I wasn't at all frustrated. The maybe we should lace it.... comment was a tongue in cheek response to the continued questions on minor details, and unwillingness to make a decision on his own. The person I was responding to, was the one who made his measurements, ran the calculations, selected the components. He was privy to all the nuances of the process, including exactly how he made those measurements, and I wasn't. So I have less information than he does, and as I said, he has to decide to trust his own work.

At some point birds have to leave the nest and fly. Unfortunately, US culture bolstered by cell phones and the internet, are leading us to a society where every minor decision is made by committee after consultation and deliberation. I'll be in the super market and listen to an obviously educated, affluent adult, maybe a lawyer or doctor pick up a cell phone and call home to find out what size can of stewed tomatoes he's supposed to buy.

I'll bet a beer (crap, a round for all the regulars here) that if we were to poll the regular knowledgeable posters who help on the mechanic forum, we'd find that they all learned by doing, not saying they didn't get help over rough spots, but that they weren't led step by step. Some learned by necessity when stuff broke in the field, or because they couldn't afford to pay others. But they learned to figure things out for themselves because that's how people operated only a few decades ago.

So, yes there's a certain frustration, but it's not with individuals, it's with a culture that doesn't kick people out into the world so they can develop some self confidence and self reliance.

So, my message wasn't intended to be a put down as much as a "you can do this, if only you just try". I might note that I posted that only after I felt that he'd reached the point where it was true.