The Big Book of Maker Skills (Popular Science): Tools & Techniques for Building Great Tech Projects

I bought this as a gift for a women who is branching out from traditional artwork to explore various creative opportunities. She is not afraid of tools but is not well experienced. I feared this would insult her intelligence (she has some class and professional training with tools) but changed my mind after seeing the practical advice from the author, Chris Hackett. This is a book that even many experienced DIYers, tinkers, and makers will find useful for its advice about some tools one might be hesitant to blindly purchase (like welders). Nice art layout, well organized (including practical advice on first aid -- like when to get stitches), broad in its coverage. I have a ton of DIY books, from basic carpentry to computer hacking. This book will serve many folks looking for early insight about methods and tools while beginning a project.

Decent info. Easy to read and understand. Very basic though. Ten more words required to complete the review of book.

This was a good book for me. I've dabbled in electronics, electrical, woodworking, and more, a typical handyman and DIYer, and I have several books on home “DIY” and maintenance, so I was familiar with many of the skills covered by this book. So while the skills covered by this book have some overlap with those, overall it supplements them very nicely. I found this book covered far more skills I didn't know, than I knew. My first thought upon looking through the book was 'this is what I needed back in school for my science projects." In particular the skills in this book on working with metal (forming and welding) and plastic will be valuable to me. I was also impressed with the coverage of the tools required for the skills covered. I also like the clarity of the articles and pictures. I'm impressed with it enough, that I'm going to get a copy of this for my adult son.

This is a great introduction to the various skills you might need while bringing your ideas into reality. It was an easy read that left me with a beginners level understanding of some equipment and skills I've never used before. This is a good starting point for people new to the concepts of "making." Even more advanced makers may learn a thing or two to get them started down the path to mastering a new skill set.

Pros: Great photos, graphics and page layout (except for the word art pages with busy backgrounds) Cons: This book covers 200 skills, tools, or techniques. If you have made things before, or do any DIY work around the house, you may not learn much of anything. It's not helpful as an encyclopedia as once you read it, you won't need to look it up again. For example, one of the 200 topics: there are steel, wood, and masonry chisels (with a photo of each). But the projects tend to swing the other way, most just skim the surface and show a diagram and 5 steps. Just a bit odd to cover soldering your first wire splice and building an AC generator (with an electric motor and oil filled capacitors) in the same section. What I wished this book to be: Interviews with crusty old shop guys sorted by skill or tool. Show me their personal hacks or 5 ways to do the same thing with different tools. Some of this is there (how to remove a stripped screw a few different ways), but most of it is the equivalent of what you would find when looking at the Home Depot website and clicking "About Saws". Since the cost to return this is half the cost of the book, I guess I will just keep it for my kids.

The style and prose and information in this book are amazing. It’s got the resourcefulness of a post apocalyptic scavver and the know how of your trusted mechanic who dabbles in every other trade. Really good stuff, the book has these four metal corner protectors that give it a built tough aesthetic. I just got into Chris Hackett, can’t even find where to buy Stuck with Hackett s1/2. Anyway this is the book I wish I’d found in high school, but I probably would have just used to roll cigarettes on.

Lots of pictures ! Thats great . Absolute a good beginner book for aspiring tinkerer , fixers, hobbyists and gadgetpeople .

This is a cool book to read and look through. Almost a "coffee table" (or maybe workbench is more apropos) type book as it has a lot of nice photos that are well taken. My kids also like looking through the book, which is cool. It can be read in short bites as each section can be read as a stand alone section. It has some good ideas, but I found it more inspirational as opposed to instructable (don't think this is a real word, but you get the drift...).