Review - Internet Resources for Machinists

Internet Resources for Machinists

[September 15, 2016]

[March 2019 - some minor additions]

This is an expanded version of a presentation I prepared for a local machinist group. This version includes additional explanatory text, as well as links to related information. The purpose of the presentation was to provide a high level overview of Internet resources of interest to hobbyist machinists (although of course not just to machinists). The presentation (and this expanded version) was not intended to discuss any of the topics in great detail, but rather to make people aware of resources they might otherwise not have known existed, so they could explore them further on their own if they found them to be of interest.

The purpose of this expanded version is to provide some help with further exploration, as well as to make the information more widely available. It is not the intention of this page to provide detailed information or links on the items mentioned here, but rather to serve as an initial introduction to sites are services you may not know about, so you can explore and research further on your own.

GOTCHAS!

There are a variety of issues everyone should be aware of when using the Internet as well as other computer resources. In most cases, when using free online resources, you are not the customer, you are the product (information about you is bought and sold).

• "Free" stuff on the Internet : Be aware that services provided to you for "free" (for example, GMail) are generally not really free. Typically, these free services harvest information about you and re-sell it to advertisers and others interested in collecting and using such information (see Privacy issues below).
  • Conversely - many works of literature offered for sale on the Internet are available for free if you look for them hard enough (see the Resources section below). It is not uncommon for unscrupulous people to take works inthe public domain, re-package them, and offer them for sale on Amazon and elsewhere. Look before you buy!
• Privacy issues
  • Be aware that your online activities are extensively recorded, tracked, and monitored. This is primarily done in order to sell this information to advertisers.
• DRM (Digital Restrictions Management)
  • "Digital Restrictions Management is the practice of imposing technological restrictions that control what users can do with digital media. When a program is designed to prevent you from copying or sharing a song, reading an ebook on another device, or playing a single-player game without an Internet connection, you are being restricted by DRM. In other words, DRM creates a damaged good . . ."
  • If you purchase DRM encumbered works, be aware that if the underlying DRM technology becomes un-supported, you will in effect lose everything you bought.
• Censorship
  • When you use free online resources such as FaceBook, you are in some cases limited in what you can say or do. Because these are not public forums, you have no First Amendment rights.
• [Lack of] Support issues
  • When using free online resources from Google, FaceBook, and others, there is very little technical support provided. If this is an issue for you, look for related wikis or similar online help forums where you can ask questions and (maybe) get answers.
• Walled gardens (looking at you FaceBook, Amazon, Google, Apple)
  • Be aware that when you are looking at Facebook, Amazon, Google, etc. that you are not looking at the Internet - you are looking at a carefully managed and restricted subset, which is carefully designed to discourage you from going outside the boundaries.
• “Lock out” issues
  • If you are using free online resources, such as photo storage or a blogging site, you run the risk of having your account shut down, or of the site going out of business, in which case you may lose access to your work. See next item.
• Backup copies
  • If you value your files, photos, and other electronic documents, always make a backup copy. If you have a website or a blog, use a website copier to make a copy of your work.

Search engines

• Alternatives (DuckDuckGo!)
  • If you use Google for searching, consider using an alternate search engine such as DuckDuckGo (which has a no tracking policy).
• Advanced usage
  • You can use your search engine more effectively if you take the time to research special features for your particular search engine, for example:
    • DuckDuckGo has advanced search syntax you can use to fine-tune your search queries.
    • Google offers extensive advice on effective search techniques.
  • Image searching
    • With Google, you can do a reverse image search (you "enter" an image to search for similar images)
  • Finding “dead links” (see next topic)
• Patents - see https://patents.google.com/
  • Looking at patent documents can sometimes be a useful source of information on machines, machine tools, etc.
• Wayback Machine
  • The Wayback Machine is a service of the Internet Archive. Copies of web pages are saved here, and you can often find copies of defunct websites which are otherwise no longer available.

Plans

• Look here more links to lists of plans for model engines : https://sites.google.com/site/lagadoacademy/useful-links#engines
• Here's a good site for plans for tools of all kinds : http://www.homemadetools.net/
• Many plans are available for free download - search for specific plans, or ask about the availability of plans in specific forums, before you resort to purchasing plans.

How-tos

• Some links to useful videos : https://sites.google.com/site/lagadoacademy/useful-links#videos
• YouTube is also a good place to look for specific how-to videos (see Website below).

Resources

• Books and manuals:
  • Be aware that many old books offered for sale on commercial site (like Amazon.com) are simple re-packaged out-of-copyright books which are available for free elsewhere. In general, any book published before 1927 is out of copyright (Australia has different laws, so Australian sites may offer more free books).
  • Sources for free books and manuals: https://sites.google.com/site/lagadoacademy/useful-links#booksfree
  • Don't forget you local library. Many local libraries (in Michigan) are allied with MCAT, which enables you to request books from libraries all over Michigan.
• Other E-book resources
  • To create and manage your own ebook library, use Calibre.
  • To read ebooks, use FbReader (available free for tablets, smart phones, and computers). Be sure to get the PDF reader extension for reading books and manuals in PDF format.
  • Hardware
    • You can read ebooks and manuals on a computer for casual use, but for extended use a tablet is recommended. If you plan to read materials in PDF format, at tablet at least 9.5 inches in size or larger is recommended.
• Manuals
  • Search for specific manuals online - common manuals are generally available for free download.
  • For storage convenience, scan your own paper manuals into PDF format (but check online first to see if someone already did it for you!).
• Charts and tables : https://sites.google.com/site/lagadoacademy/useful-links#charts
• Calculators and spreadsheets : https://sites.google.com/site/lagadoacademy/useful-links#calc
• Patents
  • Google Patents allows you to look up patents online. This can be a good source of information on old engines, machinery, tools, etc.
• PDF readers and editors
  • Use a free lightweight PDF reader like FoxIT Reader instead of Adobe Reader (which has some issues).
  • The Firefox browser has built in PDF viewing.
• Scanning
  • When scanning books, use software which enables you to assemble all of the scanned pages into a single PDF document.
  • Use PDF compression software to keep the size of PDF files as small as possible.
  • When scanning photos or drawings for the purpose of inserting into other documents or web pages, use JPG or PNG formats.

CAD

• Lots of good free CAD software : https://sites.google.com/site/lagadoacademy/miscellaneous-projects/free-cad-software---overview
• TIP: When choosing a CAD package, see what output formats are supported:
  • PDF output for sharing drawings with people who don't have the same CAD software.
  • Specialized output formats for digital (laser, plasma, water) cutting, computerized routers, 3D printing, etc. Even if you don;t want to do this now, you may in the future want to be able to send files to someone else for this purpose, or for your own use.

Spreadsheets and word processors

• LibreOffice is an excellent free "office package" which includes word processing, spreadsheets, presentation software, and drawing software.
• Google Drive is an online service which allows you to store and edit documents, spreadsheets, presentations, etc.

Buying stuff

• Tips
  • Sign up for free offers from sites which sell machinery and tools to get discount coupons. Sometimes you can get coupons for free shipping, which can be a real cost saver for heavy items.
  • But beware of "free" shipping which isn't really free, because the cost of shipping is built into the purchase cost.
  • Keep a "wishlist" of items you need or want to buy. Combine items into a single purchase to reduce shipping costs, or keep an eye our for sales on items on your list.
• Auction sites - here are a couple of auction sites for my region; check the web for sites in your area:
  • Caution! : It is strongly advised to inspect any item before bidding, as the online descriptions tend to be overly "rosy."
  • Biddergy
  • BTM Industrial
• Estate sales
  • Use sites like https://www.estatesales.net/ to keep informed of estate sales in your area.
  • Tip : Use targeted searches like "tools" or "machines" to focus on estate sales of interest.
• Garage sales
  • You can pick up some real bargains at garage sales; site like http://www.garagesales.com/ enable you to keep informed about sales in your area.
• Of course you already know about Craigslist and Ebay.

Browsers

(Firefox, Safari, IE, Edge, others)

• Chances are you are using the browser that came with your operating system (Firefox with Linux, Safari with Apple, IE or Edge with MicroSoft), but consider alternatives such as Firefox or Chrome.
• I like to use Firefox because it has so many useful Add-ons (extensions) available, for example:
  • Craigslist Fusion : "Show posts and images in the Craigslist listing, auto send emails, filters, drive direction, mark spam, hide, auto hide, favorite, bookmark, much more."
  • CacheIt! : "Quickly view or copy the URL to a cached version of any wesbite using Google, Coral CDN, or The Way-Back Machine. Allows you to access websites that have crashed or have shut down."
  • EMail This! : "Email This! will send your recipient the link, title, & highlighted text of the page you are viewing using GMail, Google Apps GMail, Yahoo, and Stand-Alone Mail Clients like Outlook Express, Thunderbird, & More!"
  • uBlock Origin : This ad blocker will remove annoying advertisements from web pages, which also makes web pages load faster.

Websites, forums, and blogs

• Forums
  • Go here for links to many good forums on machining, model engine making, etc. : https://sites.google.com/site/lagadoacademy/useful-links#web-forums
• YouTube
  • Go here for links to some of my favorite YouTube channels, as well as to other videos of interest : https://sites.google.com/site/lagadoacademy/useful-links#videos
• Blogs (CC licensing)
  • This page you are reading now is part of my blog. I use this site to document my projects, as well as to organize and share information on machining and other topics.
  • This site is part of a free service (but see Free stuff at the top of this page) provided by Google. For a brief overview, see this link : https://sites.google.com/site/mflynchsites/

Build stuff

• You don't need to own a 3D printer to do 3D printing; instead you can send a 3D print file to an online service and have the item printed and sent to you. There are a variety of similar online services for pretty much anything that produces a physical result from a computer file. I do not have first hand experience with any of these services, so I am not including any links here, but you can easily find these yourself using Internet search tools for such things as the following:
  • 3D printing
  • Laser cutting
  • Water jet cutting
  • Plasma cutting
  • Engraving
  • etc.
• Conversely, if you have the money to spend, 3D printers, laser cutters, and computer driven routers are now within reach of the home budget.