I’m Tom.
I build things. Because I can.
Not always because I absolutely need them. Sometimes the thought that something might work is enough—provided I stare at it long enough, take it apart, or put it back together the other way around.
A sensible household needs a lathe.
Workshop, not showroom
WerkstattDenke. is my personal project archive.
I am interested not only in finished results, but especially in the decisions that came before them:
- Why did I choose this solution?
- What went wrong? What worked well?
- What could I salvage, and how?
- And would I do it differently today?
A finished component usually shows only the final version. The interesting decisions came before it.
Not a conventional how-to website
The articles on this website describe my own projects, machines, and working methods.
They are not universal instructions, nor are they proof that my solution is the only correct one.
Often, it is simply the solution that worked with the material, space, tools, and skills I had available.
That includes improvised setups, discarded ideas, and occasionally a part that decided it was never coming apart again.
Why I document all of this
Information disappears surprisingly quickly.
Forums become difficult to follow, photographs end up on old hard drives, and after a few years even I no longer know why a particular hole is exactly where it is.
That is why I write my projects down—for other people and for myself.
A craftsman leaves. Tools remain. Knowledge does, too.
What is being built here
Many of my projects so far involve the Emco Emcomat 8.6.
They include mechanical modifications, tool holders, fixtures, repairs, electrical additions, and the electronic leadscrew.
WerkstattDenke. is also intended to provide space for anything that has been built, repaired, modified, or thought through with anything from moderate to excessive thoroughness.
Unfinished work belongs here too
Not every project on this website is complete.
Some things already work. Others are still lying on the workbench or waiting for measurements, long-term experience, or commissioning.
I therefore try to distinguish between built, tested, observed, suspected, planned, and still open.
A plan is not practical experience. A spinning motor is not yet a working machine drive. And not every measurable amount of play is automatically a fault.
Contact
Comments, questions, and well-reasoned criticism are very welcome.
I am particularly interested in experience showing why an idea works in the long term—or why it probably will not.