Who has the most unusual but legal hobby?

[vikingaero]

Caving, Mine Exploring, Urbexing and watching women smuggle peanuts.

[Dibble]

knotweed said:

Drainspotting, anyone?
http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/370935...

Erm, I'm a member of a Facebook "gridding" group. Some of them are actually quite aesthetically pleasing. These are a couple from Sweden:

[crankedup]

How long before the 'Blue Plaque' spotting becomes a hobby, if it's not so already.

[knotweed]

Dibble said:

knotweed said:

Drainspotting, anyone?
http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/370935...

Erm, I'm a member of a Facebook "gridding" group. Some of them are actually quite aesthetically pleasing. These are a couple from Sweden:

Good stuff. I didn't know there was such a thing until a couple of days ago. I was running a search for "interesting drains" at the time so maybe I belong here too .

[Hoofy]

*look at manhole cover pics* Looks like I'll be crashing into strangers from now on. (They'll be the ones staring at their phones whilst I'm looking at manhole covers. Can't decide which is worse.)

[Sway]

Used to have lots of hobbies, now just seem to enjoy house building dreams and Playstation...

Saw a feature on South Today the other day of a chap who collects 'special' bricks. His pride and joy was a brick commemorating QE2's coronation. Turns out the Victoria jubilee one I have is worth about 45 quid.

Who knew?

[R6VED]

Pistom said:

I'm a ceramic tile spotter specialising in tiles by a Pilkingtons and H&R Johnson.

I don't collect them but love identifying them in the various places we go.

Not a lot of people know that the corner tiles in Sainsbury's supermarkets were hand glazed and if you look carefully you can see the inconsistencies in the glaze.

A lot of tiles were produced in quite dirty factories and on windy days, dust would blow onto the glaze. You can see which tiles were made on windy days.

My party trick is identifying the colour, style and model name of tiles.

It gets really exciting when you spot a tile on a none standard biscuit such as a Pilkingtons tile on a Johnson biscuit. That is very rare as the 2 companies were competitors but there was a time when the spray drier was out of operation which meant Pilkingtons had no choice but buy in biscuit. I believe that is where the saying "taking the biscuit" comes from.

I offer a slide show presentation on types and styles of dust pressed ceramic tiles 1976-1983.

fk me sideways that sounds boring :-)

[Dibble]

knotweed said:

Dibble said:

knotweed said:

Drainspotting, anyone?
http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/370935...

Erm, I'm a member of a Facebook "gridding" group. Some of them are actually quite aesthetically pleasing. These are a couple from Sweden:

Good stuff. I didn't know there was such a thing until a couple of days ago. I was running a search for "interesting drains" at the time so maybe I belong here too .

My mates think I'm odd... Seriously, have a look at grids. There are some fantastic designs (and yes, strictly speaking those two above AREN'T grids, and the second is actually Copenhagen!) but they fascinate me.

The group has gone private in Facebook so if you want "in", pm me.

[Yiliterate]

Morningside said:

I spotted this while out dogs walking one night.

If you haven't done so already, you should post that on the 'Photos that make my teeth itch' thread...

Edited by Yiliterate on Saturday 18th October 23:56

[Jader1973]

doogz said:

I make stuff from junk and give it to people.

I tell people, and they think I’m weird (to be fair, I am), then I show them, and end up making something for them. My wife’s horse owning mates think the silly little highland cows are great, to the point that the person that runs the shop at the equestrian centre wants me to make her some to put on the shelf.

The Blacksmiths at Sovereign Hill (living museum in Ballarat) has wine racks like those. IIRC they are AUD 150 so about 75 quid.

[spud989]

southendpier said:

I'm pretty keen on anything subterranean.

Sounds a bit underground.

[RedWhiteMonkey]

I make RC planes from foamboard.

[beko1987]

I collect and restore old Vacuum Cleaners! And refurbish and sell dysons on the side...

[wildcat45]

northwest monkey said:

Basically, yes. You get (or I have) 4 grades of polish from coarse to very fine and start off with the coarsest. Leave it tumbling for a week with a bit of water in, then clean and replace with the next grade and so on. It's pretty noisy so I wouldn't have it running in the bedroom.

Some of the rocks off beaches will disappear down into nothing, but lots wont. There's probably a way of testing how "hard" a rock is (chalk being soft, diamond being hard) but part of the fun is finding out.

I'll post some pics up later when I've got a moment.

Please do. My wife's an artist and she's fired stones and metals with ceramics.

[WetPaint]

I enjoy listening to a podcast of other people playing dungeons and dragons.

[red_slr]

RedWhiteMonkey said:

I make RC planes from foamboard.

Nice - you watch Flite Test?

[DaveGoddard]

I write short stories based on events and people in my life, but never publish them.

I also collect programmes from motorsport events.

[Lynchie999]

northwest monkey said:

wildcat45 said:

northwest monkey said:

I used to do something similar with porno mags. I'd phone up pretending to be a big advertiser looking to block book pages of adverts & they'd send me copies of their magazine. I'd get bundles of mags turning up at home then I'd sell them at school. Got rumbled after a couple of years when one of them did a follow up call but my Dad answered the phone.

My unusual but legal hobby is now rock tumbling. I find rocks and put them in a machine & it polishes them over a few weeks.

I just showed this to my wife. Apparently somewhere in the loft we have one of those. I live near several beaches, so I'll have to give it a go if I find it.

How does it work? Do you put polish in it or something?

Basically, yes. You get (or I have) 4 grades of polish from coarse to very fine and start off with the coarsest. Leave it tumbling for a week with a bit of water in, then clean and replace with the next grade and so on. It's pretty noisy so I wouldn't have it running in the bedroom.

Some of the rocks off beaches will disappear down into nothing, but lots wont. There's probably a way of testing how "hard" a rock is (chalk being soft, diamond being hard) but part of the fun is finding out.

I'll post some pics up later when I've got a moment.

Moh's scale of hardness... scratch with nail, probably won't survive... then a needle or something, if they are already a bit rounded from the beach they are probably fairly 'are ... if they are angular and fairly fresh from the rock probably not.. I have a large pebble of serpentine, would be good to polish that up! - a former geology student

[RJJ]

Not so sure on unusual but I am very passionate about my hobby.

I have always loved RC and when young my dad saved up and brought me a tamiya rc and I just loved building it and customising it.

A few years back I walked into a model shop and saw the Hpi Baja 5B. 5th scale petrol and if you have never seen one they are just under a metre long and weigh in at 15 to 20 kilos and approx speed out of the box 45 mph plus, my kind of RC lol so it was purchased and had loads of fun with friends.

I went to a 5th scale national show in 2011 and had good fun with like minds and also saw what people were doing and just got the bug plus I had my own ideas and style.

Well it all snowballed, as I indulged myself in aftermarket parts and developed my own unique style. I have made so many good friends in this hobby and have really good contacts here and USA where the hobby is huge.

My 5th scale rigs are now regarded as some of the finest and best in the world, they are unique as they are all anodised blue from top to bottom including bits you will never see. I am known for my lighting as well because it adds a different dimension and my airbrushed body shells are just works of art, done by my good friend Mark, very talented man.

The rigs have all the choice aftermarket hop ups, there are parts on my cars that are custom made and also parts that you just cannot buy anymore. It can take me months to collect parts and anything upto a year or two to fully build these.

The engines are blue, the losi short course truck has an OBR 30.5cc full mod with flow system exhaust pipe, that rig is 4wd, good for 50mph plus.

The HPI Baja 5B I have built is 2wd, has a Bartolone Reed engine with machined head in blue and a torpedo side pipe, good for 60-70mph, speeds are dependant on gearing can go higher if correctly geared up and you need the space lol.

I have another debut next year at our largest 5th scale shows another losi 5T 4wd with a 50cc race spec engine with a huge bartolone pipe, sounds just like an angry dirt bike, I have not shown any pics yet anywhere.

I am also going to enter the 5th scale national race series, 4wd buggy and will build a dedicated race rig, no frills but still with my unique style in blue and choice aftermarket parts etc even titanium screws!

Well enough rambling, a pic below and some links to build threads if you fancy a detailed look and my youtube channel is RJJ for some video etc

My collection is known as the " Blue Edition's "















Link to build threads if your interested in all the details and hidden bits

Losi 5T http://losi5iveforum.com/showthread.php?t=2491

Hpi Baja 5B http://www.hpibajaforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t...

Youtube

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcYu3ajq4rY

www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9FvOQcAXII

Edited by RJJ on Monday 20th October 10:33

Edited by RJJ on Monday 20th October 12:15

[RobinBanks]

DaveGoddard said:

I write short stories based on events and people in my life, but never publish them.

I used to do something similar.

I had completely forgotten that....