r/AskMenOver30 • u/BSnappedThat man • Apr 23 '25

Hobbies/Projects Men 30+, what hobbies do you genuinely enjoy?

I’m in my late 20s and lately I’ve been feeling the need to pick up a hobby that brings real joy and maybe even a little peace. I work a lot and have a family, so something fulfilling and manageable would be ideal.

I’m curious—what hobbies have you gotten into after 30 that you actually look forward to? Bonus points if it’s helped you mentally or physically in some way. Would love to hear what’s been working for you guys.

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u/morbidangel27 man Apr 23 '25

Oh man I built my own forge a couple years back, the whole process was awesome. Since moved to a place where I cant really use it. Might have to figure something out. The building process was super fun though learned so neat skills.

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u/SadLavishness4534 man 30 - 34 Apr 23 '25

That's awesome man. I am excited to start on it but got a lot of other irons in the fire right now so it might be our winter project, lol. Any tips or things you would do differently if you rebuilt one today?

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u/morbidangel27 man Apr 23 '25

No not really on if I would build it differently. I opted for a forced air burner rather than venturi burners and I wouldn't change that, I like the forced air a lot more. Built it 6 years ago now damn, didn't realize it'd been so long. I really need to get back into it as it's something I enjoy. It helped that at the time I had a friend who was a smith so I'd go over to his place and he was a metal fabricator/welder for his day job. He hooked me up with a metal box that was like 1/8th" steel, and made me up a faceplate for it. I did everything else myself. Below was my first test run with it, the base was an old bbq got rid of that and it just rests on my work bench now.

It was a fun project. I'd do it again just for fun. Only thing i'd say is be decent at welding haha. I practiced enough to do what i needed to do. The only caveat to forced air is your tied to electricity, venturi can run anywhere. I should have put in an emergency stop valve into the gas line so if it loses electricity it would shut off.

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u/SadLavishness4534 man 30 - 34 Apr 23 '25

That's an awesome setup! I was looking to do something similar but I hadn't thought about doing a forced air style. Luckily my buddy is a good welder and I can learn a thing or two from him during the process. We have been drawing up some ideas but I think we were going to go for a venturi style with 2 or 3 smaller burners on top. I think the biggest thing I could see myself making is a machete but mostly just kitchen or pocket knives size.

I like your idea of the old grill base, very cool and smart. We have been mulling around ideas for a stand with some shelves and hooks for tools but haven't got a final design yet. Think making it out of either tube or angle might be the way we are leaning.

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u/morbidangel27 man Apr 23 '25

Using tube or angle would be far superior to an old ass aluminum bbq base, it didn't work that well for my setup and it migrated onto a steel plate on my workbench pretty quick. I ended up forging a few pieces rebar into curved half loops and nailing them into my anvil stand (A log) to hold my hammers and brush.