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The Periodic Table of Tools

periodictableoftools.com

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Re: The Periodic Table of Tools

#101

Post by kuchenbecker »

theodoregray wrote: post #97
kortex wrote: post #70

As a former chemist and all-around maker, I love this and this bugs me all at once. I love the concept, but as others have pointed out, this is less a "periodic table" and more "grab bag of related things". You see these all over the place: foods, drinks, cars, etc. All table, no periodicity. Why are wrenches and drills strewn across three groups? Put the wrenches in one group, drills in the other. Impact drivers som…

You complain that wrenches and drills are spread over several columns? Look at a periodic table please! The diagonal line splitting wrenches from drills is precisely the diagonal line splitting ordinary metals from non-metals. That’s one of the bits I’m most proud of! You have no idea how long I agonized over how to make this arrangement not be arbitrary, while at the same time dealing with some of the realities of h…

This is a classic "we should refactor" without understanding the original architecture/decision making.

No doubt some of the issues you describe become apparent when you actually attempt the task, yet it's easy to propose a reasonable alternative.

Anyway, I love that we both have a rebuttal to the original as well as a firm defense from the OP.

Re: The Periodic Table of Tools

#102

Post by theodoregray »

CoastalCoder wrote: post #50

Since this is just begging to be hung in a workshop / man-cave, I'd like to mention a related poster: [0] Extra legit because Nick Offerman's non-acting job is running a woodworking shop. [0] https://www.nbcstore.com/products/parks-and-recreation-swans...

So you can in fact hang it in your shop, I'd like to mention this link for buying my periodic table of tools poster: https://home.theodoregray.com/printed-products

Re: The Periodic Table of Tools

#103

Post by theodoregray »

f1shy wrote: post #33
IshKebab wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Too pedantic. I don't think the categories are meant to imply that the tools are similar to each other.

Agree about pedantic. But “periodic table” for me implies some similarity.

Please see my long rant on this subject. There is quite a lot of periodic table structure....

Re: The Periodic Table of Tools

#104

Post by theodoregray »

IshKebab wrote: post #13

This is really cool. He sure owns a lot of tools! You could make a pretty neat display of them in a museum. Way more interesting than endless paintings and porcelain.

I do actually have a small museum in my studio... but it's rather small and informal. You can see some of it in this interview: https://kk.org/cooltools/theodore-gray-co-founder-of-wolfram...

Re: The Periodic Table of Tools

#105

Post by theodoregray »

gcanyon wrote: post #21

I find myself unreasonably frustrated by this arrangement. "Screwdriver Bits" are not the base level of the screwdriver column -- "Screwdrivers" are. And the second column from left is just a mess: stampers are similar to rivets are similar to nail guns... how? I'm sure this is a personal preference thing but (to me) the columns should be thematically similar, off the top of my head (I am not skilled at manufacturing…

(a) screwdriver bits come above screwdrivers for one simple reason: the mouth bit holder is hilarious and I wanted to put it at the top of the column. (b) column 2 is things you can hit with a hammer: that's why it has stamps, rivets, and nails. It follows hammers because alkali earth metals are somewhat chemically related to alkali metals (e.g. reactive with water to evolve hydrogen, which makes both columns fun to play with). Nail pullers are at the bottom of hammers instead of the bottom of column 2 because the counts worked better that way.

Re: The Periodic Table of Tools

#106

Post by theodoregray »

mauvehaus wrote: post #6

This displays what I would consider to be a fairly limited knowledge of tools. Saws, for instance, take a variety of forms, and lumping all of the large ones into "big saws" rather ignores the fact that their use is fundamentally dependent on what kind of saw they are. Not their size. And perplexingly, miniature table saws are lumped in with other big saws. I'd also submit that a bung hole auger (lumped in with antiq…

OK, you've made the first criticism I actually agree with! Bung hole augers do belong with reamers, not with augers. In my defense, they are called bung hole augers, and all the ones I have are antique, so they naturally gravitated to the antique augers category, but I should have known better, and for that I am sorry. Some of them don't even have augers at the front!

The criticism of saws I reject: I split them by material in columns (wood- v.s metal-cutting), and by size vertically (getting heavier/more powerful as you go down a column). Bow saws are under hacksaws kind of out of desperation, but there are at least as many metal-cutting bow saws as wood-cutting. In fact given the popularity of hacksaws, perhaps in modern times that is the more common application of this style of stretched blade.

Re: The Periodic Table of Tools

#107

Post by theodoregray »

synthos wrote: post #49
demondemidi wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

For what it's worth, I had absolutely nothing to do with the post: I didn't make it or encourage anyone to make it. I just noticed a sharp uptick in sales earlier today. Which I love since I spent a lot of time and money designing the poster and getting it printed. Here's the real buy bait: Please buy my book and poster! You can find the book "Tools" on Amazon, and the poster at theodoregray.com

Re: The Periodic Table of Tools

#108

Post by theodoregray »

civilitty wrote: post #45
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…

See my long comment in this thread: I categorically reject the notion that there isn't any order to my arrangement of tools. It's actually quite detailed in how it follows the chemical structure, because your pet peeve is also my pet peeve. I wrote a whole book about the actual periodic table ("The Elements" by me), so it's a subject dear to my heart. Please look more closely.

(Also, I would name gauge blocks over granite flats as fundamental to precision, but in any case, all measuring tools are in the same row because they are related, just as are the lanthanides and actinides.) They are at the bottom because that's where they fit most naturally. My logic they should be the noble gasses, because they don't change anything. But there were too many I wanted to include. It was anodizing having to move them to a larger space.

Re: The Periodic Table of Tools

#109

Post by theodoregray »

cush wrote: post #27

Could they have chosen a worse image to depict Screwdriver Bits? https://periodictableoftools.com/Images/002/002.640.jpg

I put screwdrivers bits at the top of the drivers column specifically because I think that photo is hilarious and I want to make it as prominent as possible. This is why 3D printers were invented.

Re: The Periodic Table of Tools

#110

Post by theodoregray »

kbutler wrote: post #9

Was I alone in expecting software engineering tools?

I wanted to include them. Believe me, I wanted to! My publisher felt strongly that I should not stretch the definition of tools into metaphor. Beds are tools: they help you sleep better. There's just too many narrow-definition tools I needed to fit in. Otherwise I would have been more than happy to including a dig about how Jupyter Notebooks are a poor imitation of my Mathematica notebook design.
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