# Off-Topic >  What has happened to the Homemade in HomemadeTools?

## Ozwelder

When I open the daily HomemadeTools.net newsletter it is less and less about homemade tools more about items of commercial origin.

Certainly they offer some interest but are far from do it yourself or homemade.

Surely the well of DIY creative thinking is not drying up?

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Toolmaker51 (Nov 9, 2016)

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## C-Bag

> When I open the daily HomemadeTools.net newsletter it is less and less about homemade tools more about items of commercial origin



For example?

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Captainleeward (Nov 7, 2016),

Toolmaker51 (Nov 9, 2016)

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## Toolmaker51

To me, while the connotation of 'Homemade Tools' COULD mean actually Homemade; reality and all our varied tasks broaden that plenty. It's rather like tides, some work evolves, some pop out of the blue, ebbing all the time. My homemade has been one time or others been fabricated from commercial materials, modified or repaired to a commercial product, a commercial item used in a non-traditional way, or just about any project in a not 'for profit' situation. The outcome isn't restricted to tangible items, even ideas are still potential homemade. My employment, avocation, and the long running project are intertwined, no actual demarcation twixt them. Boiled down, in most current situations Homemade is not so What, but Who conceived and created by means at hand.

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olderdan (Nov 15, 2016)

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## C-Bag

I wasn't trying to be combative, I was trying to get some perspective. I mean that sincerely. It's a fact we all don't see things the same and I could be blind to it. I also first look in the homemade tools forum and there is a vast array of homemade stuff in there to me, but seen through another's eyes maybe not. Maybe the OP isn't looking there, dunno. 

We just got done a while ago with two folks who were dissatisfied with the way things were posted and seemed to think it was folks holding back because they were going to sell details as "plans". I didn't see it that way, for me it's all about the ideas, but I had to agree with them that things were not always presented well enough to get the whole idea even. But that's why I ask questions. This seemed to not be ok with them, which was too bad. To my mind it doesn't help the poster understand how to better present their project and just to impart some kind of feedback and participation by posters and lookers. 

I haven't been here long enough to know what it was like before but it seems to me there has been an uptick in the new postings and new faces participating. From the very start I've been shocked at how many folks lurk here and never even comment or ask a question......14,000+, truly the digital tide of just lurkers.

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## Jon

Ozwelder - can we get more details here? We're pretty good at altering the site from user feedback, but I need to get some more specifics here before we can act.

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## Ozwelder

> Ozwelder - can we get more details here? We're pretty good at altering the site from user feedback, but I need to get some more specifics here before we can act.



The following titles were some of what I saw when opening the various daily "Homemade Tools" newsletters quite recently.

sharpening table saw blades at Quinn Saw
Jon 01/9/2016
Antikythera Mechanism 
Jon 16/10/2016
manufacturing dinner plates GIF 
Jon 17/10/2016
baby excavator hatching in the wild 
Jon 18/10/2016
spring forming machine GIF and short video
18/10/2016
immersion printing GIF 
Jon 20/102016
Arctic convoy to the DEW Line with giant Mack trucks 
Jon 21/10/2016
video of WWII German military helmets repurposed into colanders
Jon 24/10 2016
Crayon manufacturing GIF
Jon 25 /10 /2016



I saw them as a filler to be used when more suitable posting material was be searched for.
Having said that the vast majority of posts are quite useful and often serve as a catalyst to get off my backside and synthesis an idea for something I am building at the time .

Certainly the various titles are certainly titbits of interest to different folks on the board, but honestly, manufacturing ,advertising and historical interest does not emanate from the home workshop and that is the crux of my post.

That is why I posted the comment.

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C-Bag (Nov 10, 2016),

PJs (Nov 10, 2016)

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## Jon

Ah, understood, thanks for clarifying. Yes, exactly, we have a new Tool Talk subforum, and "tidbits of interest" is a good way of phrasing that content. I agree that some of the posts are not directly focused on home workshops. We're trying to encourage people to post relevant stuff without necessarily having to submit a finished tool build. I should note that we have no commercial relationship with any of the content posted there; some of it features companies, but they don't pay us anything.

The point of that subforum is to feature lite content that's of interest to our community, but not necessarily composed of homemade tools. The GIFs (usually one per day) are used to showcase unusual or special machine movement that can be viewed quickly without watching an entire video.

What do you think of some of the more tool-oriented posts in that forum? Stuff like this:

Lichtenberg figure woodworking
Cuban homemade tools and technological disobedience
Wood reference charts
Steam-powered machine shop
bandsaw clinic video from Carter Tools

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## C-Bag

Thanks Ozwelder for responding and clarifying. See, I never would have guessed this is what you were talking about. 

Personally I like the posts and because they are GIF's I don't have to go to YouTube to watch them. They are short and sweet and often show a process or idea that I didn't know anything about. And because it's in Off Topic, anything goes. Since for most of us it's not about bandwidth anymore I don't think about space and clutter. 

I'm always amazed at the stuff Jon finds and it does keep me looking and checking on them when there's nothing holding my interest on the main forum. I love seeing the human powered stuff like the crazy guys in Africa climbing on the human powered Ferris wheel. The guy in Italy with his human powered amusement park and the interesting processes and mechanisms, some of which you mention. I guess the simple fix would be to not send the collection of them out as an email, as that's not where I get aware of them anyway. Maybe you need a poll Jon? Some people do get annoyed with too much traffic in the email inbox. Is it possible to block those emails but not the tool emails?

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olderdan (Nov 15, 2016),

PJs (Nov 10, 2016),

Toolmaker51 (Nov 11, 2016)

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## Frank S

I cannot speak for others, but I for one am about tools or machines period. Homemade, re-purposed,new old large or small. limited production specialty or mass produced from the highest quality down to the throw away stuff.it doesn't matter to me.
I started making my own tools well over 50 years ago. Daily I look forward to having a look see in every sub forum on this site. 
I find there are several here who come up with some really great ideas and some who come up with some extremely dangerous ones as well. I know too, that there are several on these forums who I consider real intellectuals, plus te
here are some extremely highly skilled individuals who very probably view the various Gifs of not so homemade toos or machines as possible intriguing ideas for future builds either in whole or parts of them.
I thank the admin of this site for all of their hard work I know it cannot be an easy task to find content to keep this site in a positive growth format.
All too many well run sites over the years have withered away due to a lack of growth.

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olderdan (Nov 15, 2016),

PJs (Nov 15, 2016),

Toolmaker51 (Nov 11, 2016)

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## Jon

We'll likely gradually tone down the prominent placement of the Tool Talk posts in the newsletter. It launched well and less-and-less needs additional promotion. The videos, text posts, and GIFs have proven their value, and possibly (hard to measure) eliminated a bit of the belief that you can only post a finished tool here. Ozwelder's point about commercial confusion is important. Stuff like the Carter Bandsaw clinic is clearly from a company, but extremely useful, and I don't want people to think that we're subtly advertising for them.

Glad to see that the positive growth here is appreciated! I'm a big fan of the "growth hacking" sites and ideas, and have even written some basic forum software to measure growth metrics. It's amazing some of the tiny things that contribute hugely to growth. Encouraging people to upload an avatar, asking new users "What can we help with?" instead of just "What are you building?". Recently I wrote a basic program that I use every morning to manually record the stated interests of new users. So if someone registers and says that they have a background in heavy equipment, I make a note of it. Then when someone else asks a heavy equipment-related question in the Tools in Progress subforum, I send that first person an email asking if they can help with the question, but only if they've become inactive on the forum. Etc.

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olderdan (Nov 15, 2016),

PJs (Nov 15, 2016),

Toolmaker51 (Nov 11, 2016)

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## Toolmaker51

I for one, might say content is in the eye of the beholder...except when it isn't. Broad interests aren't 'compelled' to revel in every single post; size or complexity of the post aren't measures of it's 'grade', the project is. Not sure if interest falls toward certain members; usually the project comes first; with something I value or am deficient in. Either way, there is benefit. 
Guess even something like the mine-planter had something to file away for later; in the mechanics, not the purpose.

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PJs (Nov 15, 2016)

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## PJs

> I cannot speak for others, but I for one am about tools or machines period. Homemade, re-purposed,new old large or small. limited production specialty or mass produced from the highest quality down to the throw away stuff.it doesn't matter to me.
> I started making my own tools well over 50 years ago. Daily I look forward to having a look see in every sub forum on this site. 
> I find there are several here who come up with some really great ideas and some who come up with some extremely dangerous ones as well. I know too, that there are several on these forums who I consider real intellectuals, plus te
> here are some extremely highly skilled individuals who very probably view the various Gifs of not so homemade toos or machines as possible intriguing ideas for future builds either in whole or parts of them.
> I thank the admin of this site for all of their hard work I know it cannot be an easy task to find content to keep this site in a positive growth format.
> All too many well run sites over the years have withered away due to a lack of growth.



Well Said Frank and your words do speak for me too. It is the breadth and depth of diverse tools, machines, tips, builds, new and old ideas brought forward, and to other uses that pique my interests and needs (missing link or puzzle solve) for something in the back of my noggin. I've always enjoyed the cutting edge stuff too whether electronics, hydraulics, CNC or 3D printing which just adds to that broad base here on HMT. I've also been expanding my horizons (novice hobby) into wood working and people like Morsa, Christophe and Brendon have given tons of info, tools and tips into that craft.

My earliest HMT tool was way back also. It was a valve spring compressor to do valve job on a 56 Olds with my dad around 60'-61'. We had burned a valve pulling a 35' trailer across country once again. Much better than the commercial ones and took a half day to build but worked like no other and have continued in that modus since. It's about doing the project what ever it is and generally doing it with materials on hand to me. That spirit here is what I cherish!

As for the Gifs, I personally have been enjoying that breadth too and Thanks to Jon & Crew have brought even more diversity to HMT. As for e-blasting them, it's now part of my daily look through so I don't need an e-blast but if it gets more SEO and more quality participants I'm good with that!

I also salute Jon and Crew for the continual improvements and willingness to support, improve, and grow HMT! 

~PJ

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Toolmaker51 (Nov 15, 2016)

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## cpttuna

Just my $.02 Let's say someone is making containers to hold nuts, washers and bolts. The first guy has a lathe and machines all his holders the same size and makes a fancy way to put them on a wall in his garage. The second guy goes to the recycling center and gets 2 dozen empty 2 liter bottles. He then goes to the grocery store and asks and gets 2 plastic 2 liter bottle storage containers. At home, he cuts the bottles to the size he needs depending how many of each size bolts, nuts, and washers he has. He marks the bottles with a sharpie and fills the plastic holder containers. The second guy is more like me and I give the info on #2 guy my attention.

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Frank S (Dec 16, 2017),

PJs (Dec 21, 2017),

Toolmaker51 (Dec 16, 2017)

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## Toolmaker51

> Just my $.02 Let's say someone is making containers to hold nuts, washers and bolts. The first guy has a lathe and machines all his holders the same size and makes a fancy way to put them on a wall in his garage. The second guy goes to the recycling center and gets 2 dozen empty 2 liter bottles. He then goes to the grocery store and asks and gets 2 plastic 2 liter bottle storage containers. At home, he cuts the bottles to the size he needs depending how many of each size bolts, nuts, and washers he has. He marks the bottles with a sharpie and fills the plastic holder containers. The second guy is more like me and I give the info on #2 guy my attention.



What exactly is 'homemade'? My stance, where was it conceived? If I drill brackets at work for my garage, but I measured & designed them here, bent them here, used them here, only wasn't energetic enough to hand drill 1/2" holes for lag bolts, it's still home made.
So the lathe-guy makes containers for storing hardware must really like generating chips, & a lot of spare time, but inventiveness is not generating better solutions. 
Guy cutting containers wants to solve and finish his project in an afternoon, getting on to what's next.
I vote for the re-utilizer too. If boiled down, it's all a question of resources. What I see here on HMT.net adds one detail. Many here, backgrounds stem in 'for profit' work, and at home it carries over to those projects. Others may not be machinists, welders, or engineers during the day and very possibly have a little more peripheral vision to what they want to do and how to accomplish it. Experience counts as a resource too; but not automatically 'best of all' when it comes to what _needs_ done.
Below is a sidenote, and a viewpoint of experience. I do like identifying the differences in how products occur, and soap-boxing concept what we practice is far more than just a hobby. 
To me, creating solutions stems from same idea that "Necessity is the mother of invention". If the Industrial Revolution stimulated machine-made products, it had to cause a shift in hand-work to the same range of items. For example, the sewing machine. Industrially, they opened production of ready-made clothing, acceptance of that stimulated demand. Mid 1860's, women of means bought ready-made as it had become fashionable; regardless superior quality (and individuality) was available hand-made. They were 'celebrating' industry in a tangible way. Civil War reenactors can wear 'period correct' clothing made either way. To be correct, materials are limited to cotton, wool, silk, linen, and derivative materials like velvet and starched backing. Ask one about her 'costume'; brace for correction 'period correct' means just that. It's a costume if there are zippers, Velcro, Rayon, etc.

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Frank S (Dec 16, 2017),

PJs (Dec 21, 2017)

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## mklotz

> Just my $.02 Let's say someone is making containers to hold nuts, washers and bolts. The first guy has a lathe and machines all his holders the same size and makes a fancy way to put them on a wall in his garage. The second guy goes to the recycling center and gets 2 dozen empty 2 liter bottles. He then goes to the grocery store and asks and gets 2 plastic 2 liter bottle storage containers. At home, he cuts the bottles to the size he needs depending how many of each size bolts, nuts, and washers he has. He marks the bottles with a sharpie and fills the plastic holder containers. The second guy is more like me and I give the info on #2 guy my attention.



Don't make the mistake of evaluating the work shown here by how closely it approaches the way you would solve the problem.

Rather, extract from it the information, ideas and techniques you can apply profitably to whatever you do.

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Frank S (Dec 16, 2017),

Toolmaker51 (Dec 16, 2017)

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## Frank S

What's happened to homemade tools? Just about everything and anything imagined. Would be the closest answer I can come up with. Many of the contributors here have created some extremely complex high precision elaborately detailed items they needed or simply wanted to make. Those very same persons have contributed tools in the foray which are so simple and mundane some may wonder why even bother, but the fact is even the most mundanely simple items posted here often ignite a spark of creativity in the minds of others making them ask themselves WHY on Earth didn't I think of that. Then there are many things we may use every day which already exist which can not be classified as a homemade tool but becomes a valuable tool none the less to accomplish a task at hand.
Just the other day while building our chicken pen I needed to hold a very long sheet of metal on the side of a wall before I could think of what I wanted to use my wife laid 3 long boards across the sheet that was already installed then pushed the end of them in the ground enough that they would remain there I already had the sheet next to the wall the boards were above it all I had to do was lift the sheet up and allow the boards to catch in the corrugations as I raised it. The boards served as self ratcheting wedges holding the board in place while I secured it to the wall.
Was that a homemade tool? No but the purpose and use was invaluable.

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Moby Duck (Dec 17, 2017),

olderdan (Dec 17, 2017),

PJs (Dec 21, 2017),

Toolmaker51 (Dec 16, 2017)

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