What is the best/most worthwhile thing you learned how to do? Also, any regrets about DIY?
What is the best/most worthwhile thing you learned how to do? Also, any regrets about DIY?
What is the best/most worthwhile thing you learned how to do? Also, any regrets about DIY?
Probably the most useful thing was getting a sense of estimation. Working with my contractor, I could get a sense of what a home needed and how much it would cost. I did my own work way back in the day which gave me an appreciation for the skills but working full time I could never really hope to do all the renos myself, especially as I got older
Welding. I live on a farm so it's pretty invaluable. Just have a little Lincoln tombstone.
>Welding. I live on a farm so it's pretty invaluable. Just have a little Lincoln tombstone.
This. 100%. I have a bigger selection of welders though.
And to go along with that doing mechanic work and machining too.
any words of encouragement or wisdom for people who want to learn? i made a nice bead in shop class in high school but haven't touched a welder in 15 years.
Get a welder and start doing it. Practice practice practice on scrap metal and other shit until you get better at it.
Watch welding tips and tricks videos. I have a harbor freight pro-tig 205, a hobart handler 210mvp, and a lincoln dialarc and can recommend them all.
I purchased a cheaper tig maybe 8 years back not 100% sure that I would be able to do it or if I really wanted to do it. It is magical. Aluminum is frustrating. You can do it.
construction law
now I can get free work for doing simple shit like filing a lien
What? That sounds awesome. Just filing papers, that's it?
well I'm a lawyer, anon. client's needs vary but there is some shit that is routine and can be done very easily.
This appeals to me. How do you like it? You solo? You ever scale up to bigger projects and financing and all that?
boutique firm but we just got an HOA a 43$ mil settlement in a construction defect case. I'm green as frick but it's a good bar (attorneys are not fricking each other over constantly) and very solid work.
what was wrong with the houses? must have been a bunch
Neat. I have my eyes on a city that seems to have a lot of construction lawyers around, as it’s growing quite rapidly. It doesn’t seem terrible and I’m trying to avoid being a shitigator at all costs.
it's primarily litigation anon lol
yea tons of shit. bad stucco and finishes leading to water intrusion.
Damn. I just wanna move commas around and actually have a weekend off now and then.
Happy accidents are ok and artistic talent transfers to crafting and building. I faked 2 years experience when I was fresh out of my tradeskill school because I had the talent to fake it. Dumbasses in ic/ chase coomer and social media artist jobs while blue collar jobs that require any artist talent beg for workers and pay better
What blue collar work needs artistic talent? I'm just curious because I am having a hard time coming up with anything.
Ornate wrought-iron fencing/gates. I know a couple welders that can make some nice stuff.
NTA but besides straight commervosl art, illustayion type work there's lots of blue collar work where having an artist's sense for aesthetics, proportion, color theory, etc. are either expected (printing and sign fabrication would be two examples) or spell the difference between doing moron tier grunt work and high paying custom work....could be finish carpentry, custom tile, high end painting of all types, custom auto fabrication, tailoring/costuming/draperies and other high end sewing, abrasive etching for monuments and architectural glass, mold making and casting, pottery, glass blowing all overlap with sculpture...
Even stucco guys with some artistic sensibilities can parlay that into better paying, more interesting work and a reputation for being trustworthy where aesthetics matter, especially in restoration work.
There's a reason why people in mundane trades who are really, really good get described as being "an artist" to differentiate them from being just an average welder or painter or auto body worker or bricklayer.
I design and fabricate timber frame stuff and there's a lot of artistic style choices that go into it
>Rustic and classic vs clean and modern
>Frame stain color + t&g roofing stain color + roofing top layer color
>Hidden screws, wood dowels, or powder-coated steel plates for joints
>Overhangs, general sizes of timbers, interior lighting plans, etc
then again like 50% of my time with clients is spent trying to convince them not to paint wood solid white, so maybe it doesn't take that much lol
I seethe when I see morons painting their wood and brick houses pure black or pure white. Leaves the place with zero personality...
All of it because working with technology is of a piece.
My interest in cars and machine tools and being an industrial mechanic led me to a comfy USAF maintainer career while I DIYed through all that to make a much better,far more economically resilient life for myself. Would do again (but I'd buy more tools earlier and fewer toys, since toys follow tools anyway).
I fix and maintain nearly everything I own and have done it so long I lost touch with how horrid modern labor rates really are. DIY is freedom and when you get good you get faster and better at learning new aspects. DIY lets you meet and work with skilled people. I volunteered at the local CC when I took welding and machining classes, then worked there for a few years for machine access and toy money.
My DIYbro and I helped build each others machine shops (hardcore techie DIYer make excellent bros because idiots get filtered early). We team up buying at auctions and transporting our scores, getting us literally tons of good steel, carts etc to modify for our shops. (I put nearly all my equipment, workbenches and storage on wheels so I can move it well into old age.)
Learned how to butcher a few animals
>Also, any regrets about DIY?
I lost the last joint of my finger to a jointer at work making custom ceiling light fixtures. Does that count?
Plugging fricking tires.
you wife's boyfriend had to keep you busy some how while he plugged your wife, eh?
He taught me!
He plugged OP’s mom and then let me have a go at it. My first try was a little messy but I’m getting better at it.
I'm a god at patching tires... What do they charge these days to patch a tire? Used to be around $20 the last time I had one done. Probably double that now... The tire machine has paid for itself many times over in patching fees and lost time.
is this what constitutes skill these days?
Not really that, it’s just such a huge timesaver. Between my car and the wife’s and the other family’s cars, we all pick up so many goddamn sheet metal screws because Florida and the Haitian and Cuban and white trash crackhead scrappers don’t secure any cargo.
>is this what constitutes skill these days?
Soft hands typed this.
Why sit around wasting time and money at the tire shop when you can fix it yourself in 5 minutes? I maintain an entire fleet of farm equipment, vehicles, and trailers. If I had to go to the tire shop or call a mobile flat repair guy every time i had a flat i would be easily be out an additional 5 grand a year.
And there is definitely a skill element to it as well. Go wrestle with a flat rear tractor tire and let me know how quickly you get it fixed...
Any sort of small potatoes house bullshit or car bullshit. In business, the smaller the job, the more they frick you. Anything they can pay some uneducated dunce to do, like oil changes, brakes, fricking your mom, will cost more on a percentage basis just because they can.
That's where you save money long term so you can pay someone with more skill and still be ahead of the game when you really need something.
read
Small engine repair. Now I work in a shop where I fix on basically anything with an engine. We maintain and repair our own fleet of trucks, cab overs, roll back long nose, heavy equipment, ag, small engines, you name it. A buddy who has since died got me into it when we worked together, I wish he could see me now. For that matter I wish my father were still around. If any of you younger guys have a father that does anything with his hands, learn as much as you can from him. Some day he will die and with him goes his knowledge. It’s the only thing that can’t be taken away from you in this world, is your knowledge. Obviously barring a traumatic brain injury, but you know what I mean.
RIP your buddy, Anon. I am glad you got to learn a lot from him, that way you get to remember him each day you do the things you learned.
Might give this a go honestly, I've 5 small two strokes sitting on the shelf unloved for years since it was always quicker to go buy a new machine to finish the job than try and hopefully fix the one that shit the bed. Always pissed me off to shell out for a new weedwacker or chainsaw when I could have probably fixed the old one but I never blocked out the time to learn.
It’s always super easy.
Check for spark, easy enough. If no spark, replace spark plug if you don’t know how old it is, check connections to spark plug and for any kill switch, if that checks out, probably the coil.
If you have good spark, make sure air filter isn’t totally fricked. If that’s good, check to make sure you’re getting fuel to the carb and primer. If you’re getting some air, replace fuel lines and/or primer bulb. Other than that, it’s the carb, which is the issue on small engines 75% of the time from gas sitting in there. Try carb cleaner on larger engines and those you can rebuild. Otherwise with little weed eaters and chainsaws, just get a new $15-$20 carb and be done with it.
Sell to rich people and provide a good customer experience regardless of the quality of work
The vast majority of people care about people more than other shit
Vehicle repair/maintenance/overhaul/crash repair etc. Saved me gobs of money over a lifetime and made me more capable at my career (jet mech), various jobs, and let me own every motorcycle I ever really wanted.
is diy just a giant waste of time if you don't have any business acumen and social skills