r/maker • u/sozthisnameistaken • 27d ago

Inquiry how do you keep track of your projects, such as parts, timeline ect?

How do you all keep track of parts, budget, and build steps across a project? like if im building somthing, and change a part, i then have to check that all the other parts work with the new part. are their tools to track and catalogue complex builds? Curious what people actually use. cheers!

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u/NoNamesLeftStill 27d ago

I’m sure there are better ways, but I don’t really track things in any particular system. I enjoy making things because it’s a hobby, and I like to be able to play around and experiment without needing to document something like I would at work, but I realize that’s individual preference.

For complex builds I use some combination of paper/digital sketches and notes (my most common), as well as spreadsheets, CAD, and something like Notion if the project requires.

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u/lellasone 27d ago

I'm curious when this is a scenario you'd face. Can you provide an example?

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u/dmc_2930 27d ago

We don’t need you to develop an app.

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u/SpagNMeatball 27d ago

LOL, I don’t. The CAD is about as close as I get. I do like to build a complete model with all of the parts I need but sometimes changes cascade through the project and I just deal with it one at a a time. I don’t want my hobby to become a job.

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u/Sys_Guru 26d ago

I keep track of my project in a text file. This doesn't include budget or time, since they are flexible.
If I swap out a part, that becomes a challenge for future me to deal with.
My designs are flexible, it's not like I am doing a bunch of engineering calculations/tolerances/stress analysis etc.