Every piece on TL-IQ Journal starts as a build log, not a brief. Here is the order we work in, from the first measurement at the bench to the moment a note goes up, and the points where a post can stall or stop.
Step 01
A contributor writes down what was attempted, which clamp or jig was on the bench, where the cut drifted and what the tolerance chart actually said. Rough notes are fine. A clean summary written after the fact is not, because the drift and the rework are the part readers learn from.
Step 02
Images are marked up while the setup is still standing, not from memory later. Captions run in monospace and name the visible object: the stop block, the kerf strip, the dial indicator on the spindle. No mood captions, no stock shots passed off as a specific bench.
Step 03
A retired toolmaker reads the numbers before anything is published. If a figure cannot be traced back to the log, it comes out or gets rewritten as an observation rather than a measurement. This is the slowest step and the one we will not skip.
Step 04
When a tool fails, the post describes the failure and the workaround that got the job finished. It is not a verdict on the brand, and it is not softened into a recommendation. Readers can judge the failure against their own setup.
Step 05
Questions that arrive with a build log or a correction get collected and answered in follow-up notes, so the original post stays as written and the answer sits where it can be found. The running glossary grows the same way, one shop term at a time.
Step 06
Nothing runs as a sponsored placement, and no post promises a result the bench did not show. If a test was inconclusive, the note says so. That constraint shapes the whole order above, and it is the reason a post can sit unpublished for a while.
The journal runs on notes sent in by readers and contributors, not on a support queue. If a post got a measurement wrong, if a jig failed on you, or if you have a build log worth writing up, there is a plain way to get it to an editor.
The contact page carries the only form on the site. It takes your name, email, where your workshop sits, what the note is about, and the details of what happened at the bench. Nothing else is collected, and no account is created.
Corrections, glossary additions and reader questions can go straight to the desk. Attach nothing sensitive; if photos are involved, say so first and an editor will follow up.
The Firs, 32A Cradock Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg, 2196, South Africa. This is a mailing address for the journal, not a workshop you can visit.
The process page explains how a bench note becomes a published piece: what a build log needs to include, how measurement claims get checked by a retired toolmaker, and why disappointing gear is reported as a described failure rather than a brand verdict. Reading it first usually saves a round of questions.
A few notes on how this journal works, so nothing here reads as more than it is. These points apply to every post on the process page and to the build logs we run.
A build log records what happened at one bench on one day. It is not a tested procedure, not a guarantee that the same setup will hold on your machine, and not a claim about a brand. Where a cut drifted or a clamp slipped, that is written down as it occurred.
Figures quoted in a post come from the contributor's own notes and are reviewed before publication. They describe that part, in that material, at that temperature. Treat them as a starting reference, not as a specification for your own work.
When a tool fails a job, the post describes the failure and the workaround used to finish the part. That is a report on one unit under one set of conditions, not a verdict on the maker or the model line.
Questions sent in are collected and answered in follow-up notes where they add something to the original piece. A question may go unanswered if it falls outside what we can check at a bench.
Nothing on this site runs as a paid placement, and no post promises an outcome the bench did not produce. If a piece mentions a supplier or a tool, it is because it was used, not because it was supplied.
Shop terms are defined as they appear, and the glossary grows with the posts. Where a term is used differently in another trade or region, the post states which meaning is meant here.
Corrections are welcome. If a measurement, a material call or a term is wrong, write to info@tl-iq.com and it will be checked against the original notes.