This forum is changing. My life is changing too. Right now I do not have time to modify or machine new things, so my role is limited to watching what other people are doing.Dang Captain Slug, you're starting to sound a bit mean. Or, are you getting annoyed by these boards? Your recent posts make it sound like lots of people are starting to annoy you.
Due to an increase in participation by older members and newer members people are trying to get far more ambitious with their mods than ever before. However, very few of the individuals trying such advantageous things have any clue as to how difficult the task at hand is nor any experience relevant to accomplishing it.
In the past this involved far less risk or expense because the most ambitious thing any of us could even possibly imagine trying was building an FAR. Something that, compared to most of the things I've had to try to shoot down, did not involve a huge monetary investment or extreme risk of bodily harm.
If I come off as sounding annoyed I apologize. But some of the things some of you are proposing are just extremely ridiculous and so far out of reach that I just can't help but laugh. You're all trying things that even I would not even want to attempt because they're so difficult, expensive, or complicated.
Most notably, some of you have the misconception that machining services don't cost anything or grow on trees. Or that you can somehow create extremely complex parts without owning or having access to a decent variety of tools. Both of these are very naive assumptions, and in some way I'm partly to blame by having offered so many services here at prices that undercut all other options by a factor of 10.
If you have done any kind of work with a machine shop or tried to get a part made by a professional you would understand that the longshot foregrip kits that I had made and sold for $15 shipped each would have cost you at least $150 each if you had tried to get them made in limited numbers at a machine shop or plastics shop.
I criticize because I care. I've been doing this a little bit since I registered here. But it's only becoming more obvious lately because they're the only posts I'm making at the moment.
If I didn't care I wouldn't be saying anything and would just leave all of you to make the mistakes I had to learn the hard way.