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The Periodic Table of Tools

periodictableoftools.com

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Re: The Periodic Table of Tools

#42

Post by digdugdirk »

For those people who find this frustratingly incorrect/incomplete - this is an art project, not a an attempt at creating a taxonomy of tools.

For those people who have little experience with the trades - this is an art project, and building up your understanding of tools from this resource probably isn't a great idea.

For those people who can't get the screwdriver bits image out of their mind - I'm with you.

Re: The Periodic Table of Tools

#45

Post by civilitty »

iamwil wrote: post #44

This is one of my few pet peeves on the internet. The periodic table of X often isn't periodic, and shouldn't look anything like the periodic table of elements.

The author added granite surface plates at atomic #69 (way out in the lanthanides) because:

> Granite flats can be used as mounting surfaces for machines that need to stay very accurately aligned. Dozens of these huge precision granite blocks were sold as scrap to a local stone dealer, and I happened to pull up in their lot just after they had unloaded them. Blocks were piled up everywhere, blocking the driveway and generally making a nuisance of themselves, so the owner offered to sell me a bunch cheap just to get them out of his hair. I was told that the two mounting surfaces on each block are flat and parallel within millionths of an inch. This could be true, and if it is you’re looking at some of the most expensive lawn furniture in the world. I rented a rough-terrain forklift to arranged them in my front yard. There they remain to this day, 25 years later. 25 million years from now they will probably still be there, buried under the debris of a thousand civilizations come and gone. [1]

Not to be a debbie downer but there's zero order to this "periodic" table. If there were, the granite plates would be somewhere in the first couple of rows as the foundation to the industrial revolution. We wouldn't have had precision manufacturing or 95% of the modern tools on that table without them. Building them was the first time humans figured out how to make perfect flat surfaces without which our world wouldn't be possible.

[1] https://periodictableoftools.com/Items/T0702.html

Re: The Periodic Table of Tools

#47

Post by demondemidi »

digdugdirk wrote: post #42

For those people who find this frustratingly incorrect/incomplete - this is an art project, not a an attempt at creating a taxonomy of tools. For those people who have little experience with the trades - this is an art project, and building up your understanding of tools from this resource probably isn't a great idea. For those people who can't get the screwdriver bits image out of their mind - I'm with you.

We know. I think the main objection is that it is just more noise and clickbait that really teaches nothing[0], or this case, buybait.

[0] I think it actually unteaches things as it obfuscates the point of the shape of the periodic table.

Re: The Periodic Table of Tools

#48

Post by ericra »

The majority of comments here are pedantic nitpicking about proper tool categorization, improper use of the term "periodic", etc. Why?

This is someone's art project, it's pretty cool. Enjoy the thing if you like it! It's not meant to be an encyclopedia.

Re: The Periodic Table of Tools

#49

Post by synthos »

demondemidi wrote: post #47
digdugdirk wrote: post #42

For those people who find this frustratingly incorrect/incomplete - this is an art project, not a an attempt at creating a taxonomy of tools. For those people who have little experience with the trades - this is an art project, and building up your understanding of tools from this resource probably isn't a great idea. For those people who can't get the screwdriver bits image out of their mind - I'm with you.

We know. I think the main objection is that it is just more noise and clickbait that really teaches nothing[0], or this case, buybait. [0] I think it actually unteaches things as it obfuscates the point of the shape of the periodic table.

Definitely buybait and a shame that a blatant advertisement has made to YC news front page. What's next? Novelty toothpaste for nerds?
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