9 ms·

Make It Yourself

670 points by deivid 2y ago

fsmv 2y ago
Pretty cool that it's just free and there's really no pretext just a compilation of cool projects. Almost makes me feel like I'm missing something.
- 0xdeadbeefbabe 2y ago
  You are missing time. Time will make the links break, and time will make the component parts harder to find, etc. Also, managing this catalog over time isn't glamorous enough for a headline or even a pretty picture. Economies change over time, and doesn't that go without saying?
  - maxerickson 2y ago
    It's interesting to consider the complaining about the PDF in this context. Using a paginated format and calling it book does quite a lot to state that it was created at a moment in time. A resource, but also a particular end product, a piece of art.
qazxcvbnmlp 2y ago
Can you buy this as a printed book? The design/inspirational quality is exceptional.
- jiri 2y ago
  Without clickable links to actual content it is not very useful to have it printed.
  - jvanderbot 2y ago
    Wait, so adding clickable links would make it more useful after being printed?? In all seriousness, I, too, immediately wanted to buy it for the coffee table and to thumb through for inspiration in an analog way.
    - nuancebydefault 2y ago
      You took parents sentence too literally. After having it printed it is without clickable links and hence not very useful.
      - TeMPOraL 2y ago
        You took parents sentence too mundanely. Why not add some basic capacitive or resistive touch layer to each page, so touching what was a link would be detectable, and then have a microcontroller blast the corresponding URL over whatever bullshit Bluetooth Low Energy iBeacon-like marketing spam protocol currently works best?
        marci 2y ago
        Or... Make-it-Yourself, in this style: https://www.crowdsupply.com/sutajio-kosagi/steam-stories https://www.crowdsupply.com/sutajio-kosagi/steam-stories
  - leowoo91 2y ago
    QR code per item would be helpful with the printed version probably
lurn_mor 2y ago
Funny, I have a folder of links of this very stuff: Future rainy day projects. Oh, to have the free time and focus! Good job on the illustrations and the cultivating of so many projects into one book. I think you've given me a lifetime of weekend projects! One note: you might want to put 'download' in the link to the PDF, so it downloads instead of showing up in a new browser window, which seems to be your OG design choice: <a href="https://makeityourself.org/MIY.pdf https://makeityourself.org/MIY.pdf" download target="_blank"><div class="download">Download</div></a>
- rafaelalb 2y ago
  You mentioned the folder, now please share it! I enjoy these ideas very much.
  - lurn_mor 2y ago
    Nope! Way too big to be shared, and no organization at all. It's embarrassing to show people my messy room!
- nativeit 2y ago
  It’s one of the main reasons I use Notion.so and its extremely flexible “database” pages, I can quickly drop links into them, and expand as-needed with more details. I use git repos for anything that gets far enough to warrant a folder with files, but only because I tend to swap computers too often to reliably maintain a fixed file directory, but along the way I found that “plain git + files” is a surprisingly effective foundation for a project/knowledge management system.
- chrismorgan 2y ago
  > One note: you might want to put 'download' in the link to the PDF, so it downloads instead of showing up in a new browser window I strongly disagree with this suggestion. My browser is my PDF viewer, if I want to actually download the PDF I can do it after the browser renders it. There are precious few situations where <a download> is appropriate for PDF files. This is certainly not one of them. The user probably wants to view the content, let them handle it however. The experience of PDFs that insist on triggering a download is sufficiently unpleasant that I use a browser extension <https://addons.mozilla.org/en-GB/firefox/addon/no-pdf-download/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-GB/firefox/addon/no-pdf-downlo...> that removes any `Content-Disposition: attachment` headers, and inserts `Content-Disposition: inline` headers, which in Firefox (but not Chrome, I believe) overrides even an <a download> attribute.
joekrill 2y ago
Why a PDF? The PDF is just pictures of things that link to an external site (Thingverse, various blogs, etc) where you find the actual instructions. The PDF itself doesn't contain instructions at all - just an index/catalog, really.
- treefarmer 2y ago
  Had the same thought - it's also annoying to update the PDF once links die, so I doubt that'll happen often. I guess it might be helpful if you want it as a coffee table book...
- SamBam 2y ago
  Seems like it would be a lot more accessible for a lot of people if it were a set of HTML pages. I expect that whatever was used to create the PDF could be configured to produce a website...
  - thecatspaw 2y ago
    also on a webpage you would be able to filter it by available tools/knowledge
    - TeMPOraL 2y ago
      Or not. Maybe you'd get "infinite scroll". Or some other modern webdev bullshit that's strictly inferior to PDF (or plain HTML) and CTRL+F. I'm actually surprised by the anti-PDF sentiment here (in general case, not necessarily this book). Modern web is so bad, that almost every day I end up on some page that would be strictly better if it were a PDF. So, to play devil's advocate, PDFs are cool because: - The links may rot, but they remain, and so does surrounding content. Once you get a PDF, no one can take it away from you. - It's self-contained. It can easily be transferred between devices and read without an Internet connection. - It's a file. Yes, it's important to mention because in 2024, files cannot be taken for granted. - Rich format without spurious dynamics and other web nonsense. Sure, PDFs technically can run arbitrary JavaScript, but hardly any reader supports that. - Can't track you or spy on you (theoretically it could, in practice, see previous point). I could come up with a few more. Point being, you could do worse, and modern web quite often is worse. As for what could be an even better format, my mind is drawn towards CHM[0]. You know, like the help files in old Windows software. A self-contained file built of interlinked HTML pages, complete with index and internal search/xref. Kind of a better EPUB[1]. (Ironically, marketers should actually love PDF - total control over presentation is exactly what they've been trying to gain on the web all these years.) -- [0] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Compiled_HTML_Help https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Compiled_HTML_Help [1] - Despite being a decade older.
marvinborner 2y ago
For context since it's not mentioned on the website: This is a project by n-o-d-e[1], they make blog posts and videos about diy tech/mods. This specific project is described in [2]. [1]: https://n-o-d-e.net/ https://n-o-d-e.net/ [2]: https://n-o-d-e.net/makeityourself.html https://n-o-d-e.net/makeityourself.html
- sxp 2y ago
  They also have techno-optimistic YouTube channels that I love. There haven't been any new videos for a while, but some of the older ones are worth watching: https://www.youtube.com/@NODEtv/videos https://www.youtube.com/@NODEtv/videos https://www.youtube.com/@MOSFETnet/videos https://www.youtube.com/@MOSFETnet/videos I think all of the videos have a written version on https://n-o-d-e.net/ https://n-o-d-e.net/ for those who prefer that style of content.
  - readyplayernull 2y ago
    Anything on DIY piezoelectric actuators?
- juliag2 2y ago
  [dead]
dharma1 2y ago
love the illustrations! all custom made?
- aydgn 2y ago
  what are the other options?
  - dharma1 2y ago
    looking at them again, they're definitely all 3d renders with a consistent toon/outline material beautiful.
  - egypturnash 2y ago
    Stock illustration sites. Renders of stock 3d models. Stolen without credit. AI generated.
    - Karliss 2y ago
      None of those are options for this thing. They are all real DIY projects that some people have made. Some of these especially 3d printed ones have 3d models made by authors of each project. Still takes time to make clean and consistent illustrations out of them, probably less bad once you do it hundred times in a row and have a good workwflow. But for others especially ones made of cloth there is no choice other than drawing them by hand. I guess you could speedup the process by tracing over a photo. As for stolen without credit aspect, at the bottom of each page there is a projects name, author and website where it was posted, it also functions as link. One thing that could be better is making links accessible in printed version either as text or QR code of them, currently you can only access them only in digital version.
stonethrowaway 2y ago
WARNING: Do try this at home.
ben_ 2y ago
As cool as this is, it seems a bit bare? Titles/descriptions are hidden away at the bottom of each page and all the renders are plain black and white (which makes me ask why pdf anyway?) without detailing purpose or use (where not obvious)
ben_ja_min 2y ago
Thank you so much for sharing! I needed an inspirational smack in the face and this did the trick.
julianeon 2y ago
I was just thinking that I pour most of my "Make It Yourself" energy into making food (which doesn't make an appearance here, logically enough).
duckmysick 2y ago
I'm curious about printable hinges. Has anyone tried them? How sturdy and reliable are they?
hendry 2y ago
Why isn't this a Web page? Sidenote: I want to get started with wood working, can anyone recommend a resource?
- JKCalhoun 2y ago
  That's a pretty broad statement. Do you own any woodworking tools? Do you want to make furniture or do you want to make decorative pens on a lathe? How new to it are you? I started with just a circular saw and a drill (would not now recommend [1]) and bought "handy panels" from the local big box store to make crappy book cases and such. I was very much demonstrating the aesthetic of the School of College-Dorm. Eventually I got a table saw and started making MAME cabinets, dance pads, etc. When I eventually started seeking out better quality plywood I began to make things like speaker enclosures (and better looking book cases). I was getting into woodworking when television was still a thing so Norm Abram's "New Yankee Workshop" on PBS was my inspiration. Not only is a lot of that on YouTube now [2], but so too are hundreds of others uploading videos on woodworking. We live in a rich time when it comes to hobby how-to videos. I think of YouTube sometimes more as inspiration ... where I want to get to. For example I like Paul Seller's videos [3] where he makes everything more or less with hand tools. Ishitani Furniture [4] is my where I wish I were. But if videos are not your thing, archive.org is back and their Magazine Rack [5] has plenty of magazines on woodworking. Just look around. [1] Forget the circular saw unless you're doing hime construction. Opt for an inexpensive "panel saw" instead — and also an 8' sheet of 1-inch-thick insulating foam to put down underneath the wood you'll be cutting on the floor of your basement or driveway. [2] https://www.youtube.com/@newyankeeworkshop https://www.youtube.com/@newyankeeworkshop [3] https://www.youtube.com/@Paul.Sellers https://www.youtube.com/@Paul.Sellers [4] https://www.youtube.com/@ISHITANIFURNITURE https://www.youtube.com/@ISHITANIFURNITURE [5] https://archive.org/details/magazine_rack https://archive.org/details/magazine_rack
  - criddell 2y ago
    What are the big differentiators between a circular saw and panel saw? I’m just getting into this stuff myself and have been using a circular saw and a Kreg track/guide system.
elcapitan 2y ago
It looks really cool, but is this more than a curated list of projects from various 3D model and DIY sites, with some sort of line art instead of the usual photos/STL renderings? I sometimes go explore nice models on those sites too for inspiration, but I don't really see the advantage of this presentation format.
ada1981 2y ago
Could be cool as a print / bound book with QR codes linking to each project.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

670 points by deivid 2y ago

fsmv 2y ago

Pretty cool that it's just free and there's really no pretext just a compilation of cool projects. Almost makes me feel like I'm missing something.

0xdeadbeefbabe 2y ago
You are missing time. Time will make the links break, and time will make the component parts harder to find, etc. Also, managing this catalog over time isn't glamorous enough for a headline or even a pretty picture. Economies change over time, and doesn't that go without saying?
- maxerickson 2y ago
  It's interesting to consider the complaining about the PDF in this context. Using a paginated format and calling it book does quite a lot to state that it was created at a moment in time. A resource, but also a particular end product, a piece of art.

qazxcvbnmlp 2y ago

Can you buy this as a printed book? The design/inspirational quality is exceptional.

jiri 2y ago
Without clickable links to actual content it is not very useful to have it printed.
- jvanderbot 2y ago
  Wait, so adding clickable links would make it more useful after being printed?? In all seriousness, I, too, immediately wanted to buy it for the coffee table and to thumb through for inspiration in an analog way.
  - nuancebydefault 2y ago
    You took parents sentence too literally. After having it printed it is without clickable links and hence not very useful.
    - TeMPOraL 2y ago
      You took parents sentence too mundanely. Why not add some basic capacitive or resistive touch layer to each page, so touching what was a link would be detectable, and then have a microcontroller blast the corresponding URL over whatever bullshit Bluetooth Low Energy iBeacon-like marketing spam protocol currently works best?
      - marci 2y ago
        Or... Make-it-Yourself, in this style: https://www.crowdsupply.com/sutajio-kosagi/steam-stories https://www.crowdsupply.com/sutajio-kosagi/steam-stories
- leowoo91 2y ago
  QR code per item would be helpful with the printed version probably

lurn_mor 2y ago

Funny, I have a folder of links of this very stuff: Future rainy day projects. Oh, to have the free time and focus! Good job on the illustrations and the cultivating of so many projects into one book. I think you've given me a lifetime of weekend projects! One note: you might want to put 'download' in the link to the PDF, so it downloads instead of showing up in a new browser window, which seems to be your OG design choice: <a href="https://makeityourself.org/MIY.pdf https://makeityourself.org/MIY.pdf" download target="_blank"><div class="download">Download</div></a>

rafaelalb 2y ago
You mentioned the folder, now please share it! I enjoy these ideas very much.
- lurn_mor 2y ago
  Nope! Way too big to be shared, and no organization at all. It's embarrassing to show people my messy room!
nativeit 2y ago
It’s one of the main reasons I use Notion.so and its extremely flexible “database” pages, I can quickly drop links into them, and expand as-needed with more details. I use git repos for anything that gets far enough to warrant a folder with files, but only because I tend to swap computers too often to reliably maintain a fixed file directory, but along the way I found that “plain git + files” is a surprisingly effective foundation for a project/knowledge management system.
chrismorgan 2y ago
> One note: you might want to put 'download' in the link to the PDF, so it downloads instead of showing up in a new browser window I strongly disagree with this suggestion. My browser is my PDF viewer, if I want to actually download the PDF I can do it after the browser renders it. There are precious few situations where <a download> is appropriate for PDF files. This is certainly not one of them. The user probably wants to view the content, let them handle it however. The experience of PDFs that insist on triggering a download is sufficiently unpleasant that I use a browser extension <https://addons.mozilla.org/en-GB/firefox/addon/no-pdf-download/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-GB/firefox/addon/no-pdf-downlo...> that removes any `Content-Disposition: attachment` headers, and inserts `Content-Disposition: inline` headers, which in Firefox (but not Chrome, I believe) overrides even an <a download> attribute.

joekrill 2y ago

Why a PDF? The PDF is just pictures of things that link to an external site (Thingverse, various blogs, etc) where you find the actual instructions. The PDF itself doesn't contain instructions at all - just an index/catalog, really.

treefarmer 2y ago
Had the same thought - it's also annoying to update the PDF once links die, so I doubt that'll happen often. I guess it might be helpful if you want it as a coffee table book...
SamBam 2y ago
Seems like it would be a lot more accessible for a lot of people if it were a set of HTML pages. I expect that whatever was used to create the PDF could be configured to produce a website...
- thecatspaw 2y ago
  also on a webpage you would be able to filter it by available tools/knowledge
  - TeMPOraL 2y ago
    Or not. Maybe you'd get "infinite scroll". Or some other modern webdev bullshit that's strictly inferior to PDF (or plain HTML) and CTRL+F. I'm actually surprised by the anti-PDF sentiment here (in general case, not necessarily this book). Modern web is so bad, that almost every day I end up on some page that would be strictly better if it were a PDF. So, to play devil's advocate, PDFs are cool because: - The links may rot, but they remain, and so does surrounding content. Once you get a PDF, no one can take it away from you. - It's self-contained. It can easily be transferred between devices and read without an Internet connection. - It's a file. Yes, it's important to mention because in 2024, files cannot be taken for granted. - Rich format without spurious dynamics and other web nonsense. Sure, PDFs technically can run arbitrary JavaScript, but hardly any reader supports that. - Can't track you or spy on you (theoretically it could, in practice, see previous point). I could come up with a few more. Point being, you could do worse, and modern web quite often is worse. As for what could be an even better format, my mind is drawn towards CHM[0]. You know, like the help files in old Windows software. A self-contained file built of interlinked HTML pages, complete with index and internal search/xref. Kind of a better EPUB[1]. (Ironically, marketers should actually love PDF - total control over presentation is exactly what they've been trying to gain on the web all these years.) -- [0] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Compiled_HTML_Help https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Compiled_HTML_Help [1] - Despite being a decade older.

marvinborner 2y ago

For context since it's not mentioned on the website: This is a project by n-o-d-e[1], they make blog posts and videos about diy tech/mods. This specific project is described in [2]. [1]: https://n-o-d-e.net/ https://n-o-d-e.net/ [2]: https://n-o-d-e.net/makeityourself.html https://n-o-d-e.net/makeityourself.html

sxp 2y ago
They also have techno-optimistic YouTube channels that I love. There haven't been any new videos for a while, but some of the older ones are worth watching: https://www.youtube.com/@NODEtv/videos https://www.youtube.com/@NODEtv/videos https://www.youtube.com/@MOSFETnet/videos https://www.youtube.com/@MOSFETnet/videos I think all of the videos have a written version on https://n-o-d-e.net/ https://n-o-d-e.net/ for those who prefer that style of content.
- readyplayernull 2y ago
  Anything on DIY piezoelectric actuators?
juliag2 2y ago
[dead]

dharma1 2y ago

love the illustrations! all custom made?

aydgn 2y ago
what are the other options?
- dharma1 2y ago
  looking at them again, they're definitely all 3d renders with a consistent toon/outline material beautiful.
- egypturnash 2y ago
  Stock illustration sites. Renders of stock 3d models. Stolen without credit. AI generated.
  - Karliss 2y ago
    None of those are options for this thing. They are all real DIY projects that some people have made. Some of these especially 3d printed ones have 3d models made by authors of each project. Still takes time to make clean and consistent illustrations out of them, probably less bad once you do it hundred times in a row and have a good workwflow. But for others especially ones made of cloth there is no choice other than drawing them by hand. I guess you could speedup the process by tracing over a photo. As for stolen without credit aspect, at the bottom of each page there is a projects name, author and website where it was posted, it also functions as link. One thing that could be better is making links accessible in printed version either as text or QR code of them, currently you can only access them only in digital version.

stonethrowaway 2y ago

WARNING: Do try this at home.

ben_ 2y ago

As cool as this is, it seems a bit bare? Titles/descriptions are hidden away at the bottom of each page and all the renders are plain black and white (which makes me ask why pdf anyway?) without detailing purpose or use (where not obvious)

ben_ja_min 2y ago

Thank you so much for sharing! I needed an inspirational smack in the face and this did the trick.

julianeon 2y ago

I was just thinking that I pour most of my "Make It Yourself" energy into making food (which doesn't make an appearance here, logically enough).

duckmysick 2y ago

I'm curious about printable hinges. Has anyone tried them? How sturdy and reliable are they?

hendry 2y ago

Why isn't this a Web page? Sidenote: I want to get started with wood working, can anyone recommend a resource?

JKCalhoun 2y ago
That's a pretty broad statement. Do you own any woodworking tools? Do you want to make furniture or do you want to make decorative pens on a lathe? How new to it are you? I started with just a circular saw and a drill (would not now recommend [1]) and bought "handy panels" from the local big box store to make crappy book cases and such. I was very much demonstrating the aesthetic of the School of College-Dorm. Eventually I got a table saw and started making MAME cabinets, dance pads, etc. When I eventually started seeking out better quality plywood I began to make things like speaker enclosures (and better looking book cases). I was getting into woodworking when television was still a thing so Norm Abram's "New Yankee Workshop" on PBS was my inspiration. Not only is a lot of that on YouTube now [2], but so too are hundreds of others uploading videos on woodworking. We live in a rich time when it comes to hobby how-to videos. I think of YouTube sometimes more as inspiration ... where I want to get to. For example I like Paul Seller's videos [3] where he makes everything more or less with hand tools. Ishitani Furniture [4] is my where I wish I were. But if videos are not your thing, archive.org is back and their Magazine Rack [5] has plenty of magazines on woodworking. Just look around. [1] Forget the circular saw unless you're doing hime construction. Opt for an inexpensive "panel saw" instead — and also an 8' sheet of 1-inch-thick insulating foam to put down underneath the wood you'll be cutting on the floor of your basement or driveway. [2] https://www.youtube.com/@newyankeeworkshop https://www.youtube.com/@newyankeeworkshop [3] https://www.youtube.com/@Paul.Sellers https://www.youtube.com/@Paul.Sellers [4] https://www.youtube.com/@ISHITANIFURNITURE https://www.youtube.com/@ISHITANIFURNITURE [5] https://archive.org/details/magazine_rack https://archive.org/details/magazine_rack
- criddell 2y ago
  What are the big differentiators between a circular saw and panel saw? I’m just getting into this stuff myself and have been using a circular saw and a Kreg track/guide system.

elcapitan 2y ago

It looks really cool, but is this more than a curated list of projects from various 3D model and DIY sites, with some sort of line art instead of the usual photos/STL renderings? I sometimes go explore nice models on those sites too for inspiration, but I don't really see the advantage of this presentation format.

ada1981 2y ago

Could be cool as a print / bound book with QR codes linking to each project.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]