I heard about this a few years ago. So this is how it came out.
Think of this as a startup. The basic concept is interesting. A decade on, it's clear that the execution was botched. The article indicates at least the following problems:
- Trying to do too many things, and ending up doing them badly, rather than doing a few things well. Take a look at the list of machines being built, and the "percent completed". None have reached 100%, and only four are over 75%. This is after ten years.
- Employee retention problems. (A major problem with any volunteer effort.)
- Founder not into delegation.
This has been done before, better. There's a classic series, "Build Your Own Metal Working Shop from Scrap" (http://www.amazon.com/Build-Your-Metalworking-Shop-Scrap/dp/...) from 1982. You start with charcoal, sand, wood, and metal scrap, set up a forge, and cast parts. With the forge, you make parts for a lathe. That's book 2. Book 3, a metal shaper. Book 4, a milling machine. Book 5, a drill press. Book 6, precision tools so you can do accurate work. It's a lot of work, but people have successfully followed those directions and made machine tools.
In the UK this book started a movement of people wanting to be more self-sufficient, using small gardens and allotments to grow food and sometimes livestock.
We had chickens when I was young (about four, five?) and goats when I was a bit older.
Think of this as a startup. The basic concept is interesting. A decade on, it's clear that the execution was botched. The article indicates at least the following problems:
- Trying to do too many things, and ending up doing them badly, rather than doing a few things well. Take a look at the list of machines being built, and the "percent completed". None have reached 100%, and only four are over 75%. This is after ten years. - Employee retention problems. (A major problem with any volunteer effort.) - Founder not into delegation.
This has been done before, better. There's a classic series, "Build Your Own Metal Working Shop from Scrap" (http://www.amazon.com/Build-Your-Metalworking-Shop-Scrap/dp/...) from 1982. You start with charcoal, sand, wood, and metal scrap, set up a forge, and cast parts. With the forge, you make parts for a lathe. That's book 2. Book 3, a metal shaper. Book 4, a milling machine. Book 5, a drill press. Book 6, precision tools so you can do accurate work. It's a lot of work, but people have successfully followed those directions and made machine tools.
Further back, there are the Foxfire books, from 1962 (http://www.amazon.com/The-Foxfire-Book-Dressing-Moonshining/...). This was the bible of the hippie "back to the land" movement. A number of communes were set up using those books.