs things, is you end up delving into all sorts and spending lots of time on things like cheap clocks, instead of doing what most people do and throw them in the bin!

Its a very small workshop and needs a good tidy, which happens incrementally as I find places for things. Im itching to get an AR88 back on the bench but really need a tidy desk for starters.

As a substitute, when I get time at work I follow this forum, and study respective service data for stuff Im working on, make notes and plan the time I do get so I get the most value out of it.

I have a lot of stuff in my to-do pile radio wise, some in the loft, some in various rooms...Its all a bit much really so I've presently banned myself from acquiring anything else

[Hartley118]

A problem that nobody thought to warn me about is that after retirement the calendar flips over at twice the rate.

Martin

[Hartley118]

Originally Posted by PsychMan

I'm itching to get an AR88 back on the bench but really need a tidy desk for starters.

Don't delay moving that AR88 - after a certain age, the muscles weaken to less than the required AR88 strength!

Martin

[Skywave]

Originally Posted by Station X

Like many retired people, I wonder how I ever had time to go to work and still indulge in hobbies.

Agreed! I think what happens is as follows: it's complex and largely psychological. When you are in full-time employment, you instinctively and automatically appreciate that the amount of time available for hobbies is limited, so you simply accept that without thinking about it and limit the things you take on accordingly. Then when retirement arrives, you soon adjust to the increase in that 'available time' and expand your endeavours. Subconsciously (or otherwise) realising that 'more time is available', one's enthusiasm dramatically increases and places ever increasing demands on that increased 'available time', which, of course, still remains limited, even if there is more of it. Consequently, that time becomes increasingly inadequate - or so it seems.

In summary, it's a case of Parkinson's Law: “Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” But it keeps us occupied, happy and engages the brain - which, as we grow older, is surely a good thing.

Al.

[Skywave]

Originally Posted by PsychMan

The trouble when you become someone who repairs things, is you end up delving into all sorts and spending lots of time on things like cheap clocks, instead of doing what most people do and throw them in the bin!

As a so-called 'baby boomer', I was brought up in an age when the 'make do or mend' attitude was prevalent. Consequently, that attitude was deeply ingrained and has been predominant in all my life. If I had a £ for every time I have said "Don't throw that away! Let me have a look at it: it might be repairable!", I wouldn't be living in mainly cold, wet and windy Britain, but somewhere where it is always sunny, warm & with permanent blue skies.

Al.

[Skywave]

Originally Posted by Hartley118

A problem that nobody thought to warn me about is that after retirement the calendar flips over at twice the rate.

I know, I know! But I get around that problem by making my own calendar for each year: it has two months displayed per sheet of A4.

Al.

[Paul_RK]

I'll find out if and when I can contrive to have some space...

Paul

[Al (astral highway)]

Originally Posted by Paul Stenning

... Living in a flat I don't have a garden etc to take care of, but I do have a lack of space for a workshop area, so any repair work I do (such as PCs etc) is in the kitchen.

Like you, Paul, I live in a flat and have no permanent work-space. Everything has to come out on the kitchen/ living room table.

It means extra attention/ use of memory and recall/ is needed to keep tabs on projects as they and all test equipment go back into drawers and cupboards after a session. (I do have a small picnic table on my balcony for ‘fettling ‘/ cutting/ sanding) Also , I’m a single parent and although 15 years away from retirement age, still have very onerous health conditions to manage.

Incredibly grateful to you, Paul, for making this community possible and for continuing to put resources and time into the smooth running of the website, which is incredibly important to me as a source of connection with others.

[AC/HL]

Originally Posted by Paul_RK

I'll find out if and when I can contrive to have some space...

... Or work out how much space is left after your play area is established!

[Cobaltblue]

I seems the last 20 years have been a permanent fight to get time.

So like previous posters at the moment its no time at all!

I am currently out of the UK (Kathmandu)

My house is a shell and everything is in storage.

I still work full time and have grandchildren

I could not n my remaining life if I live to 100 restore all the sets currently have

A pretty sad state of affairs.

Cheers

Mike T

[Hartley118]

I've come to the conclusion that I actually enjoy having my unrestored sets around me, together with drawers of components and other interesting 'stuff'. My heart lifts when I go into the workshop because it's all rather interesting. I guess those sets awaiting attention are a hedge against risk of future boredom.

But now I simply must go out and do some weeding..................

Martin

[Wendymott]

After my retirement, I bought loads of valve radio's etc, to go back to my "youth".. but I soon learned that was not a good idea and I soon passed them on....I am back "playing" with modern electronics......... time is immaterial, and I have no pressures or demands on my time..life could not be better.

[bluepilot]

Originally Posted by AC/HL

... Or work out how much space is left after your play area is established!

I bought an old farmhouse in S. France complete with a large barn to put all my stuff in. 240 sq m of space. Next year's project is to convert the pig sty to make space for the things that won't fit in the barn. Virtually no time to work on radios. I guess I'll never get around to restoring them all.

[nutteronthebus]

I retired 2 years ago and wonder how I had time to go to work . I have lost 1 1/2 stone in weight built a man cave, fitted out the new extn in the house. landscaped the garden . I still have not started on the pile of Quad's or Ferranti radios that are in the round toit pile and my wife has a list.


Dave L

[newlite4]

I live in a first floor studio flat with a utility on the landing level for the "messy" stuff. I suppose that the main room (which is fairly large) where I live and sleep is used to its full extent in that at any time when I feel like it, I can do some radio or other related work. I really do not attach any time period to restoration work. Since tools, parts and all the other paraphernalia is within a few paces I just get sets restored when the feeling is there, and its always warm!
Neil

[Beobloke]

Work is the main thing that gets in my way, but our garden is a reasonable size as well, and so needs a fair amount of upkeep. In the evenings I am often to be found writing reviews for two hi-fi magazines but, in addition, my wife works long hours in a high-pressure job, so I handle the housework and cooking, and always make time to sit with her and help her wind down at the end of the day.

The other issue I have is that I generally have two piles of hi-fi requiring attention. One is the pile of things to repair and sell, and the other is the pile of things to repair and keep. My head always thinks I should be working on the "sell" pile, but my heart wants to work on the "keep" pile. The upshot is that I often fail to get round to either and, in the meantime, buy more!

[McMurdo]

Very little time. When I lived at home it was every evening until way after my parents went to bed. I ran a virtual production line of restoration (non commercial!) After I left home 20-odd years ago I've done maybe 3 or 4 valved sets and maybe the same in transistor.

The last radio I restored was a DAC90 and I devoted 2 or 3 Friday afternoons at work, by way of a weekend wind-down treat.

I did make a start on a Pye VT4 at home while off work over Christmas 2016. I took the chassis out, filled the spaces where valves had been robbed, and printed-out a large copy of the circuit diagram. Two years later and it's still on the dining room floor, untouched.

Apparently retirement leaves you even more pressed for time!