Since hobbies change over time and hobby season is almost over, I think it's time we revive this thread.
Since last time I've stopped flying (no time) and sailing wooden boats (too far away). In the mean time, I bought my old truck (see profile picture) and got interested in Victrolas.
86 year old vehicles always seem to have something wrong with them, so I've had plenty of fun futzing around with it and a laundry list of "nice-to-have" tasks. At this point most of the "nice-to-haves" are pretty involved, so it will probably stay in its current state for a while. My fiance & I took it to get a Christmas tree... we made lots of friends in the parking lot.
Victrolas play 78 RPM records, which are not the records most people think of when you say records. 78s are typically shellac, and heavy! They are entirely mechanical too -- no electricity required, just a hand crank.
Example Audio
I got my first Victrola when a friend moved onto a boat and didn't have space for it anymore. I spent all of last year collecting Christmas music so I'd have some recognizable music to play, and while decorating the tree last weekend the main spring snapped! So I went on Craigslist and picked up another one. The mechanism that runs them is a very cool little rig, here is
video detailing their operation & disassembly.