Ask Adam Savage - The Tool That Didn't Live Up to My Hopes

**The Art of Toolmaking: Insights from a Maker’s Video Transcription**

In this article, we will delve into the detailed thoughts and experiences shared by a maker in a recent video transcription. The speaker discusses various tools, their utility, and personal anecdotes that highlight the challenges and triumphs of working in a makerspace.

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### Combining Two Tools into One: A Quest for Efficiency

The video begins with an interesting question posed by Luna Replicas: *If I could combine two tools into one, what would it be?* The speaker contemplates this idea, reflecting on their experience with tool systems. They express a desire to create a turret system that allows rapid swapping between a tap drill and a tap, aiming to eliminate the inefficiency of switching tools manually. While they mention that such a system already exists in the form of quick-change tool systems for mills, they acknowledge that this idea requires further thought.

The speaker then shifts focus to their friendship with Max Kaiserman, another maker and space enthusiast. They bond over shared interests, including warship models and space exploration, which sets the stage for discussing other tools and projects.

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### The Keyway Broach: A Tool That Captivated Their Mind

One of the most intriguing topics in the video is the speaker’s fascination with a keyway broach for the lathe. They explain that a keyway is a slot cut into a hole to lock a shaft mechanically, ensuring a secure fit between two parts. Drawing from personal experience, they recall how bicycle pedals were once merely pressure-fit onto hubs—a design they find ridiculous compared to modern solutions like keyways.

The speaker highlights their struggle to understand the mechanics of a specific type of keyway broach designed for lathes. They share that it took them a while to grasp how this tool works, even after purchasing a kit. In fact, they had to reach out to Tom Lipton for clarification and iterated through the concept multiple times before fully comprehending its functionality. Despite the complexity, they are eagerly awaiting the chance to build this tool, as it represents a significant advancement in their lathe work.

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### The Flange Tool Set: A Misstep in the Shop

The conversation then turns to a less successful purchase: a set of flange tools designed for use with a drill. These tools are intended to push out pipe flanges and create threaded connections. Initially, the speaker was enthusiastic about this purchase, even going so far as to build a wooden holder for the tools upon their arrival. However, two and a half years later, they have yet to use them.

Reflecting on this, the speaker attributes the inactivity of these tools to their status as “shopProcess.” Without a specific project requiring flange work, the tools have remained unused. They humorously acknowledge the challenge of remembering where they put such tools when they aren’t part of their regular workflow. Despite this, they maintain confidence in their system for organizing tools by considering where they would look for them if they got lost—a technique they credit with minimizing losses.

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### A Disaster in the Making: The Hearing Aid Incident

The video takes an unexpected turn with a lighthearted anecdote about a recent Zoom meeting. While on the call, the speaker took off their hearing aids and placed one on top of their laptop’s keyboard. At the end of the call, they discovered the missing hearing aid, leading to a frantic search that ended in disaster: they closed their laptop without realizing the hearing aid was still on it, shattering the screen.

Though the hearing aid survived unscathed, the speaker expresses relief that it wasn’t damaged. They humorously note that people’s most frequent question after hearing this story is about the hearing aid’s condition—always glad it’s safe.

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### The Fire Extinguisher: A Tool Used Least but Needed Most

The video concludes with a discussion of tools used infrequently but crucially. While the speaker jokes about using their trimmer sparingly (only for grooming their dog), they emphasize that the most indispensable tool in their shop is one they rarely use: the fire extinguisher.

Despite its minimal usage, the speaker keeps it close at hand, recognizing its critical role in safety. They urge viewers to prioritize fire safety, even in small workshops like theirs.

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### Final Thoughts and Thanks

The video wraps up with a heartfelt thank you to the audience for their support. The speaker encourages viewers to become members of their “tested” program, offering perks like behind-the-scenes photos, advanced updates on projects, and exclusive member videos. They also mention plans for new content, including unedited live streams of their work in progress.

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### Conclusion

This article captures the essence of the video transcription, showcasing the speaker’s passion for toolmaking, problem-solving, and the humorous challenges that come with running a makerspace. Their reflections on tools, efficiency, and safety provide valuable insights for fellow makers and hobbyists. Whether you’re looking to streamline your workflow or simply laugh at relatable mishaps, this content offers something for everyone.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enluna replicas wants to know if i could combine two tools into one what would it be wow that's an interesting question if i could combine two tools into one i mean i would love to be able to more rapidly swap out between tap drill and a tap because i'm so impatient even using a quick chuck and doing it is like it'd be great to have some sort of turret system or i could do tap drill tap through drill chamfer at the whole works with one drill but that's sort of the quick change tool system i showed recently on the channel for my mill um i'm gonna have to think about that one max that's a good question max kaiserman is luna replicas and we're pals max is also a maker and uh space uh space addict space nut like me um all right let's see here oh uh and dungeon ma sorry uh warship models do i have any more tools that i would like to make for myself yes yes there is a type of keyway brooch for the lathe which took me a while just to figure out how it worked but i have a kit for it back there a hemingway kit for this keyway brooch for the lathe and i haven't i haven't yet built it but it is in my plans i'm really psyched about it um a a a keyway broach is let me just tell you this so when you when you uh when you cut a hole in something and you want to put a shaft through that sometimes you want to lock the shaft to the thing you're putting it through and in such a case you might have a keyway uh cut into that hole so that when the shaft goes through it has a key that fits to that keyway and the shaft and its hole become one um back when i was a kid the pedals of our bicycles were literally a pressure fit on the main hub of our bicycles it wasn't there wasn't even a keyway it was ridiculous um or there was a key way it was like a detent anyway when you want the amount of force between an axle and the hole it's going through is massive and when you want to transfer energy from an axle to a wheel you absolutely need a positive mechanical thing like a key way in my opinion over years i've tried all sorts of different methods and i don't mind using spring pins when i have to but keyway is better and there are broach systems for cutting keyways there are tools single-use tools specifically giant tools for cutting keyways but there's this very specific kind for the lathe that utilizes this sort of slight offset to cut the keyway in slowly as it goes um which blew my mind that it worked i had to write to tom lipton and like iterate a couple of times how it worked before i fully wrap my head around it um that's definitely one of the tools coming up soon let's see uh ah let's see um andrew montgomery asks what is the one tool on paper you thought that's brilliant i need me one of those that when you acquired and lived with it just didn't live up to the idea you had for them i would say that happens more than you realize um i pick up things all the time that seem like oh i could really use that and then here we are like three years later and i still haven't used it i've got one over here i think that's worth showing yeah here we go um here's a little set i picked up recently this is a set of flange tools so you chuck these into your drill and this will uh push out uh the pi a pipe that you put this in enough to thread onto its neighbor i thought this sounded like oh i totally need to get that night put it in my cart in amazon it arrived here i made this little wooden holder for it put it here and i have not touched it and it's been like two and a half years the trick is remembering where you put the thing because when it's not part of your shop process it's really easy to lose this crap and it's like that that is one of the more difficult things right like i've long said because i'm a high functioning hoarder i i i have long talked about my technique for not losing things and that my main technique is oh where should this hammer go where would i look for it at this second if i didn't know where it is and then i put it there and with this again even though it's not part of my regular shop practice yet even though i haven't wrapped my head around its full utility because it hasn't come up in a build i know where it should live because i know where i think it should live and so there it stays until i need it of course one of the other things that happens is sometimes i'm like here in the cave and i'm like on the phone having a phone call meeting and while i'm having a phone call meeting i do what you do which is i wander around the room and when i wander around the room i like move stuff and i pick stuff up and i'm talking and i put stuff down and i'm still talking and then i have no idea where anything is um this happened yesterday and caused a ridiculous disaster so i was having a zoom meeting and in order to have the zoom meeting i put on my headphones in order to put on my headphones i took out my hearing aid i took out my hearing aid and i put it down i put it on the keyboard of my laptop maybe you can see where this is going to go and at the end of the zoom meeting i was like great took off my headphones where's my hearing aid where's my hearing aid i can't see my hearing aid let me close my laptop so i can find my hearing aid i closed my laptop on my hearing aid and shattered the screen of my laptop reader i felt really stupid my hearing aid is fine by the way thank you that has been the most frequent question that when i've told people like how's the hearing aid hearing aid is great these things are bulletproof uh but my laptop screen is is being fixed right now um was that an answer to a question or am i just rambling now uh let's see here build break repeat asks a question i'm not sure i have an answer to but it's it's what tool do you find you use most infrequently but has no other substitute that is it yeah um i'm looking around here um i use my trimmer very infrequently just to groom my dog but that's not an interesting answer um what tool do i use most infrequently i mean what he then goes on to say he they what they go on to say is in most cases it would be a fire extinguisher but the cave isn't most places um i can tell you this is without a doubt the thing i keep closest to me but it is the least used in this cave um i yeah uh thank goodness for fire extinguishers keep them close thank you so much for watching if you'd like to support us even further you can by becoming a tested member uh details are of course below but it includes all sorts of perks and we're building them all the time you get advanced word and behind the scenes photos of some of our projects questions you get to ask direct questions during my live streams and we have some members only videos including the adam real time series of unbroken unedited shots of me working here in the shop they are weirdly meditative thank you guys so much i'll see you on the next oneluna replicas wants to know if i could combine two tools into one what would it be wow that's an interesting question if i could combine two tools into one i mean i would love to be able to more rapidly swap out between tap drill and a tap because i'm so impatient even using a quick chuck and doing it is like it'd be great to have some sort of turret system or i could do tap drill tap through drill chamfer at the whole works with one drill but that's sort of the quick change tool system i showed recently on the channel for my mill um i'm gonna have to think about that one max that's a good question max kaiserman is luna replicas and we're pals max is also a maker and uh space uh space addict space nut like me um all right let's see here oh uh and dungeon ma sorry uh warship models do i have any more tools that i would like to make for myself yes yes there is a type of keyway brooch for the lathe which took me a while just to figure out how it worked but i have a kit for it back there a hemingway kit for this keyway brooch for the lathe and i haven't i haven't yet built it but it is in my plans i'm really psyched about it um a a a keyway broach is let me just tell you this so when you when you uh when you cut a hole in something and you want to put a shaft through that sometimes you want to lock the shaft to the thing you're putting it through and in such a case you might have a keyway uh cut into that hole so that when the shaft goes through it has a key that fits to that keyway and the shaft and its hole become one um back when i was a kid the pedals of our bicycles were literally a pressure fit on the main hub of our bicycles it wasn't there wasn't even a keyway it was ridiculous um or there was a key way it was like a detent anyway when you want the amount of force between an axle and the hole it's going through is massive and when you want to transfer energy from an axle to a wheel you absolutely need a positive mechanical thing like a key way in my opinion over years i've tried all sorts of different methods and i don't mind using spring pins when i have to but keyway is better and there are broach systems for cutting keyways there are tools single-use tools specifically giant tools for cutting keyways but there's this very specific kind for the lathe that utilizes this sort of slight offset to cut the keyway in slowly as it goes um which blew my mind that it worked i had to write to tom lipton and like iterate a couple of times how it worked before i fully wrap my head around it um that's definitely one of the tools coming up soon let's see uh ah let's see um andrew montgomery asks what is the one tool on paper you thought that's brilliant i need me one of those that when you acquired and lived with it just didn't live up to the idea you had for them i would say that happens more than you realize um i pick up things all the time that seem like oh i could really use that and then here we are like three years later and i still haven't used it i've got one over here i think that's worth showing yeah here we go um here's a little set i picked up recently this is a set of flange tools so you chuck these into your drill and this will uh push out uh the pi a pipe that you put this in enough to thread onto its neighbor i thought this sounded like oh i totally need to get that night put it in my cart in amazon it arrived here i made this little wooden holder for it put it here and i have not touched it and it's been like two and a half years the trick is remembering where you put the thing because when it's not part of your shop process it's really easy to lose this crap and it's like that that is one of the more difficult things right like i've long said because i'm a high functioning hoarder i i i have long talked about my technique for not losing things and that my main technique is oh where should this hammer go where would i look for it at this second if i didn't know where it is and then i put it there and with this again even though it's not part of my regular shop practice yet even though i haven't wrapped my head around its full utility because it hasn't come up in a build i know where it should live because i know where i think it should live and so there it stays until i need it of course one of the other things that happens is sometimes i'm like here in the cave and i'm like on the phone having a phone call meeting and while i'm having a phone call meeting i do what you do which is i wander around the room and when i wander around the room i like move stuff and i pick stuff up and i'm talking and i put stuff down and i'm still talking and then i have no idea where anything is um this happened yesterday and caused a ridiculous disaster so i was having a zoom meeting and in order to have the zoom meeting i put on my headphones in order to put on my headphones i took out my hearing aid i took out my hearing aid and i put it down i put it on the keyboard of my laptop maybe you can see where this is going to go and at the end of the zoom meeting i was like great took off my headphones where's my hearing aid where's my hearing aid i can't see my hearing aid let me close my laptop so i can find my hearing aid i closed my laptop on my hearing aid and shattered the screen of my laptop reader i felt really stupid my hearing aid is fine by the way thank you that has been the most frequent question that when i've told people like how's the hearing aid hearing aid is great these things are bulletproof uh but my laptop screen is is being fixed right now um was that an answer to a question or am i just rambling now uh let's see here build break repeat asks a question i'm not sure i have an answer to but it's it's what tool do you find you use most infrequently but has no other substitute that is it yeah um i'm looking around here um i use my trimmer very infrequently just to groom my dog but that's not an interesting answer um what tool do i use most infrequently i mean what he then goes on to say he they what they go on to say is in most cases it would be a fire extinguisher but the cave isn't most places um i can tell you this is without a doubt the thing i keep closest to me but it is the least used in this cave um i yeah uh thank goodness for fire extinguishers keep them close thank you so much for watching if you'd like to support us even further you can by becoming a tested member uh details are of course below but it includes all sorts of perks and we're building them all the time you get advanced word and behind the scenes photos of some of our projects questions you get to ask direct questions during my live streams and we have some members only videos including the adam real time series of unbroken unedited shots of me working here in the shop they are weirdly meditative thank you guys so much i'll see you on the next one\n"