I’m catching up on my podcasts and blogs and I wanted to comment of the Hobby vs. Pro thing.

If you can look at the process of any skill building as it relates to a hobby, you can see that it grows in levels and or seasons, depending on the commitment.

In my case, it was simple. I liked woodworking and I had a general knowledge of it ,but until I needed it– that’s where my commitment was born, then my levels began to build.

And it continues to grow, from hobby to pro to artisan to a calling.

I was listening to this episode while on a road trip to Chicago for the Lie-Nielsen Tool Demo and Seminars at Jeff Miller’s Studio/Workshop. I had to laugh, because as you were talking about the question about is too much woodworking bad for the amateur woodworker.

I started remembering back in the day when “the Norm” was on HGTV twice a day and I would tape both episodes so I could watch them at lunch and then again after work. I had a huge stack of video tapes, all properly labeled of course.

And then there was also the monthly trip (o.k. 2-3X a month) to the magazine rack at the bookstore to buy anything that mentioned woodworking. I’ve managed to dwindle that pile down to just a few select issues out of 2-3 years worth.

There are other “sources” of woodworking goodness that I won’t go into, but in the end I came very close to that amateur burnout moment myself.

That was when I really re-evaluated what was important to me and what wasn’t. I started to concentrate on basic skills and started to figure out which tools I really needed and the rest is history.

You’re absolutely right that a good balance between life outside of the shop and inside is important to every woodworker.

Keep up the great thought provoking shows…
Matt