General Project Procedures

[neban]

Maybe this has been suggested before, but I'd like to see a guide full of tips and tricks that go into making a project fit together properly, and work. Things like the starter punch for drilling a hole in metal, how to use calipers, test cuts for saw blade depth, and conventions for marking cuts.

It's boring stuff and doesn't necessarily make a good show, but it would be nice to see a simple faq of construction tips.

p.s. Great work to the systm team!

[neban]

Every time I made an edit, it posted a new thread. Sorry.

[tokenuser]

Duplicate threads fixed. I suspect you were using the back button in your browser instead of the edit buttoin in the post.

[dosbomber]

I like the idea of a "construction tips" episode. There are lots of these tips scattered all over the place, but you'd have to watch hours and hours of video to catch them. It'd be nice to have a collection of segmented clips about how best to do different aspects of a project.

As someone who's built a lot of projects, from a simple PCB-only to a fully enclosed gizmo in a plastic box, as well as wood projects that don't even involve electronics or robotics, I can safely say that I've learned new things or better ways of doing certain things on EACH and EVERY project.

Tekzilla and (ugh) PopSiren have daily tips that are only a minute or so in length. Perhaps these tips could take on that sort of format?

Drilling holes, as mentioned above, could cover several of these short episodes alone. Drilling in metal, plastic, or wood require consideration for hole diameter as well as rotation speed. Clamping the material may even be a one-minute tip in itself. Center punching for certain materials (metal and PCB substrates especially) could be another.

[neban]

Not to mention ideas of how to use more complicated tools like lathes, and simpler ideas like just finding a local shop that is willing to do what you need for a project for cheap (I got some great work for $20 in an hour that I couldn't have done in twice the time with twice the materials using my own tools.[A master machinist at work is an amazing thing] ). Also something on using local community college resources, continuing education programs through local universities, some towns even have crafts centers with these things.

The Tech Shop is a great resource, but if we don't have access to that, systm viewers have other options.