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Recovering from an op- ideas of what to do?

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—Tom—

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Hi all,

After 2.5 years of waiting I had my spinal op last week so will hopefully be free of the sciatic pain and associated weirdness down both my legs which has been quite sapping.

Recovery expected to be 6-12 weeks, with no lifting anything over 2kg for the first 3 weeks and only light duties for a while after that.

Whilst I’m off work I need some things to keep me active, but nothing strenuous, and I continue to be surprised by how much of what I normally do involves lifting, reaching or bending (or sitting) all of which are either ruled out by the docs or by pain.

So - any ideas of what I can do in 15 minute bursts that fits in the criteria?

If I’d had the forethought I’d have milled some pieces of wood to project sized components - but as it stands most of what I have is in large planks and so will likely stay that way for the foreseeable.

Today I’ve been able to lap a few whetstones back to flat. Once that’s done the list as it stands is
Sharpen the planes and chisels
Disassemble clean and lubricate tools that will come apart
Make some plough plane blades to fill in the gaps in sizes for making grooves.

Mostly my list is do jobs that get in the way of making things - but does feel like there are more things that could be done.

Any ideas?
 
Sheesh, Tom.......that's a pretty brutal restriction. My experience of the last few weeks tells me that boredom can be excruciating, so I hope you have more luck than me in filling your time productively.
 
How about a change of direction? Come lockdown, I researched CNC router machining and its associated design software. It's kept me going ever since then. I struggle to stand for long periods due to arthritis in lower back.

It means time at a desktop or laptop to do the research, then after choosing your CAD/CAM software designing things that you never thought of before.

I've spent a couple of hours at least today just designing a 50mm x 100mm trinket box, but then using the software to create an array for the size of slab I can put on my machine to multiply the number it mills in one session.

It keeps me off the streets. :)
 
Malc2098 said:
How about a change of direction? Come lockdown, I researched CNC router machining and its associated design software. It's kept me going ever since then. I struggle to stand for long periods due to arthritis in lower back.

It means time at a desktop or laptop to do the research, then after choosing your CAD/CAM software designing things that you never thought of before.

I've spent a couple of hours at least today just designing a 50mm x 100mm trinket box, but then using the software to create an array for the size of slab I can put on my machine to multiply the number it mills in one session.

It keeps me off the streets. :)
Click to expand...
Having a day job that tethers me to a pc has sapped my love of technology outside of work.
I can see it in my future as the ability to 3d print parts, or cnc router complex shapes is hugely appealing- but for me the laptop detox is something I want to cling onto. I also know I’d end up checking email and getting sucked in to the latest work drama!
 
Mike G said:
Sheesh, Tom.......that's a pretty brutal restriction. My experience of the last few weeks tells me that boredom can be excruciating, so I hope you have more luck than me in filling your time productively.
Click to expand...
It’s going to be worth it though

The boredom is really kicking in now and only been out of the hospital for a few days.
 
Sad for the both of you, hopefully to plan and this should be temporary, when I’m away from home and unable to do anything hands on I spend a lot of time designing, all on paper as that’s me. First of all it was the bench which involved a lot of research including putting my mind to having a quick release tall wooden vice (name escapes me) - really good ideas on the QR but will probably never build it.
Then it was the workshop, not so much the design as planning, methods, and materials.
All this stopped me going nuts with boredom so might help if you have any projects coming up?
Ian
 
Find some good books to read? Either woodworking themed or entirely different... something you had an interest in but never got round to taking further.

Gets you away from behind a computer screen if nothing else.
 
How about trying a ship in a bottle? Virtually zero cost (make all your own tools from knitting needles etc) and a fascinating pastime, no heavy lifting required. The only thing you do need is absolutely 100% decent eye sight - Rob
 
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