Introduction

[David Johnson]

Hi

I have actually been viewing the site for some time without making a post so perhaps it is time. So, a few comments.

I have noticed that the overall category for homemade tools is very wide and i wonder if there is some argument for more separation at top level. A fair proportion of the entries relates to handy tips and good ideas which, while useful, are not actually tools. Perhaps that could be a top level category.

Where entries can be regarded as tools very often i dont know what they are for and their purpose is not always documented. Also, there are a number of entries where i would like to see some idea of construction (I know a full set of engineering drawings is not always possible ) but it would help to know the materials and methods of construction. It would also be very useful to know the reason for the build; cost, unable to source, a really good idea, whatever!

I know these comments do not apply to all and in no way detracts from how valuable, useful and intensely interesting this site can be.

David

[mklotz]

Too many categories in a forum can be counter-productive. If everything is pigeon-holed, you lose the synergy effect. Many of the best ideas arise from taking a tool or idea and applying it to some problem totally unrelated to the original application. Readers who never venture beyond their favorite pigeon-hole will miss out on that.

I agree that non-obvious tools should have a lead-in description. When I was working the first slide of every one of my presentations was of the form "why do you want to listen to this presentation". OTOH, there are many levels of tool knowledge out there; a tool whose purpose seems obvious to many may be unknown to you due to lack of exposure. When that happens ask questions; most of the forum members are quick to answer such queries.

Writing a good, concise description of what you did and why you did it is not an easy task. Unfortunately, writing skills are only one of the many casualties of our declining education system. Many contributors are intimidated by the process and write less as a result. It's going to take a cultural upheaval to change this so, in the meantime, we'll all just have to puzzle through.

[Jon]

Very interesting to see this brought up. I was recently commenting on the excellent HomeShopMachinist.net, in this thread. Their famous 241-page Shop Made Tools thread is the largest homemade tools thread on the net. It's becoming unwieldy, and they're discussing how to handle it, both historically, and with an ongoing solution.

Agreed that the lone homemade tools forum category is rather broad. Our saving grace is that each tool gets indexed in our encyclopedia, including title, description, author, image, categories, and tags. It's difficult to reconcile a fine-grained ontology with an all-in-one forum scheme, so we essentially paired one manually-controlled tight categorization paradigm (the encyclopedia) with another much looser "post anything" one (the forum).

We do have our lesser-known experimental "Ingredients" organization, here: Homemade Tools Ingredients . Not sure if we'll keep it. I do like the concept on recipe sites, where you enter the ingredients you have, and they tell you what you can make. I'm not sure it translates to: I have wood, I have PVC, I have screws, what can I build?

I would agree that some entries are more accurately categorized as tool "tips". However, those bite-sized tips are often incredibly useful. So we're essentially relying on a broader use of the word "tool". What I would like to do (not sure who suggested this, but it wasn't me) is a specialty thread or newsletter listing all of the small tips.

Agreed w/mklotz on the synergy effect. One of the things they're discussing at HomeShopMachinist is that the short posts in their mega tool thread (like "great job", "nice tool") are cluttering the thread. In a giant thread, I agree. But in a separate one-tool-per-thread setup, the synergy expressed in such posts contributes to the overall camaraderie, and results in more contributions.

Also agreed that additional technical construction details accompanying each tool would be excellent. We've identified this issue, and we're addressing it. Our Plans Marketplace is almost ready to go, and should be launching this week.