As if I don't have enough going on with work, the site, and going back to college …

I'd like to do a monthly audio podcast. I broached the subject with my friend Barry (a longtime machinist and a machining instructor at a local technical college) and he's interested. 

So here's the plan. We'd like to do a monthly (about 12 a year) podcast where we answer your questions, talk about industry news, and discuss product reviews. This forum topic will be the spot to post questions … for now at least. In the future we might get a Google Voice phone number so you guys can phone-in with questions. But that's down the road a bit.

UPDATE: Here's the phone number: (209) 379-5309

You can still post questions below, but the preferred method is to call the number above and ask your question over the phone in the form of a recorded voicemail. We will be able to pull that question off the voicemail system and insert it directly into the podcast. But if you don't want your voice on the podcast you can either ask us to rephrase the question or you can simply submit your question the old fashoined way – in print via this forum topic.

If you're not familiar with what a podcast is, think of it as a talk radio show that you can listen to on your computer or on an iPod or other MP3 player. Since this will be an audio podcast (not a video podcast) try to ask questions that can be explained without the need for visual examples. 

For instance, a bad question would be "how do you sharpen HSS tool bits?" because that question is best answered via a demonstration video. A good question might be "Why do wire gage sizes get larger as the wire gets smaller?". That's a question that can be answered with words, no visual necessary. Another one might be "Which do you prefer, HSS or indexable inserts?" This would allow Barry (who works with both regularly) to provide you with some insite into where HSS tooling is appropriate and where inserts might be a better choice. 

A good example of a podcast is the Toolmonger.com Tool Talk Podcast. They talk mostly about tools and DIY projects and their podcast is similar to the format I'd like to have for the ProjectsInMetal Podcast. If you guys listen to any other tool/DIY related podcasts list them below as well so people who are unfamiliar with podcasts can get a few more examples of what we're talking about.

So we need your questions. Please start asking away by replying to this thread!

Hi Alexander, I'm glad you're excited! I was worried there wouldn't be much interest. Do you currently listen to any podcasts?

Initially the questions will be written out so I would read them during the podcast. Something like "the next question comes to us from Alexander in Montreal, he writes …"

When (if?) we decide to get members to call in their questions we have a few options. The easiest would be to allow people to leave a question in the form of a voice mail. I can pull that question off of voice mail and dub it into the podcast. 

The more complicated option would be to actually have a set time for the monthly podcast where people could call in live. I'm worried that would get too complicated with time zones and Barry and I needing to coordinate schedules, etc.

So a third option might be to ask people to include their callback info in their recorded questions. That way if we want to call the person back to get clarity or just to answer the question live we could do so. We'd let you know the date and approximate time for the podcast to make sure you're available for the callback. 

But if you have other ideas I'm open to them as well. 

@ Alexander, that's definately a possibility, but it adds some complexity to the process. For one thing, I have a variable schedule so it would be hard for the podcast to be scheduled, for example the first Saturday of every month @ 6pm Pacific time. That would work for about 1 or 2 episodes before life would get in the way of the schedule. But I'll talk to Barry and see what he thinks.

@Sfoley (Simon), you're absolutely correct. Many podcasts have a "Show Notes" section on their site where listeners can go to get links to things mentioned in the podcast, download documentation, etc. That's a very good idea and one I plan to implement. 

@Nick, I definately plan to upload the podcast to iTunes, and I believe doing so is free. iTunes doesn't host the MP3 files, they just link to them. So I'll have to find hosting that it Podcast friendly so I'm not paying a fortune for bandwidth. The podcast will be free for listeners to download, but it will need to be supported with advertising (to pay for bandwidth). I'll probably have a 10 second add spot here and there that sounds something like "This podcast is supported in part by LittleMachineShop.com, the premier source of tooling, parts, and accessories for benchtop machinists". Hopefully nobody will be put off by the occassional advertisement. 

Thanks for the feedback, but nobody has submitted any questions yet … What would you guys like to hear discussed on the podcast?