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I really want to get into casting, because it's crazy how much stuff you can make. Machining too, but that requires a lot of equipment. If you want to use metal casting to make machining tools, David Gingery's works are a classic.
Machine is a very fun hobby, but be very careful when using high power tools. Mills, lathes and surface grinders can easily bite yah. As my shop teacher once said "If it can cut metal it can cut you!" "Metalworking tools are not toys, treat them with respect and they will respect you back" "Follow the MSDS procautions and shop rules, ie no long sleeves or gloves near rotary equitment and dont roll up sand paper on the lathe"
It is very rewarding being able to show people the part you made and solving problems feels great too!
Casting can also be dangerous. It's not too surprising, when glowing hot molten liquid is involved, but it's not necessarily intuitive. Any excess moisture in the work area is a potential steam explosion, including the water in porous concrete you might not think about. Materials weaken at high temperatures, and thermal expansion of metal when you're going up that high is more than a detail. To deal with that, use PPE, your brain and Murphy's law. They say to assume everything in a metalworking shop is hot unless you know for a fact that it isn't, for example.
Machining is also cool because you can get microscopic precision with pretty standard equipment, and quite often need to if you want something to make something like a smooth-rolling bearing. That makes it a lot more of a science than more common skills like woodworking.
I did not know about water expantion being a hazard when casting. Wow go figure. Casting is pretty neat, ive had a few buddys cast alumium and its hot as balls when pouring into a mold, but has alot of compontents that you really dont know unless your into it. Like water expantion, thats pretty cool thanks for sharing!
Sales. If you want to starting make really good money without a masters or PhD. Learn sales. Get a bdr type role. Even part time and get some experience. After that you can start making 6 figs within a few years.
While I agree you can make good money in sales. I think it takes a certain personality and a tough skin to handle the job well. It can be an extremely stressful work environment.
Does art interest you? I personally really love drawing!
I've never been particularly talented at visual arts like drawing and painting, my artistic talents mostly come in music. Which I've been doing for a long time and burnt out on. I do know you can develop a talent like drawing with enough time and effort, so its not totally out of the question.
I fondly remember a time where I could only draw stickmen. I'm sure if you spend time and effort, you can do pretty much anything! If you don't mind me asking, have you shared your music anywhere?
Yeah, I've got a ton of music published, its all on Spotify/iTunes/etc. The name of my band is Giant Monsters on the Horizon. Been doing music for a long while. https://open.spotify.com/artist/4HmglWNfF7jAYQxbEjv9Xt?si=wKM8b_rATrSgx5WV7ITDdw
Holy cats - just bought Night City Redux on Bandcamp. Great stuff!
If you're burnt out on music making, have you tried other ways of creating? Like if you're used to a DAW, invest in hardware like a groovebox or a handheld tracker (my current love is the Dirtywave M8) or something. Try modular (but don't, it's expensive) or some weird boutique noise machine. Or dive into orchestral instruments and perfecting a classical music performance.
It could be a way to defamiliarise yourself and make music creation new again.
You are my favorite person, I appreciate you! :D
Seriously, thank you for supporting. I've worked with softsynths all my adult life, mainly Reason for production and arranging, Ableton for live shows. One of my bandmates is a gearhead, we've tried all kinds of his hardware including modular stuff, and it was just a learning curve that I was not really interested in. My music production time is really limited (One of my bandmates and his wife just adopted 2 kids out of foster care, and my other bandmate is a full time teacher), I only get about 4 hours a week to actually collaborate with them. Every time we've tried writing and creating with hardware, it just left us with getting nothing done during our once a week session. We stick with the softsynths we know and keep the train moving forward. So the balance struggle there is, do we take several sessions off to try something new? Or do we keep creating and being productive. Its tough.
Thank you for introducing me to a new (to me) band! Yeah, life can be kind of a roller coaster, and everyone's interests ebb and flow (as you've discovered with yourself and your bandmates). Sadly we only have so much energy to roll with it, and I'm sorry you're at a low energy area right now. Those suck, and it is VERY difficult to battle inertia and muscle back into the fray.
Art is kinda cruel in the way that it makes you choose - familiar and possibly uninspiring, or new and possibly a frustrating dead end. The reason I mentioned the M8 was largely due to its pocketability. It's not much bigger than a large smartphone but it's a whole production device with instant-on and a sensible design. Work on stuff during lunch, at the park, on the bus, etc. But there is a learning curve, so spending a lot of energy you might not have may get frustrating if it doesn't click right away.
One thing you might try is suggesting gentle deadlines or challenges for yourself and your bandmates - like write a catchy 10-second jingle by the end of the week. Or parody the chorus of an existing song by the end of your next phone call. A deadline for something silly is easier to meet, and you all would have created something and had a little fun.
There are a lot of amazing people here suggesting different things you can do, and I notice a lot of their ideas are creative activities. I think you can land on any of those and find satisfaction. There's no high like creation. No matter what, remember that things always change. If you're at a low point, it can't last forever, especially if you keep powering through it. You'll come out ahead.
Drawing. It's seen as a skill reserved for an elite few, but in reality anyone can develop it. I learned it at school from lessons very similar to how Peter Gray teaches it (see this book for example on the Internet Archive).
All you need is a pad of paper, a few pencils and an eraser. And then sketch away, plants, people, landscapes, characters, whatever you want to explore.
Definitely a good idea. I've never been talented in drawing or painting, but that doesn't mean I can't develop it.
If you become a plumber or electrician it will satisfy your desire to create with your hands while challenging your brain. It pays decently good and keeps you in shape too.
As an electrician you’ll start off paid low for a year or two as a laborer, but in four or five years I think you’ll be a trade professional making good money and doing useful work.
Thanks! I have a tour scheduled next week for a trade school for their electrician program. I'm not 100% sure if I have an interest in it, but it has the traits I am looking for. Being useful, having a purpose, working with my hands, etc. I will see how I feel after the tour.
Do you live in an area where you can go sailing?
Heh, unfortunately no. I was born and raised in Ft Lauderdale, but now reside in Missouri... so no where near water, lol.
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Feeling lost and with no direction, what skill should I learn?
You could go into teaching?
Yeah, when I was younger, I could always see myself as a teacher. The truth is, its not enough money and being more of a "jack of all trades" type, I don't have any expertise in anything to be able to teach someone else effectively. At least that's how it feels to me.
What about volunteering? Usually no credentials or experience is required. You get out of the house, get to be around people, and you get the satisfaction of feeling like you are doing something useful, which is rewarding in itself.
It could be anything. You have all kinds of organizations wanting volunteer help: social outreach programs, churches, scouts, clubs, etc. See if anything local catches your interest.
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I don't have any expertise in anything
Nonsense, sounds like you're more than qualified to teach.
I've (more or less) got those two hobbies as well! :D
I work on cars for fun, but that might not be the most budget friendly thing to do outside of basic car maintenance. Of course, this is assuming that you or a friend has a car to work on.
What if you get an Arduino starter kit? That involves putting things together with your hands and writing code to make the hardware do cool things.
For music production, you could check out a website like Looperman or a subscription service like Splice. Then, download a few audio samples and use them as a starting point for a song. This helped me get back into music production after a five month period of minimal inspiration.
Photography (even with a cellphone) could be nice too. You could even use it as a reason to do physical activities like hiking.
EDIT: Have you been hanging out with friends regularly? If not, I think that it should be
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this post was submitted on 10 Jun 2024
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