[wageslave99]

Why a lot of software engineers have carpentry as a hobby or pivot to that job?

[JodieBenitez]

Ah !

    - working outside
    - wood is a joy to work with: touch feels good, looks good, smells good too
    - you get to build cool things that are actually useful like sheds, car ports, house extensions, bridges, even simple furniture
    - when it's done, it's done
    - it's both intellectual and physical work, it's good for your body and your mind
    - learn new things

[uptown]

I think part of it is that at some point what you’re working on is considered “done”, which is rarely the case with software.

[bdamm]

Some similarities; with a small amount of math, planning, and investment in understanding tools, you can quickly achieve things that the non-practitioners think are cool and useful. Plus the tactile experience provides a nice antidote to the endlessly ephemeral working experience of gazing on the computer screen.

[modriano]

If your mental embedding for "carpentry" is very similar to your embedding for "woodworking", this [0] HN post provides many excellent reasons.

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31687378

[throwaway5959]

No one is on-call in woodworking.

[t1c]

Making things is fun, usually regardless of the medium

[fuzzfactor]

Depends on what they have been doing, maybe they want to build things that are more likely to stand the test of time?

[criddell]

Working with physical materials is a nice change after organizing bits all day.

[a_wild_dandan]

Saw. Bang, bang. Scraaaape, smooth slivers of wood. Mmm, smell. No think. Quiet. Peace.