I am a 67 year old retiree that is currently working on build Matthew Teague’s elegant chair. It has stretched my problem solving and woodworking skills, as well as, I believe, stretched my mind in general as much or more as playing Bridge.
I’m sure all of you have seen on the news the recent troubles with Lumosity’s claim of mind exercises that work to prevent dementia. In the news stories, all the “experts” say that you can receive just as much benefit by playing Bridge, which my wife does in several groups. I don’t enjoy playing bridge, but when these “experts” come on the news, I get the comments like “You should play bridge with me and our friends to improve your chances of not ending up drooling in some nursing home!”. Now I do a lot of other things with our friends, like organizing road trips and dinners out, but I do not want to play Bridge.
I am writing this as one of the first steps to start a movement of woodworkers (and hopefully some studies,that’s the only thing that will convince my wife) that beleive woodworking really is mind expanding. I am hoping to get some help on Shop Talk Live by asking them to discuss this very important topic. I would also ask the Fine Woodworking editorial staff and their research departments to consider this for an article.
To all you younger woodworkers, just remember you will be old some day your wives will want you out of the shop doing something to stimulate your mind. Wouldn’t it be nice to show them the support for woodworking’s positive effect on the brain!
Tom
Replies
Woodworking vs. Bridge
As a 65 year old retiree (very soon to be 66), I think you're really on track. For me my passions are woodworking and photography. Both prove mentally stimulating and suit my needs for creativity in so many ways (aesthetics, technical, etc.). I feel fortunate to be able to pursue both and not be wondering what I should do with my time. On the woodworking side I enjoy the full process of design, planning, and making... which luckily my wife appreciates and supports.
Good luck in your efforts to encourage this topic at FWW.
Cheers,
David
I am 79,have a complete shop,have completed over 200 pieces (see them on carolynprue.com)and have plans to keep going
I commented on this issue in 2016. I just turned 71 (this week!) and am still going strong on the woodworking side; photography also. In fact this past year I invested in a Shaper Origin which has both challenged me and increased my creativity. I still find it fun to explore new projects and techniques.
I still receive encouragement from my wife and appreciation for the projects I do, so that's a plus.
It would be great to hear this topic discussed on STL or in FWW mag.
Cheers,
Dave C
Sign me up. It is not Bridge in my house, but horse riding.
I don't ride horses and the only time I have anything to do with them is to put a bet on the Melbourne Cup.
But my wife is not interested in woodworking and expects me to stop it then act as support crew for her group's weekend riding. Basically, serve as a bloody Butler.
I am in, sign me up.
Looking for a singular solution to the potential problem of going mentally doolally? There is no single solution.
A wide range of physically and mentally demanding activities is needed. There is no mind-thing separate from a body-thing, despite what that Frenchman claimed. In fact, we are a highly-complex integrated physical-metaphysical item that needs all the parts well-used, preferably in conjunction, to remain an integrated complex thing.
Why not, then, perform a range of woodworking tasks (and keep adding a new one now and then) but also play bridge, ride a horse and do as many other things as you can fit in without preventing your attempts at any one of them being so dilatory that you never become competent at it to some degree?
Even with a singular task like woodworking, which can be very broad in scope with a consequent high demand on the learning and physical skill acquisition, it's too easy to fall into routine ways. It seems to be these routines .... fixed habits ... ossified behaviours .... that lead to the land of doolally.
Some let their faculties become not so much moribund as locked into a well-worn groove that eventually wears out and seizes up their whole darn enjin!
Lataxe, an old dog happy to learn new tricks (besides those made in playing bridge).
I just turned 76 years young; the problem is that I still think I am 36. I still fail to understand just how I got this old; since I just turned 40 a couple of weeks ago. According to the wife I am losing my mind. I was on the roof last week. Yesterday I did a 9 mile round trip solo hike into the wilderness area to look at a campsite I will lead a flyfishing group to in the spring. Last year I rappelled off a 120 foot cliff to show the grandson how we did it in the Army.
Woodworking can be as challenging mindwise as you want it to be. Fractions in your head, memorizing measurements, designing furniture, making constant decisions on process and materials, thinking about the chemistry of finishes, etc. It can be physically challenging, 12 hours pushing a plane for instance (not all at once), or moving a 7 foot tall, 8 ft wide entertainment center - alone.
I worked until I was 70 and they decided to trade me for a cheaper model. The next day I started a consulting company, and have a small federal contract. I also do some expert witness work; there is nothing I love any more than kicking a lawyer's ass in a deposition, they don't understand science.
We all know people who retired, went home and sat down and were dead in a couple of years. I decided early that would never happen to me.
Well said and what an inspiration. And I am just a pup at 57. I still don't know what I want to do when I grow up.
Woodworking is wicked hard. If the fractions don’t limber you up mentally (1 and 5/16 + 3/8 - a hair), the geometry will (if this is 10 degrees and it meets that at 45 degrees then wtf?).
It’s also good for you socially (affiliation/interaction with like minded people outside of work) and with memory (what was I doing in January 2004 when the recently resurrected ghost post was written?).
The recipe for a dementia-preventing hobby need only include three ingredients: (1) problem-solving, (2) creativity, and (3) attractiveness to the pursuer. The greater the amounts of each, the better. Puzzles, games, and the like are good, of course, as are arts & crafts like photography, drawing/painting, woodworking, and such. Suitable may be other activities, especially those that can be pursued with goals in mind: horseback-riding competitively, for instance, or dog-training, or others where one finds the need to solve problems and yes, think creatively. Even ballroom dancing can fill the bill. You want a real challenge? Write a good whodunnit. That features a hobbyist woodworker who trains Australian shepherds.
I agree! I'm not a great woodworker and I rarely make something to plan. It's longer, wider, taller, curvier, or has some interesting aspect that an original plan doesn't.
The thinking, modifying, creating adds to the brain building woodworking capabilities like measuring moving, lifting and care with tools. I'm nearly 78 and my woodworking, especially in the pandemic, keeps me creative and sane.
In a few months I will be 87. Creating small furniture pieces challenges my creativity and makes me think. This is not hard physical work, except for standing for hours at a time. Yesterday and the day before I spent chopping mortices. When the two pieces slide together and the joint becomes a sliver, the feeling is much like winning a race. I could care less what others think of my work, (most do like it though) I do this for myself and the feeling I get from it. I retired 25 years ago and I can look at tables I made then that still to this day give me deep satisfaction. I occasionally walk by and run my hand over them and the feeling returns.
I have to believe this process develops brain cells and delays the onset of the Fuddy Duddy Syndrome. Anyway, That's my story.
One happy dude in Albuquerque
I'm 34. I'm sitting next to my wife right now and just had her read this post. She said "by the time you're 65, I'm just going to lock you IN your shop."
Uncle Cornelius, now long dead along with his battleaxe of a wifey, was banished to his shed by the aforementioned battleaxe, where he actually lived for some years. She wouldn't let him have the bed they used to share so he had to make a small cot for hisself.
You might think he was hard done to by that cruel women but he was actually quite happy in his man-cave, in which he became as well-fitted as a hermit crab in its whelk shell.
The battleaxe remained Boadicea-like but had to chop at folk other than Uncle Cornelius, as he withdrew into the depths of his shed whenever he heard her din approach.
Eventually she died from anger; and he did , sort of, move back into the house - although he preferred to spend whole days and often a night or two in his shed, which contained far more pleasant memories than did the hoose. Of course, the hoose began to look more like the shed, with much clutter of man-toy and half-completed detritus.
Beware! It could happen to you!! If it does, take a leaf from Uncle Cornelius' book of wisdom and become a stoical crab, making the best of what is, after all, what many men folk really want - a life in the man-cave in which they alone make all the rules and do what they want all day long without a harridan regularly burying a virtual axe in their head for no reason anyone can discern. :-)
Lataxe, probably destined for the ladywife's compost heap.
“[Deleted]”
Well...these posts were a refreshing ride along with this morning's coffee. Brought a smile to my face, and more than a few Ah Ha moments. I'm pushing 74 (worked till 70) and have too small a house to have my own shop space. I'm a member in a shared "maker space" ( yeah, that's the popular term these days). BUT...I have access to large shop, major tools, a Shaper Origin, all for under $200/mo.
I never liked card games, and absolutely agree that shop work is serious mental exercise. I have though recently acknowledged that I now can't remember everything, and have started to write it down.
Hot tip: Making lists is a good thing; better if you remember to bring it with you to the hardware store.
Cheers from CA
Steve
I'm 86 and 6m0s ago we moved out of our house to a seni0rs "warehouse" and I hate it. I had to sell whole basement shop of 48years and now am lost. get the "you should play bridge" all the time but I hate the game period.
We had to move for my wife, but no fun or future for me. Am going to try to find someone to share a shop or rent a space and set up a new one, but wont be the same..sigh.
I'm really sorry to hear that. Although it's definitely not the same, is there any way of setting a small hand tool shop at your new residence?
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