The Big Book of Hacks: 264 Amazing DIY Tech Projects (2024)

Wood, Metal, Wiring, Microcontrollers; these are the ingredients used to make the perfect DIY project. However, you aren’t going to make a robotic bartender with just these things, you also need knowledge and a good grasp of tools. That’s where this book comes in. It clues you in on different things you can make and sometimes tells you how to do stuff.

That is the small caveat to this book. Some of the projects just tell you about how to use tools and equipment. So while it might say it has 264 projects, 13 of those involve drilling a hole or cutting wood in a straight line. Getting prepared to make a project might be a project in and of itself. So if you want to build an amphibious tank or a Giraffe Robot, you are going to have to be really creative and make your own plans.

While I do say that, some of the projects are really mundane, while others might be really exciting and dangerous. The book has certain categories for each project. It might be a cool Geek Toy, or it might be something like a beer bottle opener. Most of the projects that are really involved have a little box that tells you how much money you will have to invest along with the amount of time necessary and a scale of difficulty from 1 to 5.

This book is interesting, but I am not a person that makes things. I picked it out from the Library since I wanted to see what sort of things could be made; not because I wanted to make something at all.

This book is great for people who enjoy hands-on work and like to hack—aka take apart and re-use objects in new ways.

There are 264 projects for rookie and seasoned hackers split into 4 categories: geek toys, home improvements, gadget upgrades and things that go. Some of the simpler projects I recall include installing an aquarium in an old TV, creating a supersize game of operation, and a variety of uses for old CD’s, duct tape, aluminum foil and tennis balls. I was amazed by bigger projects like creating your own backyard roller coaster, and building an at-home rock wall. There are also some impressive stories of DIY projects such as a Anthony Le’s replica of the Iron Man suit and Chris McIntosh’s hacked La-Z-Boy into a motorized easy chair, to name a couple.

Packed full of information, the book would definitely figure as a great gift for DIYers/creative project enthusiasts.

This has some interesting projects--I was especially interested in the ones for converting things to alternative energy sources, and the ways you can use parts of dead computers for other stuff--though a lot of them seemed kind of silly to me. But making things is always cool, and even for dumb projects, you still practice skills. No, what mildly irritated me about the book was this excessive trying-to0-hard "bro" vibe that screamed "We're not nerds! This stuff isn't nerdy I swear! Chicks will dig your tricked-out van if you use these tips!".

There are lots of projects in this book ranging from the moronic (toenail clipper catapult?) to the downright dangerous (flame tornado?), very few of which inspired me to action. The ones that almost inspired me to act were eventually cast aside after asking the question "is this useful or just neat?"

There are neat projects in this book, they're just not for me.

ʜᴇʟʟᴏ ᴇᴠᴇʀʏᴏɴᴇ?, ɪ'ʟʟ ʟɪᴋᴇ ᴛᴏ ꜱʜᴀʀᴇ ᴍʏ ᴇxᴘᴇʀɪᴇɴᴄᴇ ᴡɪᴛʜ ( ᴄᴏɴʟᴇʏᴊʙᴇᴇꜱᴘʏ606@ɢᴍᴀɪʟ.ᴄᴏᴍ), ꜱᴏ ꜱᴀᴅ 😞💔 ɪ ʜᴀᴅ ꜱᴇʀɪᴏᴜꜱ ɪꜱꜱᴜᴇꜱ ᴀꜰᴛᴇʀ ɪ ɢᴏᴛ ʙᴀᴄᴋ ꜰʀᴏᴍ ꜱᴘᴀɪɴ ᴏɴ ᴀ ʙᴜꜱɪɴᴇꜱꜱ ᴛʀɪᴘ, ᴍʏ ꜰʀɪᴇɴᴅꜱ ᴀᴛ ʜᴏᴍᴇ ᴡᴇʀᴇ ʟᴏᴏᴋɪɴɢ ᴡᴏʀʀɪᴇᴅ ꜰᴏʀ ᴍᴇ ʟɪᴋᴇ ᴍʏ ᴡɪꜰᴇ ʜᴀᴅ ʙᴇᴇɴ ᴅᴏɪɴɢ ꜱᴏᴍᴇ ꜱᴛᴜꜰꜰ ᴡʜɪʟᴇ ɪ ᴡᴀꜱ ᴀᴡᴀʏ ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇʏ ꜰᴇʟᴛ ʟɪᴋᴇ ᴡᴇ ᴡᴀꜱ ᴅᴏɴᴇ, ᴏꜰ ᴄᴏᴜʀꜱᴇ ɪ ᴅɪᴅɴ’ᴛ ʙᴇʟɪᴇᴠᴇ ᴇᴠᴇʀʏᴛʜɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴇʏ ꜱᴀɪᴅ ᴀɴᴅ ɪ'ᴍ ɴᴏᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛʏᴘᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴄᴏɴꜰʀᴏɴᴛ ᴀɴʏʙᴏᴅʏ ꜱᴏ ɪ ᴅɪᴅɴ’ᴛ, ɪ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴀʙᴏᴜᴛ (ᴄᴏɴʟᴇʏᴊʙᴇᴇꜱᴘʏ606@ɢᴍᴀɪʟ.ᴄᴏᴍ) ᴏɴʟɪɴᴇ ᴀɴᴅ ɪ ᴄᴏɴᴛᴀᴄᴛᴇᴅ ʜɪᴍ, ʙᴇꜰᴏʀᴇ ɪ ᴛʀᴀᴠᴇʟʟᴇᴅ ʙᴀᴄᴋ ꜰᴏʀ ᴡᴏʀᴋ ɪ ꜰᴏᴜɴᴅ ᴏᴜᴛ ᴀ-ʟᴏᴛ ᴀɴᴅ ɪᴛ ʀᴇᴀʟʟʏ ʜᴜʀᴛ ᴍᴇ, ꜱʜᴇ ꜱᴛɪʟʟ ᴅᴏᴇꜱɴ’ᴛ ᴋɴᴏᴡ ɪ ᴄᴀɴ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʜᴇʀ ᴡʜᴀᴛꜱᴀᴘᴘ ᴄᴏɴᴠᴇʀꜱᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴀɴᴅ ᴛᴇxᴛ ᴍᴇꜱꜱᴀɢᴇꜱ ᴀɴᴅ ᴏɴᴄᴇ ɪ ᴄᴏɴꜰʀᴏɴᴛ ʜᴇʀ ᴀɴᴅ ꜱʜᴇ ᴛᴇʟʟꜱ ᴀ ʟɪᴇ, ɪ ᴡɪʟʟ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴛʜᴀɴ ᴇɴᴏᴜɢʜ ᴇᴠɪᴅᴇɴᴄᴇ. ʏᴏᴜ ᴄᴀɴ ᴄᴏɴᴛᴀᴄᴛ ᴛʜɪꜱ ʜᴀᴄᴋᴇʀ ᴏɴ ᴛᴇʟᴇɢʀᴀᴍ ‪ +44 7456 058620 ‬ ᴏʀ ꜱᴇɴᴅ ᴀɴ ᴇᴍᴀɪʟ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇᴍ ᴛʜɪꜱ ʜᴀᴄᴋᴇʀ ᴀʟꜱᴏ ʀᴇɢɪꜱᴛᴇʀ ᴜɴᴅᴇʀ ʜᴇ ꜰʙɪ

Much can be written about the popularity and permeation of DIY (do-it-yourself) culture into our everyday lives. The emphasis on self-sufficiency and learning to do things without paying someone, or relying on an expert, has encouraged many to become modern-day homemakers and handypersons by learning to knit, install drywall, bake bread and start a vegetable garden. The library, if anything, is an incubator for DIY with its multitude of programs and books that encourage self education.

A subset of this DIY culture is the Maker Movement that takes the DIY ethic and employs engineering acumen and technology into solving everyday and whimsical problems. Some Makers change household objects into better, more advanced products. Who would not want a motorized easy chair? Others build one-of-a-kind engineering feats that are solely limited by the dreams of the individual and current technology. One development from the Maker Movement is the Arduino, a circuit board that can be programmed using a basic computer language to act as a controller with limitless configurations. As an example, one can use Arduino to create and control a t-shirt outfitted with LEDs that mimics a television.

The 264 projects included in the book vary in both cost and difficulty. The brief introductory section explains basic soldering and circuit building techniques and rudimentary hints on welding, woodworking and programming an Arduino. The projects are divided into overarching themes: geek toys, home improvements, gadget upgrades and things that go. Some notable home projects are a greenhouse made out of CD cases, a Zen fountain controlled by one’s toilet, a foot-operated mouse made from a sheet of PVC, removing a stripped screw with a rubber band, and making a solar charger for a cell phone. The book also include brief bios of creators of completed spectacular projects such as the amphibious vehicle for an Alaskan hunter, a bartending robot, and a snowblower built out of a V8 engine.

A good deal can be said about the failures of the United States public school system in instilling STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) skills in students. However, there is a culture of Yankee ingenuity (and arguably, every culture has this ethos) of making things fit one’s own needs, and books such as this help encourage readers to modify and experiment with objects from everyday life. Science teachers, DIY-ers, teenagers and people with sizable toolkits should relish the modified objects and the process described in this book. This reviewer showed this book to a group of teenagers and they were instantaneously hooked and marveled over the creativity of these engineers.

Reviewed by Vi Ha, Young Adult Librarian, Teen'Scape

The title of this book is misleading for those who equate "hacks" with electronic devices. Yet there are still some interesting, though not always useful, projects in the book. I, for one, do not find lawn mowing so odious that I would attach my mower to a rebar pole in the middle of the yard so that the mower can do its thing in ever-decreasing circles. If you like taking things and making them into something else, there's lots of useful ideas in this book. It's just not a hacker's book of tricks.

I wanted to do about 90% of the projects in this book. Sadly, only about 30% of them fall within my current skill level. Even if you don't know which end of the screwdriver to hold, this is an engaging and interesting book. The photographs are clear and informative, the instructions mostly comprehensible to me, the list of resources exhaustive. Who doesn't want custom-fit earbuds? Or a cardboard hammock? Or a foot-operated mouse, for Pete's sake. So much cool stuff, just waiting for you to make it.

From 5 minute projects requiring little skill to seriously challenging projects that require multiple settings to accomplish, this book offers a wide range of options. While some projects seem silly (shower beer caddy), and others seem dangerous (hold a flaming ball in your hand), others are useful (things to do with an old coffee can), or simply fun (lounge on a cardboard hammock)!

Disclaimer: I don't have a DIY cell in my body. With that said, I love this book! So much fun! Kept it out of library so long I'm beginning to feel guilty. It's even witty! Really should be a 4.5. There is something for everyone. Yes, even I could successfully complete a project. Example: using a CD, the Beer Spill Blocker (p77), aka a "Quick Hack." :D

Useful

A fantastic book that is lavishly illustrated with appeal to browsing. The explanations can be a bit light, but the variety of projects at different price points and technical skill level is a plus.

Though not a book you really sit down and read, it was fun to thumb through and see all the ideas. I actually found a couple I wanted to try.

There were some really cool ideas, but as a book on a high school reading library, it does not belong. Too many alcohol references or "how to's" for alcohol.

Mix of easy and hard projects - some great for library programs and others are bit older. Looking forward to testing out some ideas with teens next year.

Not what I was expecting. but some good ideas.