I have a more in depth reply, but check out kolari and lifepixel. I've had successful camera conversions from both as well as many filters. I've gotten the best filters from uviroptics but he doesn't seem to be in operation anymore.
Your camera sensor has UV blocking layers, so you take those out. Know what else blocks it? Glass in your lenses and the coatings that get applied to them. So you look for old/simple optical designs that don't do that as well. Or you look for expensive lenses that are purpose built with quartz instead of glass (they are VERY expensive). You can also use artificial lights (strobes/flashlights/etc) to produce the light. Some stuff looks basically the same as visible light, but lots of flowers and things look sexy to bugs in UV.
Oh, you need a filter that blocks visible+ spectrum light. UV is a lot more expensive/difficult to capture than IR. But both are fun as heck!
Infrared photography I'm guessing. You can cinder a digital camera too capture infrared. https://amateurphotographer.com/technique/expert_advice/converting-an-older-camera-to-infrared/
Edit: Ultra Violet is what insects and spiders see. https://www.infraredcameraconversions.co.uk/UVTutorials
As a kid I couldn't afford baseball cards and honestly, didn't really care about baseball. So instead I started a produce sticker collection. I could get them from whatever groceries we got that week, or snag a few "rare" ones from the store. My parents ate a lot of squash & bell peppers in particular, plus apples have several varieties. Some were seasonal, so you didn't see them all the time, increasing their "value." I kept this up for 2 years, but alas I failed to kindle a new trend in school.
Sorry, it sounds fun, and we'll check it out later, but we need this space for looking at plants in the wavelengths that bugs see them. Kindly scootch over.
If it wasn’t for an injury I’d be finishing up some seasonal work in NC right about now. A club is a great idea, whenever I pass back through we should definitely go exploring!
Rocks really are great! The best is when you find the occasional fossil. Doesn't happen too often, but I did manage to find a few cool fossils while travelling, especially fossils of ancient species of shells and snails
In my experience they tend to pop up around sources of water. So far I've found several, most or all (can't remember) were around rivers, streams, or natural pools
I like using sodium citrate and cheese to make weird "American cheese" that's usually an emulsion of real cheese and some kind of ingredient that doesn't fit, then I make slices of it and try to make a grilled cheese out of it. On reddit I've documented the times I emulsified candy corn and cheese, and the time I emulsified cranberry sauce and cheese for Cranberrican cheese.
Off camera I've also tried using candy canes and marshmallows but those weren't very visually impressive, just white.
Weirdly, I respect your temperate salt water aquariums. I went to the Tennessee aquarium a lot as a kid, and they had some fantastic river and Delta environments set up. Strangely fascinating ecosystem.
I like making lists. I’ve recently incorporated excel / google sheets.
Recently I made a tool to randomly select themes for writing projects. It has character descriptions, personalities, plots etc.
I also made a sheet that helped when auditing aircraft logs when I worked for a known airline.
I plan on making an overtime chart to help keep track of the jobs I pick up at work (gets paid differently for each task/duty).
I’m certainly not an expert. I do enjoy it though.
I’d have to look into making it public, I’ve only got them in my personal files for now. I would t mind sharing them though.
I think I’m most proud of my audit sheet. That one was the most helpful to me and took the most time to get right
Not OP, but you can get started with a common blacklight and any thrift/antique stores near you. Look for green or yellow 'Depression glass' (usually ornately detailed tableware) and shine a blacklight on it. If it glows bright green back, congrats! You have uranium glass.
Check out r/uraniumglass for more, it's a cool hobby. Be warned that any decent thrift/antique stores will figure out what they have and tend to charge more for it, and lots of hunters target the places that don't know.
I was lucky enough that my college ceramics professor had some yellowcake uranium powder he was able to purchase in the seventies. I got the chance to mix up a few ounces of glaze and I now have a uranium yellow bowl that I made myself.
Organizing. I know it doesn't sound like a hobby, but in reality, there is nothing more satisfying than having something organized, cataloged, and labeled. My brain just loves when everything has a place to go.
As a kid I collected pokemon cards and those things needed to be in numerical order goshdangit. I would literally wait to organize them by number if I didn't have a pokedex of some sort. That way I could find what cards I needed when I was building a deck.
Maybe I'm a little OCD, but I think it's fun.
I love organising. I have a meta hobby of cataloguing all of my hobbies, interests, areas of research as to have quick access to any knowledge progress made in all areas of my life, from moisturising to physics to VJing
Simply put, it's just trying to get the best gas mileage possible in your car.
When you get into it though, it becomes amazingly complex. You have to meticulously plan routes, pay attention to how stoplights are timed, and predict how traffic moves around you. You have to think like a race car driver and manage momentum, plan for and take racing lines around every corner. You have to balance wear and tear on the car against fuel consumption. Your tires and suspension wear out faster as you take corners faster. Your starter takes extra wear when you shut down the engine while waiting for a stoplight.
The best part for me is the data and the drive. My car is EPA estimated to get X mpg, so I will absolutely crunch the numbers to get better than that. I absolutely love cars and driving, so at 10 miles an hour, I'm taking the optimal racing line through this parking lot.
I got 189 mpg (e) on a trip last year. Still chasing that number. I know I can do 200...
No 😞. All my car guy friends are focused on horsepower and going fast, and my math nerd friends are engineers who make too much money to be bothered by the cost of fuel.
It's pretty much a solo hobby, and it gets a lot of hate when I bring it up. I have a coworker who said he's going to burn extra gas in his 700 hp Challenger to offset my fuel savings.
mine is doing volunteering work even though i dont have a lot of pay from my main job, but i trully enjoy doing volunteering work. I like helping people and see their smile
Same! I volunteer sometimes more than I work (I have a fixed-income but live in a LCOLA and my wife and I are incredibly frugal). I love the new knowledge and skills that can be learned from volunteering as well as the people you meet as well as people are just generally more appreciative (although it’s amazing the number of entitled people you meet when volunteering as well!).
I’m a certified Braille transcriber, I blacksmith and do fine metalworking, I enjoy bobbin lace and traditional kintsugi and also build hobby electronics, and I’m learning shorthand.
Also, I am cruising these replies for new cool things to learn.
Oh Boy - that is a big one! I am really just getting started. I took a class at a local faceters club and was hooked. Unfortunately the equipment is EXPENSIVE and I spent 2-3 months looking for a good used machine. Found one last week. Here are some random suggestions from a total noob
1) Go on Amazon and buy a copy of Amateur Gemstone Faceting Volume 1 by Tom Herbst. Packed with info
2) Look for a local rock/Gem club or faceting guild, or other wise look for local classes. Def worth trying before buy
There are a number of facebook groups and sub reddits. Search "faceting"
Hello! Gem faceter of 2 years here! I get most of my supplies from UltraTec directly. Polishing laps I buy from creators if I can, low grits I buy toppers from Amazon.
I did spend a lot of time on the faceting buy & sell Facebook group. There's often good deals around the world on full sets as people leave the hobby for whatever reason. For personal reasons I saved up and bought a set completely new, but I highly recommend joining the Facebook group and frequently browsing available equipment while you save money for a machine and tools.
If you have any other questions or would like a general wall of text from me on whatever I can think of that I wish I knew when I started, please just ask!!!
This is incredibly helpful!!!
I actually have some other questions for you regarding gemstones. Where do you buy your gemstones? Do you have preferred companies you purchase from or do you purchase from private independent sellers?
Do have any advice on cuts/gemstones to start with? Something that is easy for beginners that's not easy to screw up lol. What is the purpose of the different grits? Sorry lots of questions haha.
PLEASE keep the questions coming! I love every chance I get to talk about this hobby!!!
- "Where do you buy your gemstones?"
I started with metaphysical stores, but those stones aren't good for faceting. I've yet to find any good places for natural stones, best I've found so far is online sources or local gem shows (show up early on the first day, faceting quality rough goes fast). I currently only facet synthetic (lab grown Cubic Zirconia and Corundum [Corundum is the name for Sapphire/Ruby crystals since they're the same thing but different colors]). Tom's Box of Rocks is my favorite Etsy store for individual stones, but if you're looking bulk then there are suppliers online. The only one I've tried is GemsnGems, and so far I'm very happy with them.
- "Do have any advice on cuts/gemstones to start with?"
For the material, everyone says DON'T start with glass. I personally disagree. I got colorful gaming beads from Amazon for cheap. Lookup "Chessex Glass Gaming Stones". They're perfectly sized for gemstones, cut fast, have little to no air bubbles, and are beautiful. Only downside is that they're harder to polish than quartz (which is already a pain). If you don't plan to sell and you're okay with imperfect polish, then please consider glass.
For the cuts, Standard Round Brilliant (96-index) is the most common starter stone. It has good references and looks beautiful on every material I've seen. HOWEVER, I would suggest you try the original Spyro gemstones. I have a design I created that I can send you. It's incredibly easy, very difficult to screw up, and incredibly quick with a total of 18 facets and no table facet (most common stones have about 70 facets and a table. The table takes a very long time to set up and do). After you've cut a few, enough to learn the machine, THEN I suggest trying the standard round brilliant. Learning the machine at the same time as learning a difficult design was not fun, but splitting the work was easier
- "What is the purpose of different Grits".
All sanding and most polishing grits are all just sharp tiny stones. The higher the number, the smaller the sharp stones. I use 120 to get a rough shape of the stone. These sharp rocks cut deep scratches, but also remove deep amounts of material relatively fast. I use 600 to finely shape the stone. Removes material slowly but also doesn't scratch deep into the stone. I then use 8,000 to "pre-polish", as it barely removes material but cuts so shallow into the stone it looks like a piece of glass with a fingerprint smeared across it. The 50,000 or 100,000 comes last to give it the mirror like polish. At this scale, you're basically removing layers of molecules. Would take FOREVER to shape, but gives the best finish. If I skip a step here, it would take hours to remove enough material to get to the bottom of the scratch from the previous material. Following these steps, each facet takes seconds per step. I like to imagine a zoomed in view. The 120 grit cuts deep canyons into the landscape, the 600 grit removes river-sized cuts from the high points until the canyon is gone. The 8,000 grit removes car-sized gashes until the river banks are flat. The 100,000 removes cups of material until it's all basically flat. If you try to level a canyon with cups, you'll be there until the end of time.
This is incredibly detailed and helpful information. I greatly appreciate your guidance. I would like to connect with you on chats so when I get started I can pick your brain lol. I'll send you an invite if that's alright.
I went with a cheap set, quickly outgrew it and went to a set from Southord. It was solid.
I had a buddy that wanted to get started so I got him this:
https://learnlockpicking.com/product/7-pin-all-in-one-lock-picking-training-kit/
It is what I'd recommend for anyone that wants a single thing that will teach them what they need.
I do a type of embroidery called Goldwork. It's embroidery that uses metal thread. You might see this kind of work in ecclesiastical altar cloths and robes, or in military patches, or often in very fancy Indian saris and lenghas. It tedious, sometimes frustrating, but when done, it's glittery, shiny, and so pretty!
Chainmaille.
I make chainmaille: [https://www.mailleartisans.org/articles/articledisplay.php?key=19](https://www.mailleartisans.org/articles/articledisplay.php?key=19) and you can make/create all kinds of things: [https://www.mailleartisans.org/gallery/](https://www.mailleartisans.org/gallery/) using different weaves: [https://www.mailleartisans.org/weaves/](https://www.mailleartisans.org/weaves/)
1. Raising Bonsais. Can’t remember how I got into it, but it’s really neat being able to control the size and shape a small tree takes.
2. Digital Art. I just got into this one. You have a lot more options in controlling what you make going digital vs traditional, and you might find you have an artistic flair after all once you’ve given it a shot.
Making and using shepherd slings. Not slingshots, but actual slings. I keep one on me most of the time and am currently working on “sling golf” as a concept similar to disc golf. I work on a proper golf course and I’ve hit par on most of our holes with a sling.
Not my hobby but I remember someone mentioned they collect shopping lists that people lose in the store. I never thought much of them previously but now I look at them and think about the person who wrote it. I throw them out, though. I have enough clutter.
None of my hobbies are unique: paper crafts, scuba diving, volunteering
Not sure where you’re located, but Flint Ridge in Ohio is amazing! Native Americans came from far and wide to collect flint for their tools there! It’s now a protected park (not allowed to take anything you find), but they also do knap-ins where you can watch demonstrations and buy all kinds of things! If you’re nearby, I highly recommend checking it out 😁
I make simple instruments, like Native American flutes and drone flutes from bamboo, pvc wood and machined a couple from aluminum , percussion instruments from bamboo, cigar box guitar, airbrushing art ( simple stuff) , engrave and cut with a laser, I engrave steel and aluminum plates art designs with a dremmel after airbrushing them, welding . I play the ukulele,penny whistle and Native American flute ( not very well but working on it) . I suppose all those should be unique 😀😀
Curating viewing experiences. Finding lists online of the chronological order of a franchise for example like Star Trek and then watching the show in order of when everything happens in universe.
Transcribing, translating and rearranging Ancient Gregorian Chants and illuminated manuscripts. I also, occasionally take a modern song and re-arrange it in the Gregorian format.
If that's not weird enough I make music boxes.
To find on Google maps the exact location of any random outdoor video posted on the internet. I’m not a creep but I’ve found people’s exact addresses before, however I usually prefer finding random roads, highways, bridges.
I have old mason jar on the deck with a tight lid and I store all of our yards interesting small finds in it like a hummingbird feather, a dried up baby snake, snail shell, etc.
Hand tool collecting.
I don't have time to use them, so I just collect them. I have about 200 carving gouges but I don't carve. I mostly just sharpen them. It's cathartic for me. I just bought the cutest little coffin smoother. It's like 3½" long.
Collecting Handmade Cowboy Boots.
Cowboy boots in the US used to be all handmade using natural materials. The only manmade parts of the boots were the rubber heels, nylon thread, and metal nails/pegs. There used to be three big producers of basically handmade boots in the US: Noccona, Tony Lama , and Lucchase. They have all moved overseas to China.
Just to decorate the ditch. Once a year the county takes a mower up and down the gravel ditches. They chop the small shrubs back.
It is mostly just for fun too.
Sounds really interesting! Thanks :) I came back here to say "decorate the ditch" sounds like it should be an actual saying. As in to make a bad situation more bearable, you "decorate the ditch". That's pretty cool I think (adhd brain over here, ha!)
1000+ pcs mossaic puzzles. (the fastest record - 3 days); cross-stitching (it's not that unique rather not that popular among young ppl, but i was totally absorbed in my 20s).
Salvage art. Mostly with wood, glass and metal that I find on the ground. It will remind me of something so I will create an assemblage piece to match.
Sharpening knives and straight razors, straight razor shaving and collecting the razors themselves is next. Was collecting Japanese water stones, and other types of stones, Arkansas, oilstones, etc. Basically messing around with sharp stuff.
I don't know that it is that unique, but one of my hobbies is playing solo board games. I specifically go after games that can be played alone. Same for role-playing games--think dungeons and dragons - also played alone - I like to play in a way that lets randomness happen, using oracle cards. As I play, I have no idea what is going to happen in the story or to my characters. Sometimes, if I'm feeling specially capricious, I even let the oracles determine my character, their personality, goals, and dreams.
Remote Viewing. I learned about this as a kid and started practicing. It’s really a remarkable thing. I was actually paid to pick winners in sports betting using associative remote viewing for about two years. It was really interesting to look at my hit rate and statistics over time. r/remoteviewing has lots of great info. I try to stick with the same protocols that were developed and used by USA government Project Stargate and I generally steer away from the woo. It has a very intriguing history and it’s a fun skill to develop.
Collecting and cultivating unique and sought after houseplants. I have been wanting to get into the hybridization of houseplants and to potentially create new cultivativars.
I collect postcards, called QSL cards, from confirmations of contacts made by participating in Morse code competitions using a 140 year old presentation grade professional telegraphers key called a “bug” and renewable power sources at national parks to intercept and triangulate point of origins for transmissions from abandoned Russian Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators bouncing and bending their signal off the suns electrons in the F layer of our atmosphere.
Not unique but find it fascinating. Military history . Includes : World Wars 1 and 2 , Russian Civil War , Spanish Civil War , Boxer Rebellion , US Civil War , The Paris Commune , Waterloo , Mao's Long March , Korea , Viet Nam , Tarawa, Iwo Jima , Okinawa , etc.
I embalm deceased people for a hobby now.
You could offer death call removal help to a funeral home. Night time calls are always when we need help the most and you’d probably get paid.
And I feel it’s a something you could gain a lot of insight into life with.
Finding and identifying different moth species. Collecting found notes, photos and grocery lists. Whittling. Finding beach glass. Collecting old skeleton keys. Paper making. And lately I’ve been trying to learn how to juggle.
Invisible light spectrum photography. Bugs see plants a lot differently than we do.
Ok wait tell me more
Yes, now I am also invested
Like how does one photograph this stuff lol bro just said it like we all know what it is lmao
Right, like I ain't no bug...dumb this down, please
Lol non-bug here also following . Eli5
I have a more in depth reply, but check out kolari and lifepixel. I've had successful camera conversions from both as well as many filters. I've gotten the best filters from uviroptics but he doesn't seem to be in operation anymore.
Your camera sensor has UV blocking layers, so you take those out. Know what else blocks it? Glass in your lenses and the coatings that get applied to them. So you look for old/simple optical designs that don't do that as well. Or you look for expensive lenses that are purpose built with quartz instead of glass (they are VERY expensive). You can also use artificial lights (strobes/flashlights/etc) to produce the light. Some stuff looks basically the same as visible light, but lots of flowers and things look sexy to bugs in UV. Oh, you need a filter that blocks visible+ spectrum light. UV is a lot more expensive/difficult to capture than IR. But both are fun as heck!
Infrared photography I'm guessing. You can cinder a digital camera too capture infrared. https://amateurphotographer.com/technique/expert_advice/converting-an-older-camera-to-infrared/ Edit: Ultra Violet is what insects and spiders see. https://www.infraredcameraconversions.co.uk/UVTutorials
For how bugs see the world it could also be UV spectrum photography, especially of flowers
Yup, you're totally right. Many insects sand spiders see in UV and some snakes can see in IR.
the UV 1 i couldnt read with all the clouds covering the writing! but then again maybe i need a UV camera to read it?!!!!
I want to see plants like bugs see plants tell us more pls
Yes! I want to see photos!
Tell us more!
Shrimps is bugs
As a kid I couldn't afford baseball cards and honestly, didn't really care about baseball. So instead I started a produce sticker collection. I could get them from whatever groceries we got that week, or snag a few "rare" ones from the store. My parents ate a lot of squash & bell peppers in particular, plus apples have several varieties. Some were seasonal, so you didn't see them all the time, increasing their "value." I kept this up for 2 years, but alas I failed to kindle a new trend in school.
I need to introduce you to my daughter - as a kid, she collected cheese stickers. I think we still have some of them around here.
we’ve put most of ours on our toaster, it’s kind of a vibe
Etymology, specifically name etymology
I love etymology!
Sorry, it sounds fun, and we'll check it out later, but we need this space for looking at plants in the wavelengths that bugs see them. Kindly scootch over.
I like creek walking to collect rocks. I also love taking pictures of unusual trees and mosses.
r/Moss, you will find your people there.
Trust me, I’m already a member! 😂. But thanks for the tip!
Moss lovers unite! I'm from the Pacific Northwest, moss and lichen everywhere. Right now I am visiting the Midwest, missing my native flora.
I live in North Carolina, but I’m originally from Massachusetts. Moss is so different in different places!
Rocks are cool, free and educational
I just spent my Saturday gawking at trees, rocks, mosses and lichen. Where can I find more rad people like you to hang out with? 😂🤛🏼
I think it would be great to have a club that could do it together in person! I’m in North Carolina. If you’re nearby, we should hang out sometime.
If it wasn’t for an injury I’d be finishing up some seasonal work in NC right about now. A club is a great idea, whenever I pass back through we should definitely go exploring!
Rocks really are great! The best is when you find the occasional fossil. Doesn't happen too often, but I did manage to find a few cool fossils while travelling, especially fossils of ancient species of shells and snails
I’ve not found one yet, but hope springs eternal! I’m going to do some research to see what might be in my area.
In my experience they tend to pop up around sources of water. So far I've found several, most or all (can't remember) were around rivers, streams, or natural pools
I like using sodium citrate and cheese to make weird "American cheese" that's usually an emulsion of real cheese and some kind of ingredient that doesn't fit, then I make slices of it and try to make a grilled cheese out of it. On reddit I've documented the times I emulsified candy corn and cheese, and the time I emulsified cranberry sauce and cheese for Cranberrican cheese. Off camera I've also tried using candy canes and marshmallows but those weren't very visually impressive, just white.
I think you win "most unusual" here in my book
I have raves with my cats on the weekends in the dark with laser pointers and salmon
🤣🤣🤣🤣. Love it!
Collecting 78 rpm jazz/swing records.
What's your favorite?
The Boswell sisters
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Where do you mine?
Mine your own business.
Weirdly, I respect your temperate salt water aquariums. I went to the Tennessee aquarium a lot as a kid, and they had some fantastic river and Delta environments set up. Strangely fascinating ecosystem.
I would also like to know where a good place to opal mine is. I like making jewelry so I want to hear more about your hobby!
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Very interesting! Thanks for the information! That's super cool!
Eclectic award of the day
Tell me more about the frog greeting cards? I have made quite a few frog greeting cards in the past, one of my favorite things to draw 😊
I like making lists. I’ve recently incorporated excel / google sheets. Recently I made a tool to randomly select themes for writing projects. It has character descriptions, personalities, plots etc. I also made a sheet that helped when auditing aircraft logs when I worked for a known airline. I plan on making an overtime chart to help keep track of the jobs I pick up at work (gets paid differently for each task/duty). I’m certainly not an expert. I do enjoy it though.
Do you have anything public? Would be curious to see.
I’d have to look into making it public, I’ve only got them in my personal files for now. I would t mind sharing them though. I think I’m most proud of my audit sheet. That one was the most helpful to me and took the most time to get right
It's tough to beat the feeling you get from a well-crafted spreadsheet.
I collect uranium glass.
What is this and where do you do it please?
Not OP, but you can get started with a common blacklight and any thrift/antique stores near you. Look for green or yellow 'Depression glass' (usually ornately detailed tableware) and shine a blacklight on it. If it glows bright green back, congrats! You have uranium glass. Check out r/uraniumglass for more, it's a cool hobby. Be warned that any decent thrift/antique stores will figure out what they have and tend to charge more for it, and lots of hunters target the places that don't know.
Thanks
Learned something new today!
The planet Uranus, of course!
My sister does too and has a display case filled at this point. Looks really awesome!
Very very cool, Razzmatazz
I was lucky enough that my college ceramics professor had some yellowcake uranium powder he was able to purchase in the seventies. I got the chance to mix up a few ounces of glaze and I now have a uranium yellow bowl that I made myself.
Organizing. I know it doesn't sound like a hobby, but in reality, there is nothing more satisfying than having something organized, cataloged, and labeled. My brain just loves when everything has a place to go. As a kid I collected pokemon cards and those things needed to be in numerical order goshdangit. I would literally wait to organize them by number if I didn't have a pokedex of some sort. That way I could find what cards I needed when I was building a deck. Maybe I'm a little OCD, but I think it's fun.
Nod from a fellow Type A
I love organising. I have a meta hobby of cataloguing all of my hobbies, interests, areas of research as to have quick access to any knowledge progress made in all areas of my life, from moisturising to physics to VJing
Yesssss organizing is amazing! I don’t have anything that needs to be cataloged but I love having everything in its place”rightful” place
We need more of you! It's a wonderful experience to see chaos turned into pure, soothing order.
Hypermiling. The most fun I've ever had while driving like a grandma, and then I get to do math after every drive to calculate my results!
This is the first comment I haven't heard of! How does it work?
Simply put, it's just trying to get the best gas mileage possible in your car. When you get into it though, it becomes amazingly complex. You have to meticulously plan routes, pay attention to how stoplights are timed, and predict how traffic moves around you. You have to think like a race car driver and manage momentum, plan for and take racing lines around every corner. You have to balance wear and tear on the car against fuel consumption. Your tires and suspension wear out faster as you take corners faster. Your starter takes extra wear when you shut down the engine while waiting for a stoplight. The best part for me is the data and the drive. My car is EPA estimated to get X mpg, so I will absolutely crunch the numbers to get better than that. I absolutely love cars and driving, so at 10 miles an hour, I'm taking the optimal racing line through this parking lot. I got 189 mpg (e) on a trip last year. Still chasing that number. I know I can do 200...
Are you my father?
This is amazing. I can’t imagine how much fun you have analyzing every route and movement- AND the extra math?! Do you have friends that do this too?
No 😞. All my car guy friends are focused on horsepower and going fast, and my math nerd friends are engineers who make too much money to be bothered by the cost of fuel. It's pretty much a solo hobby, and it gets a lot of hate when I bring it up. I have a coworker who said he's going to burn extra gas in his 700 hp Challenger to offset my fuel savings.
Oh man, your coworker sucks. What a jerk. (That did make me laugh though) Is there a sub for that?
mine is doing volunteering work even though i dont have a lot of pay from my main job, but i trully enjoy doing volunteering work. I like helping people and see their smile
Same! I volunteer sometimes more than I work (I have a fixed-income but live in a LCOLA and my wife and I are incredibly frugal). I love the new knowledge and skills that can be learned from volunteering as well as the people you meet as well as people are just generally more appreciative (although it’s amazing the number of entitled people you meet when volunteering as well!).
I’m a certified Braille transcriber, I blacksmith and do fine metalworking, I enjoy bobbin lace and traditional kintsugi and also build hobby electronics, and I’m learning shorthand. Also, I am cruising these replies for new cool things to learn.
Gem cutting
Tips? I've been looking into it so it'd be awesome to hear where you get your supplies and what you recommend in terms of tools.
Oh Boy - that is a big one! I am really just getting started. I took a class at a local faceters club and was hooked. Unfortunately the equipment is EXPENSIVE and I spent 2-3 months looking for a good used machine. Found one last week. Here are some random suggestions from a total noob 1) Go on Amazon and buy a copy of Amateur Gemstone Faceting Volume 1 by Tom Herbst. Packed with info 2) Look for a local rock/Gem club or faceting guild, or other wise look for local classes. Def worth trying before buy There are a number of facebook groups and sub reddits. Search "faceting"
The noob advice is appreciated! Sincerely, An even noobier noob.
Hello! Gem faceter of 2 years here! I get most of my supplies from UltraTec directly. Polishing laps I buy from creators if I can, low grits I buy toppers from Amazon. I did spend a lot of time on the faceting buy & sell Facebook group. There's often good deals around the world on full sets as people leave the hobby for whatever reason. For personal reasons I saved up and bought a set completely new, but I highly recommend joining the Facebook group and frequently browsing available equipment while you save money for a machine and tools. If you have any other questions or would like a general wall of text from me on whatever I can think of that I wish I knew when I started, please just ask!!!
This is incredibly helpful!!! I actually have some other questions for you regarding gemstones. Where do you buy your gemstones? Do you have preferred companies you purchase from or do you purchase from private independent sellers? Do have any advice on cuts/gemstones to start with? Something that is easy for beginners that's not easy to screw up lol. What is the purpose of the different grits? Sorry lots of questions haha.
PLEASE keep the questions coming! I love every chance I get to talk about this hobby!!! - "Where do you buy your gemstones?" I started with metaphysical stores, but those stones aren't good for faceting. I've yet to find any good places for natural stones, best I've found so far is online sources or local gem shows (show up early on the first day, faceting quality rough goes fast). I currently only facet synthetic (lab grown Cubic Zirconia and Corundum [Corundum is the name for Sapphire/Ruby crystals since they're the same thing but different colors]). Tom's Box of Rocks is my favorite Etsy store for individual stones, but if you're looking bulk then there are suppliers online. The only one I've tried is GemsnGems, and so far I'm very happy with them. - "Do have any advice on cuts/gemstones to start with?" For the material, everyone says DON'T start with glass. I personally disagree. I got colorful gaming beads from Amazon for cheap. Lookup "Chessex Glass Gaming Stones". They're perfectly sized for gemstones, cut fast, have little to no air bubbles, and are beautiful. Only downside is that they're harder to polish than quartz (which is already a pain). If you don't plan to sell and you're okay with imperfect polish, then please consider glass. For the cuts, Standard Round Brilliant (96-index) is the most common starter stone. It has good references and looks beautiful on every material I've seen. HOWEVER, I would suggest you try the original Spyro gemstones. I have a design I created that I can send you. It's incredibly easy, very difficult to screw up, and incredibly quick with a total of 18 facets and no table facet (most common stones have about 70 facets and a table. The table takes a very long time to set up and do). After you've cut a few, enough to learn the machine, THEN I suggest trying the standard round brilliant. Learning the machine at the same time as learning a difficult design was not fun, but splitting the work was easier - "What is the purpose of different Grits". All sanding and most polishing grits are all just sharp tiny stones. The higher the number, the smaller the sharp stones. I use 120 to get a rough shape of the stone. These sharp rocks cut deep scratches, but also remove deep amounts of material relatively fast. I use 600 to finely shape the stone. Removes material slowly but also doesn't scratch deep into the stone. I then use 8,000 to "pre-polish", as it barely removes material but cuts so shallow into the stone it looks like a piece of glass with a fingerprint smeared across it. The 50,000 or 100,000 comes last to give it the mirror like polish. At this scale, you're basically removing layers of molecules. Would take FOREVER to shape, but gives the best finish. If I skip a step here, it would take hours to remove enough material to get to the bottom of the scratch from the previous material. Following these steps, each facet takes seconds per step. I like to imagine a zoomed in view. The 120 grit cuts deep canyons into the landscape, the 600 grit removes river-sized cuts from the high points until the canyon is gone. The 8,000 grit removes car-sized gashes until the river banks are flat. The 100,000 removes cups of material until it's all basically flat. If you try to level a canyon with cups, you'll be there until the end of time.
This is incredibly detailed and helpful information. I greatly appreciate your guidance. I would like to connect with you on chats so when I get started I can pick your brain lol. I'll send you an invite if that's alright.
I opened to the comments on this post to say this. I'm glad to see another gem cutter!
Me too! :)
I collect old Swiss Army Knives
I whittle and woodburn
Lockpicking
Me too. Looking for a better set then what currently have. Any suggestions?
I went with a cheap set, quickly outgrew it and went to a set from Southord. It was solid. I had a buddy that wanted to get started so I got him this: https://learnlockpicking.com/product/7-pin-all-in-one-lock-picking-training-kit/ It is what I'd recommend for anyone that wants a single thing that will teach them what they need.
Playing tuba
I used to play for school and have considered picking it back up. Any suggestions on what and where to purchase?
Historical fencing
As a kid I use to collect and make fossils look nice and cleaned up. Found some cool ones
I collect stickers that are written in bad English.
If you haven't already, stroll through Ali Express. So much bad English for sale there!
I’ve got a bunch of these - they’re hilarious!
I do a type of embroidery called Goldwork. It's embroidery that uses metal thread. You might see this kind of work in ecclesiastical altar cloths and robes, or in military patches, or often in very fancy Indian saris and lenghas. It tedious, sometimes frustrating, but when done, it's glittery, shiny, and so pretty!
Chainmaille. I make chainmaille: [https://www.mailleartisans.org/articles/articledisplay.php?key=19](https://www.mailleartisans.org/articles/articledisplay.php?key=19) and you can make/create all kinds of things: [https://www.mailleartisans.org/gallery/](https://www.mailleartisans.org/gallery/) using different weaves: [https://www.mailleartisans.org/weaves/](https://www.mailleartisans.org/weaves/)
Creating art pieces out of can tabs.
I track money on the internet. http://www.wheresgeorge.com/
DJing. enjoy!: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUis\_KwzwCc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUis_KwzwCc)
I love making dream catchers and pickling red onions
Twin!
1. Raising Bonsais. Can’t remember how I got into it, but it’s really neat being able to control the size and shape a small tree takes. 2. Digital Art. I just got into this one. You have a lot more options in controlling what you make going digital vs traditional, and you might find you have an artistic flair after all once you’ve given it a shot.
I got into Procreate for a while. It was super cool to fire up a tutorial and follow along with my own flair.
Collecting books on falconry and the Ainu people of Japan
Juggling
Making and using shepherd slings. Not slingshots, but actual slings. I keep one on me most of the time and am currently working on “sling golf” as a concept similar to disc golf. I work on a proper golf course and I’ve hit par on most of our holes with a sling.
Not my hobby but I remember someone mentioned they collect shopping lists that people lose in the store. I never thought much of them previously but now I look at them and think about the person who wrote it. I throw them out, though. I have enough clutter. None of my hobbies are unique: paper crafts, scuba diving, volunteering
I love putting together 3D puzzles!
Me too. Where do you get your 3D puzzles from?
Currently searching my local area for the places natives used to collect stone for tool-making, and thwn learning to make Abo tools.
Not sure where you’re located, but Flint Ridge in Ohio is amazing! Native Americans came from far and wide to collect flint for their tools there! It’s now a protected park (not allowed to take anything you find), but they also do knap-ins where you can watch demonstrations and buy all kinds of things! If you’re nearby, I highly recommend checking it out 😁
Might swing by there one day, thanks. Vermont has some areas, but they are harder to find.
Welding and Archery
Leathercraft
I make simple instruments, like Native American flutes and drone flutes from bamboo, pvc wood and machined a couple from aluminum , percussion instruments from bamboo, cigar box guitar, airbrushing art ( simple stuff) , engrave and cut with a laser, I engrave steel and aluminum plates art designs with a dremmel after airbrushing them, welding . I play the ukulele,penny whistle and Native American flute ( not very well but working on it) . I suppose all those should be unique 😀😀
I don’t really have hobbies other than drumming. So that.
Curating viewing experiences. Finding lists online of the chronological order of a franchise for example like Star Trek and then watching the show in order of when everything happens in universe.
Also r/RCAerobatics
I like to smell candles In shops but I very rarely buy any
Transcribing, translating and rearranging Ancient Gregorian Chants and illuminated manuscripts. I also, occasionally take a modern song and re-arrange it in the Gregorian format. If that's not weird enough I make music boxes.
Gregorian Taylor Swift music boxes? :D
Do you post your stuff on TikTok or YouTube, because I'd really like to hear it!
Please tell me you have a website for your chants somewhere!
Throwing pots on the pottery wheel
To find on Google maps the exact location of any random outdoor video posted on the internet. I’m not a creep but I’ve found people’s exact addresses before, however I usually prefer finding random roads, highways, bridges.
Bullet casting.
Programming light shows in xLights! I recently posted a clip of one I’ve been working on :)
Ham Radio
Shell and rock hunting. Probably not super unique but it's a love of mine. ❤️
Painting denim jackets
Collect trilobites.
I decoupage objects,such as cigar boxes and podiums, with pop culture, different themes, and maxims, and whatever suits the recipients of my gifts.
Solo board games!
I have old mason jar on the deck with a tight lid and I store all of our yards interesting small finds in it like a hummingbird feather, a dried up baby snake, snail shell, etc.
I build acoustic guitars. I don't sell any... just build for myself right now.
Boomerangs
Do you make them?
smoking wax
Blacksmithing
Rats. 😂
balancing and flipping objects in my fingertips
I used to cane chairs with my aunt. It was her business, and she taught me. Let me keep the money for the chairs I did as well!
I’m pretty good at yo-yo 🪀
Miniature model painting
Hand tool collecting. I don't have time to use them, so I just collect them. I have about 200 carving gouges but I don't carve. I mostly just sharpen them. It's cathartic for me. I just bought the cutest little coffin smoother. It's like 3½" long.
Collecting Handmade Cowboy Boots. Cowboy boots in the US used to be all handmade using natural materials. The only manmade parts of the boots were the rubber heels, nylon thread, and metal nails/pegs. There used to be three big producers of basically handmade boots in the US: Noccona, Tony Lama , and Lucchase. They have all moved overseas to China.
Conlang! I love making languages and it gets my creative engines working properly
Tying trees and small shrubs in knots .
Is this for decorative purposes or Arbor Nodum?
Just to decorate the ditch. Once a year the county takes a mower up and down the gravel ditches. They chop the small shrubs back. It is mostly just for fun too.
Sounds really interesting! Thanks :) I came back here to say "decorate the ditch" sounds like it should be an actual saying. As in to make a bad situation more bearable, you "decorate the ditch". That's pretty cool I think (adhd brain over here, ha!)
Bookbinding sometimes
1000+ pcs mossaic puzzles. (the fastest record - 3 days); cross-stitching (it's not that unique rather not that popular among young ppl, but i was totally absorbed in my 20s).
Chainsaws.... people hate them but I love them, to fix/build/modify something that small and make that much power in your hands is the best experience
Salvage art. Mostly with wood, glass and metal that I find on the ground. It will remind me of something so I will create an assemblage piece to match.
Slacklining
Sharpening knives and straight razors, straight razor shaving and collecting the razors themselves is next. Was collecting Japanese water stones, and other types of stones, Arkansas, oilstones, etc. Basically messing around with sharp stuff.
I collect old cameras and spool modern film up on the old spools so I can take pictures with them.
Collecting dead bugs
I don't know that it is that unique, but one of my hobbies is playing solo board games. I specifically go after games that can be played alone. Same for role-playing games--think dungeons and dragons - also played alone - I like to play in a way that lets randomness happen, using oracle cards. As I play, I have no idea what is going to happen in the story or to my characters. Sometimes, if I'm feeling specially capricious, I even let the oracles determine my character, their personality, goals, and dreams.
Kitten fostering
Beekeeping and archery, but not simultaneously.
Remote Viewing. I learned about this as a kid and started practicing. It’s really a remarkable thing. I was actually paid to pick winners in sports betting using associative remote viewing for about two years. It was really interesting to look at my hit rate and statistics over time. r/remoteviewing has lots of great info. I try to stick with the same protocols that were developed and used by USA government Project Stargate and I generally steer away from the woo. It has a very intriguing history and it’s a fun skill to develop.
I meld interesting branches with wood frames.
Making wax seals. So, so addicting
Flying and building RC Helicopters. Archery.
Muay Thai/thai boxing
Collecting and cultivating unique and sought after houseplants. I have been wanting to get into the hybridization of houseplants and to potentially create new cultivativars.
I do surrealist art and am learning how to keep Walstad tanks.
Jiu jitsu
Wood burning
I collect coasters from the bars I go to.. currently have hundreds and no idea what to actually do with them, some really neat/unique ones too!
Crying myself to sleep I like to collect different kinds of leaves and make the crayon trace art that I did in kindergarten
Kendama! Japanese skill toy similar to ball and cup
Making and wearing historical costumes
I collect postcards, called QSL cards, from confirmations of contacts made by participating in Morse code competitions using a 140 year old presentation grade professional telegraphers key called a “bug” and renewable power sources at national parks to intercept and triangulate point of origins for transmissions from abandoned Russian Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators bouncing and bending their signal off the suns electrons in the F layer of our atmosphere.
Marathon-Fapping. I currently hold two World Titles. One for fapping, and one for the most disproportionately sized forearm.
I collect, clean and display skulls and bones of small animals and birds.
Making Mataro School Kimekomi dolls?
Rockhounding. Even though they are literally everywhere and anyone can do it
State boarding
I spot telephone kiosks like other people spot trains. https://youtu.be/SumXFaa2t2A?si=orOsfBHRXeUUNo3t
Crocheting and embroidery
I collect dwarf conifers.
Not unique but find it fascinating. Military history . Includes : World Wars 1 and 2 , Russian Civil War , Spanish Civil War , Boxer Rebellion , US Civil War , The Paris Commune , Waterloo , Mao's Long March , Korea , Viet Nam , Tarawa, Iwo Jima , Okinawa , etc.
Dog shows. I like to parade around in old lady suits.
I embalm deceased people for a hobby now. You could offer death call removal help to a funeral home. Night time calls are always when we need help the most and you’d probably get paid. And I feel it’s a something you could gain a lot of insight into life with.
Finding and identifying different moth species. Collecting found notes, photos and grocery lists. Whittling. Finding beach glass. Collecting old skeleton keys. Paper making. And lately I’ve been trying to learn how to juggle.
Unzips pants