u/ElecCmptrEngMSdegUSA — reddlx

For anyone who saw some of my posts from the last few weeks that laid out:

- My site uses markdown files for content management

- My content I started working on in OneNote so I could move faster in a local content creation flow (working directly with markdown files is better than HTML but still clunky)

By happenstance yesterday I came across the Obsidian app which genuinely feels like it was made exactly for my use-case. It's like OneNote but supports Markdown and works over a collection of .md files. But it also lets you link across ideas and files intuitively and builds out a visual knowledge graph as you go.

I don't think I showed the knowledge graph I rolled in my dev environment but this solves that problem. also cross-linking concepts and pages together becomes unbelievably simple in this app. You can use it locally like OneNote but they also have options to publish as a website.

It's the perfect blend of features and exactly what I needed. Now the place I author content and the place I publish it can be unified, which will help me get work out the door faster.

In the off chance you too enjoy OneNote and Markdown, download Obsidian and watch some videos about how to use it. Took me all of 20 minutes to learn and now I'm never going back, it's awesome

It's finally ready - I'm very happy with this for a first video. It has been a long time in the making, I'll start recording soon.

Quick announcement: I'm rebranding the YouTube presence. I F***ing Love DIY is now The Maker Skill Tree. This new name is much clearer on its face about what my content aims to achieve.

The below is written with this change incorporated. That said, here's the first script for my YouTube channel!

-----------VIDEO_1_Script-----------

Hello makers,

I'm Alex, and this is The Maker Skill Tree — a channel built to help you make all kinds of things, starting from scratch and gradually becoming well-rounded across the entire maker landscape.

The goal of this channel is simple:

maximize the kinds of things you can make, while minimizing unnecessary complexity.

This isn't about random projects, or one-off tips and tricks.

It's about building competent people.

The focus here is on foundational skills — things you can use and reuse in interesting ways across many different kinds of projects.

This isn't meant to be a collection of unrelated hobbies.

It's meant to be an enabler.

The idea is that once you have a solid foundation, you can dive into almost anything that interests you.

So I'm not here to teach you luthiery, or cosplay, or amateur astronomy, or ham radio.

But I will teach you things like:

foamsmithing

woodworking

glass shaping

electronics

and a lot more that we'll lay out in a minute.

My educational approach here is structured and straightforward.

We'll start at the starting line and work our way through beginner and intermediate skills across a wide range of topics.

We're not necessarily aiming for true mastery in every area. But the goal is that if you decide to dive deeper into something, you won't feel out of your depth walking into a room full of experts.

You'll still have plenty to learn — but you'll be able to keep up, follow the conversation, and ask good questions.

In my experience, the best way to learn is to know just enough to keep yourself out of trouble before getting your hands dirty.

But then you have to actually get your hands dirty.

By starting small and building on a solid foundation, you'll level up your fluency in a topic surprisingly fast.

More importantly, you'll level up reliably.

Learning is a constant back-and-forth between theory and practice.

Too much information too early, and it just rolls off.

Not enough when you need it, and progress stalls.

But when information arrives at the moment it's relevant — that's when the real eureka moments happen.

There's a balancing act there, and The Maker Skill Tree is designed with that in mind.

So what does the curriculum actually cover?

First, we'll talk about meta skills — things that help you on any project, before, during, and after you build it.

We'll look at how to set up and organize your workspace, especially if you're working within the real-world space constraints many makers deal with.

Then we'll dive into materials.

We'll cover how to work with things like:

wood

metal

textiles

foam

plastics

rubber

stone

clay

…and eventually how to combine them into multi-material projects.

Some tools will get their own dedicated discussions, particularly digital fabrication tools like 3D printers and CNC machines, along with others.

And I won't assume you have unlimited money or space — so we'll also talk about the practical question of when to borrow, rent, or buy tools.

From there we'll shift a bit toward the STEM side of making.

That includes things like:

electronics

software

mechanics

chemistry

biology

applied physics

Now that might sound like a lot — and it is.

But the goal here isn't to give you a full theoretical education in every subject.

The good news is that smart people have already solved a lot of these problems for us.

We're not here to reinvent the wheel.

Instead, we'll talk about how to find existing solutions, pull them off the shelf, and integrate them into your projects in useful ways.

That way you can make incredible things without needing a PhD in everything under the sun.

After that, we'll explore different making modalities.

By that I mean: the mindset and approach you take depending on what you're trying to build.

For example:

a quick temporary mockup

something that needs to survive the weather

something you want to manufacture many times

Those situations demand very different tools, materials, and processes.

Exploring those differences naturally pushes you into situations where you have to combine everything you've learned in practical ways.

Finally, we'll step outside the workshop a bit.

Most of the content up to this point focuses on things you can do on your own.

But making is also part of a much larger ecosystem.

There are communities, events, spaces, and organizations full of people doing amazing things.

So we'll also talk about ways to connect with that world — whether that's:

learning from others

making new friends

contributing to your community

or even participating in commerce with your maker skills.

If that sounds like a big step, you might be surprised how far you can go without needing to be a professional.

Stay humble, of course — but give yourself some credit too.

You might have noticed I haven't talked much about specific projects.

They'll absolutely be part of the channel — but they aren't the main focus of the curriculum.

Projects here are tools for learning, not the end goal.

Some projects strengthen skills you'll use constantly — like fabricating a simple sheet metal box.

Some are rites of passage within a community — like making a handmade leather wallet.

And some are stepping stones in a natural progression of skill building.

For example:

A wooden cutting board can quickly lead to a step stool.

A step stool can lead to a table.

And so on.

So that's The Maker Skill Tree in a nutshell.

Ambitious?

Sure.

Nobody said anything about easy.

But that doesn't mean it can't be simple.

Not everything we'll cover here is dangerous.

But some of it absolutely can be.

My expectation is that you're a responsible adult — or you have one nearby.

We'll talk about safety along the way, but there's no substitute for good judgment.

Sometimes the right move is to proceed.

Sometimes it's to pause and prepare more.

And sometimes it's deciding something is simply outside your comfort level for the moment.

We'll walk and chew gum at the same time — building amazing things while keeping it sustainable so you can keep enjoying this for a long time.

And just to be clear about where I'm coming from:

I'm an engineer who is passionate about making things.

At work, I'm used to adding structure and rigor to messy ideas.

But that doesn't make me an expert in everything we're going to cover here.

In fact, for many topics on this channel, by the time I publish a video I may only have been deeply exploring that topic for a few weeks or months.

What I'm really doing is building the structured learning journey I wish existed when I started.

I'm learning as I go — and I'm doing it in public.

You might see me as the face of the channel or some kind of authority.

But I see us more as peers.

I'll do my best to present the best information I can find and what makes logical sense to me.

And as I said before — you're responsible for your own safety and decisions.

Think before you act.

By the end of this series, you'll see that this isn't really about me.

It's about you.

The real test of success isn't whether you can make the same things I make.

It's whether you can create things of your own invention.

You'll get there by building the skills to:

turn abstract ideas into real objects

break big problems into smaller ones

navigate unfamiliar work safely

make good decisions across different domains

choose sane processes

and correct course as you go.

This channel can help nudge you in that direction.

The rest is up to you.

Thanks for watching to the end.

In the next video we'll talk about the prep work that helps before starting any project.

If you enjoyed this, like the video, subscribe, and leave a comment letting me know what you liked or what I can improve next time.

I'll head over to the next video while you do that.

See you there.