How about a SHOP section on the forum?

[Joel_BC]

Yeah, "The Tool Shed" - sits well with me.

People are still getting to know me here, so I'll tell you why I like the idea of a shop forum. I believe we live in an era of disappearing practical skills. Young people today are skilled with the monitor, keyboard, and miniature 'texting' devices. They often know how to play elaborate digital games. But in a way, very many of them are cripples. Cripples in the realm of useful life skills. Because there's a huge realm of practical skills that people have decreasingly been exposed to - and the topics now covered on the SS site (budgeting, cost saving, re-purposing, food raising and preserving, recipes for cooking, etc) cover a lot of this ground, and that's admirable.

When I moved to my current home location, I was a young guy with the barest skills in carpentry, woodworking, house-electrical, and firewood cutting. I'd taken up residence on nine acres, and I wanted and needed to learn much more. The locals did not know me and had not known my family. The guys who had real tradesmen's skills would spend little or no time imparting them to me. Hence, I look back on it as a slow process of learning - some from this book, some from that; a bit from this guy, a bit from that; a lot from trial and error.

But now we have the internet. You can get info, audio-visual demonstrations, and advice. Things can be made easier for those who simply wish to learn.

My guess is a Tool Shed forum will not only stimulate more questions in this area but also attract new members to come here and share things that they know.

 

[MetalSmitten]

I believe we live in an era of disappearing practical skills. Young people today are skilled with the monitor, keyboard, and miniature 'texting' devices. They often know how to play elaborate digital games. But in a way, very many of them are cripples. Cripples in the realm of useful life skills. Because there's a huge realm of practical skills that people have decreasingly been exposed to - and the topics now covered on the SS site (budgeting, cost saving, re-purposing, food raising and preserving, recipes for cooking, etc) cover a lot of this ground, and that's admirable.

agreed. i AM one of those young people, and while i think i have more practical skill than some do, i know i'm waaaay below the curve for most SS type things. and i'm also trying to teach myself more along those lines.

 

[Marianne]

Ditto.

We first started learning how to do things (sometimes the hard way) because we didn't have the money to pay someone else to do it. You know, it's DIY or PAY. Now it's just a way of life, we just DIY.

You are correct in saying that the web has brought so much information to us, if we just take the time and have the initiative to look for it. Disappearing skills does seem like the wave of the future. I'm lucky as my grandson always seems interested in what we're doing around here. I tell him he doesn't 'have' to do it this way, but he needs to remember that he 'can' do it. Our grown kids now do a lot of things they swore they would never do when they were younger - auto repair, change oil, basic plumbing, etc.

 

[moolie]

We are the opposite of my Dad--his Dad/my Grandpa was a total DIY guy and built his own homes etc. from the ground up plus did woodworking as a hobby till he was quite old (he passed away at age 86). But my Dad had polio as a child, two bouts, so was "sickly" and a "babied" and never learned much in the way of working with his hands--he prefers to hire people to do things, or to trade favours/barter with friends for work (because he is cheap).

Hubs and I totally renovated our last house over the course of the 10 years we owned it, my brother joked that it was the longest "house flip" in history, but we made a pretty original 1950s rancher current and comfy without losing its character. We learned plumbing and electrical skills, framing and drywalling, and did a huge amount of painting. We gutted the kitchen and put in new cabinets with some custom features my hubs built, put in a new kitchen floor, and re-did both bathrooms from the studs. It really made a difference when we sold, although that wasn't our original goal--we were just up to making our home more comfy and up to date

When we started the internet was still pretty young so we did our learning at the local big-box store and via library books. We learned the most by actually doing, just getting in there and getting the job done.

 

[Gypsi]

I need to learn to sharpen my scissors and chainsaw. Actual real small engine repair would be good. (I'm pretty fair with B12 chemtool and a spark plug now and then, and oil changes and checking)

 

[MetalSmitten]

When we started the internet was still pretty young so we did our learning at the local big-box store and via library books. We learned the most by actually doing, just getting in there and getting the job done.

i would love to be able to renovate my own home, but i'm terrified of messing it up by trying anything. =/ do you happen to have any recommendations for helpful resources (books or online) for very basic beginner type things?

 

[Nifty]

Great feedback!!! We'll definitely be going with some of the great ideas presented!

 

[moolie]

MetalSmitten, are there any particular things you want to start with? I can be more specific if you can tell me where you want to begin

If you are the type that needs to see things done and have the opportunity to ask questions, the classes at Home Depot are good for things like drywalling and basic plumbing like putting in a new kitchen/bathroom sink/taps. Home Depot has also put out a few of their own books that they sell, you can probably also get them at other book shops.

Oldies but goodies are always the Time-Life and Black & Decker books on home repair--there are many topics from building your own deck to plumbing to exterior repairs to flooring etc. Particularly helpful to us were the Kitchen, Bathroom, Greenhouse, and Appliance Repair books. We also liked the Storage books, some great projects for built-in units and better ways to organize closets.

 

[Joel_BC]

i would love to be able to renovate my own home, but i'm terrified of messing it up by trying anything. =/ do you happen to have any recommendations for helpful resources (books or online) for very basic beginner type things?

We're veering a bit away from the Shop idea, per se - but what the heck? Your's is a decent question.

Reference books (buy second-hand, or borrow from the library, or buy new) are a good idea. But actually, for a lot of things these days, I tend to go first to YouTube.

For instance, let's say I had a decent sub-floor surface and wanted to lay tile on it for a tiled floor:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwPLv7epATg&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ndB8Klfok4&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8hdbmjUMRc

(The last one is rather fast... but entertaining!)

Note that on the right-hand side of the screen are other, topic-related videos.

 

[daver]

I need to learn to sharpen my scissors and chainsaw. Actual real small engine repair would be good. (I'm pretty fair with B12 chemtool and a spark plug now and then, and oil changes and checking)

Tool sharpening and small engine repair would be two of my interests.