{"id":44588,"date":"2025-07-25T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-25T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/?p=44588"},"modified":"2025-08-07T13:00:23","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T20:00:23","slug":"gars-tips-tools-issue-201","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/gars-tips-tools-issue-201\/","title":{"rendered":"Gar’s Tips & Tools – Issue #201"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Maker\u2019s Gotta Eat<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Food tips too good not to share<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ramen noodles are often a punchline in jokes about poor college students, singles eating over the sink, and starving artists. It may sound a little corny to admit, but for me, they\u2019ve become a daily restorative ritual that I\u2019ve come to rely on. Every day for lunch, I microwave a cup of Dr. McDougal\u2019s Vegan Miso Ramen Noodle Soup<\/a>. I take it out to the back patio and sit quietly in front of our little pond waterfall and savor this simple bowl of noodle soup while soaking in the soothing sights and sounds. I\u2019m not vegan, but I did a pretty wide test of other ramen brands and Dr. McDougal\u2019s was, by far, the best tasting and lowest in sodium. The broth is amazing; the whole experience is relaxing and satisfying\u2026to the point where I\u2019m a little sad every time it\u2019s over. In the middle of a hectic, mentally-taxing work day, I\u2019m amazed at how helpful this little lunch break is. For a little extra depth of flavor, I add a splash of low-sodium soy sauce<\/a> and a squirt of Sriracha<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Books: The Machinist\u2019s Bedtime Reader<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n
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Every now and then, a book comes along that captures a whole subculture within the pages of a modest paperback. For the world of manual machining, that book is The Machinist\u2019s Bedside Reader<\/a><\/em> by Guy Lautard<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First published in the early 1980s, The Bedside Reader<\/em> is a legendary collection of machining lore, shop tips, clever workholding tricks, and war stories from the world of lathes, mills, and surface plates. It’s a quirky little masterpiece of practical knowledge, passed from machinist to machinist like a whispered secret. The tone is friendly, personal, sometimes even philosophical. It\u2019s as much about the why<\/em> as the how<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What makes Lautard\u2019s book special isn\u2019t just the tips (though there are hundreds of excellent ones), but the way it invites you into the mindset of a maker always looking for a better, smarter way. Think of it as the pre-internet equivalent of a maker forum, except bound in a spine and written with dry wit and decades of shop experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you like building tools, repairing old machines, or just enjoy reading about people who approach their work with care and precision, The Machinist\u2019s Bedside Reader<\/em> belongs on your bookshelf\u2026 right next to your calipers and tap and die sets.

Note<\/strong>: The Machinist\u2019s Bedside Readers<\/em> are published by Dale Glover<\/strong> and Little Lake Technology<\/a>. Dale is the person (along with Tom Root<\/strong>) behind the highly-recommended Intentional Makerspace: Operations<\/strong><\/em> <\/strong>book <\/strong>(which I covered back in Issue #116<\/a>). <\/strong>If you\u2019re involved in a makerspace, you should definitely check that book out, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do You\u00a0Need<\/em>\u00a0$250 Mitutoya Calipers?<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n
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