Why is the US spending so much money to have a trial in New York? In a tough economy, we could just as easily have this circus in a much smaller venue, and one that is not so emotionally charged. Why not have it in Montana, or Nashville or Souix Falls, South Dakota where fees, housing, security costs and overheads are more economical and representative of our country.

Wouldn’t it be great if all budding inventors had garages to tinker in.

One of the best websites for tinkering ideas and projects is instructables.com And if you have a project you want to upload you can. Others can comment on your idea and improve it. It’s great.

Hi Tom,
I listen to the show all the time. Today’s topic is especially interesting because it pertains exactly to what we are doing right here in Rhode Island.
We are in the geotechnical engineering field and have been innovating products to meet the demands of the new requirements engineers face in today’s market.
Real time data aquisition, and innovative approaches to solve old problems.
In fact we have used something similar to your guests’ “Maker bot” to produce a prototype of an idea for a new design we were trying out.
Interesting show, and thanks – I think the “yankee ingenuity” is alive and well. There are still plenty of strong minds out there that will meet the challenges this economy will throw at us. I’m grateful that we have the freedom in our country to explore these ideas and make them work.

Hi Tom,
I was listening to your show on the way to a meeting, and could not stop thinking how closely I am associated with this!! I am recent MBA grad, and by ‘tinkering’ in my garage, I was able to develop these fold-able shoes that ladies can carry in their purse for the times when their heels hurt (www.fitinclouds.com) – practical solution to problem faced by many women. Within 5 months, we have expanded distribution to 15 stores nationwide and we will be featured in the December issue of INC magazine and Seventeen magazine!!

All the prototyping and design was done right in my garage until I was ready to goto manufacturers and say..make this!!

The “return” to hands-on tinkering is an entirely urban phenomenon. Rural America never stopped creating new machines in the garage or barn. Take a look at Farm Show magazine or MachineBuilders.net

Where are all the cool chemistry sets, gadget kits, remember the “101 science experiments” all the radio shacks are now cell phone outlets. My point here is physical resources have all but left and now the only real accessible medium is computers..

I can’t help but wonder how many of these tinkers are working on making Sci-Fi into real, working items? Such as the communicators from Star Trek have become our clam-shell cell phones. How far along are designs for Data or the Millenium Falcon?

Phasors? Tricorders? Hoverboards? Lazar postols?

~Elden in Virginia~

My son and his friends produce a podcast and have a website at HAK5.org that showcases many of their own and others’ computer-related “tinkering” and “modifying” of electronic devices. They review new IT products, etc. also. They are relatively successful in that they have sponsors and a distributor. They are definitely tinkerers!

The conversation brings to mind an independent film from a few years back called “Primer”. Two friends tinkering with superconducters happen upon time travel. It sounds bizarre but the star/producer/director did a fantastic job with a small budget so the creation as well as the theme of the movie embody the DIY spirit. Check it out.

Great show!
Are the tinkerers thinking about how to use materials that are renewable, recycled, non-polluting?

ALSO – GIRLS (and women) like to tinker, too. Think of all the tiny crevices in appliances and elswhere around the house that a typical brush can’t get into for cleaning. I’ve put together a number of things to solve the problem.

You guys need to mention Make magazine and all the other resources out there that teach how to make and how to hack. I personally have a laser in my basement which I use to make reproduction antique radio backs and Autophenakistoscope kits (featured in the current issue of make!).

Dan

There was a comment that the place of the US is for innovation, and manufacturing going overseas is OK. Find for those with the aptitude, and above average intelligence. But most people *AREN’T* above average. Just leave them out of the good jobs they could do that are leaving?
about a minute ago

I haven’t heard you address bio-tinkering yet. There is a lot of opportunity–and serious risk–of people tinkering with organisms in their basement.

I’ve joked about plants I’m going to create when I retire, but there are real bio-hackers out there already doing stuff.

If you blow up a robot in your garage it’s not a really wide-scale problem. If you blow up a plant virus….???

Tom,

Thanks for your show about innovation but you seem to be missing the most important points.

1) Individual inventors are at a large disadvantage if they are working in a field that a large company has an interest in. When their patent lawyers become aware of an independent invention, they often use the courts and the high cost of litigation to prevent inventors from defending their ideas. The guy with the most money wins.
2) Even if an inventor gets patent protection, it won’t be respected in China and many other countries. They simply ignore US and Eu patents and there is little that can be done about it.
3)The US patent laws have been changed to favor large companies by changing the concept of what is or isn’t novel enough to be protected by a patent. Decisions have held that inventions have to have much more technology than had previously been required. A simple idea cant be protected because patent examiners are all engineers and universally feel that an uncomplicated idea cant be an invention.

It would be better if you had a program about all the barriers to inventors with guests who understand the practical details and barriers instead of the dreamers you interviewed today.

The trickle down effect allows more people more access to more sophisticated machinery to create products locally.

Small creative businesses seem to be flourishing by allowing access to what was once inaccessible. As an artist in my small town of Lake Placid, NY I have access to professional grade printing, engraving, silk screening, and laser cutting. Local businesses are able to do more locally and in small batches. In the future just I can see just about anything can be prototyped and created on demand a relatively little cost.

Remember, old tech, can become new tech. Peter Jensen at Tubeclock.com of the A2 Mech Shop has designed a retro looking vacuum tube clock using Nixie tubes from Russia. New, old stock. Early electronic test instruments needing a numerical display used the technology of the day (vacuum tubes) to create what is now done via LCD, LED, and other alternative lower voltage/current technologies. But if you ever used one of those old instruments, it’s kind of nice to see the neon glow Peter’s clocks generate.

FYI – I help assemble his clocks especially during the Christmas season.

I’m reclusive, lately, and find this extremely encouraging; I’m one who will dismantle anything within reason to see, hands-ons, how it works and what can be learned from it. A current very-small cell phone, for instance, is fantastic.

Add one who is glad that the term “hacker” was defined as non-malicious.

In addition to Make magazine (afaik related to Dean Kamen, Segway inventor), some other resources are (locally) the New England Model Engineering Society (NEMES) and Sparkfun Electronics.

A somewhat outdated, but fantastic book that teaches about practical electronics (except microwaves and high power) is _The Art of Electronics_, by Horowitz and Hill. The book even has its own web site! It was written for scientists and engineers in fields other than electronics who need to make their own custom electronic devices. It gives enough theory (but not too much) as well as practice, all based on decades of hands-on experience.

Fwiw, I have no financial or such connections with these organizations.

I was surprised and delighted to discover that amateurs are designing (computer-aided, naturally) and making variations of Rubik’s cube.
There’s an active community at twistypuzzles.com.

Hi Tom, Great show.
A great way for folks to meet other like minded hacker/makers, and perhaps start your own hacker space, is to find or start a local meetup. The members of the A2 MechShop all met at a once a month meeting here in Ann Arbor called GO-Tech.

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Why do we need to push technology to be in the tinkerer role? The skills that exist in traditional crafts are being lost faster than we can develop the technology to replace them. So my question is why
not help develop simply the value of simple craftsmanship and value in quality regardless of technology.

One of the programs we run at AIDG is research and development on new products for developing countries. This fab equipment is essential to helping developing country inventors create products that are on par with institutional R&D in areas that fortune 500 companies generally write off as uneconomical. The next great global product in ten years will come from a small fab space not from an institutional lab. Great eisode!

Great show. Let’s get back to real inventing instead of iventing sub-prime mortgages.

A few years ago, my bus. partner and I bought a 70’s vintage Shizuoka vertical mill on Ebay for $2500; Installed new bearings and re-dipped the motor for about another $750; Hacked together some CNC controls and an X-box controller for about another $750 (mostly stuff from Ebay), and we have a fully functional CNC machine that can hold a thousand of an inch all day long.

Couple that with the ability to do full-blown finite-element analysis (and the like) on a $750 PC, and we’re in a whole new era. Now you don’t have to be inside a General Electric R&D lab, to do ground-breaking innovation; you can do this in a garage.

Dear Mr Ashbrook,
This was probably the most uninformed program of your that I have heard. Who knew the least about science and technology you or the Wall St journalist. This is a pure American romantism about people tinkering today making world changing products. You should get some people on your program who know about invention, product development, patenting, science policy insted of this utterly uniformed cheer leading. I speak as an inventor, a hands on producer, exacademic etc but I have no illusion of the significance of individual tinkers.
First you should know the 3-D printer was invented and developed decades ago. There has been a ton of university research into there use and application. These machines are everywhere today. You should know about them before you start drooling on the radio.
Go to the Inventers Assn of New England meetings held monthly at MIT and see for yourself. It is all low tech. simple ideas and then if successful they usually have to be made in China.
Your program may entertain the masses and lionise the lonely inventer but your lack of awareness does not serve the public well. This program was a fantasy.

The whole point of the MakerBot is not “Woohoo! Three-dee printing!” How much did it cost to purchase the 3D printer you last had access to? Do you or your business group own it outright, or do you have to rent time in order to use it? How much does it cost to prototype a model on that device?

I’m guessing the answers are: In the high thousands of dollars at a minimum, you rent, $250 or more for an object of six-inch cube volume.

The MakerBot costs around $2000 to build. You own it outright. Supplies for printing cost a piddling amount. You could make a Rubik’s Cube for around $10, including the stickers (don’t they cost about that much in the store?). Sure, it’s not the super-high precisions or extreme dimensions of an industrial powder laminator or something similar, but it’ll print out those wheels for your robot accurately enough. Heck, substitute powdered sugar instead of plastic strips, and you can make hard candies with children’s names on ‘em to sell at fairs *while you wait*!

Suddenly Everyman can have one, or access to one. When a prototype is as simple as “give this file to Fred and share the cost” you can make as many as you need to get the design right. No need to ship it off to China, you can make ‘em right here in your own shop. In fact, with distributed production, you can put an order out on the network and possibly get it as fast or faster than China can make those parts and ship ‘em back to you.

And you thought manufacturing in the US was dead.

Besides, that’s only one of many different innovations that bring the large scale down to consumer level. Ask about Arduino on its own… just gimme a servo or a relay and I’ll automate pretty much anything. And it only cost me $30 for the board and $20 for a cheap but reliable servo. Prototype in a snap, then decide if you want to simplify or leave it as-is.

Heck, with the snap-on proto shields, you could build whatever and then swap out the board when you want to power a different project, which means you need fewer to produce more.

Once again, a matter of large scale things being brought down to consumer level, enabling stuff for around $50 that you’d previously have had to pay hundreds for or work in a university lab to build. Power to the small.

I spend my days listening to and assisting small-time inventors as a profession. We have much more innovation happening in garages and workshops than most people are permitted to realize. This is because (I have observed) that the smart and successful small inventors are NOT crowing about their inventions, nor their successes. They avoid the limelight, keep their heads down,keep their success to themselves, and thereby do not tempt the big-guys to horn in on their business.

A lot of progress stays under the public radar.

Seeing the references to Instructables and Make (great sites) I have to share our project: Appropedia.org. It’s very open, in that it’s a wiki, so you can share ideas as well as designs, reviews and how-tos. There are lots of backyard/garage projects as well as student projects, from green buildings to solar lawnmowers (well, this solar panel was just lying around…)

Pardon the plug.

Tom,

I absolutely loved your show on tinkering. I have an invention that I have been working on. It is a product for water sports and is called the “WaveMaster”. I was very interested in the comments from your guest regarding virtual prototyping. Do you have a contact or suggestion for me? The WaveMaster is the next step in water sports which makes a surfable wave behind any boat for extended surfing ride.

John Bays

One thing I kept hoping Justin would bring into focus a bit more, especially about 40 minutes in, is that for many of the participants in hackerspaces or other tool-sharing projects the main point is not in striving to become a million-dollar company producing thousands of widgets. For many, it is about living a more fulfilled life here and now, fulfilled because filled with learning, fun, and a sense of sharing one’s joy in making things. If they can make their awesome hobby also pay for itself, they’re very happy.

Then there’s the family angle. I have a kid. Here’s how I look at it: Do I get more out of taking my 8-year-old shopping for a toy or out of spending an afternoon playing with tools and wood scraps and a couple of scavenged motors?

We know business-economic value isn’t everything to all people from the success of sites like Instructables, Etsy and Ravelry. Even a low level of incentive can be enough to get people to build something of scale; scale not in the industrial dimension (low-volume, high-cost production is not going to be the engine of recovery) but in the social dimension, with incredible conversations going on all over the place.

Tom, loved the show. Many thanks!

To John Luna, and other Chemistry fans: The DIY chemistry community is alive & kicking! Check out http://homechemlab.com and get a copy of Robert Thompson’s EXCELLENT book, “The Illustrated Guide to Home Chemistry Experiments”. We have an active community forum there, as well.

Also, check out the Make: Magazine Science Room, with labs, projects, supplies for building your own lab, and lesson ideas for homeschoolers. http://blog.makezine.com/science_room/

I got back into Chemistry about 1.5 years ago after picking up Thompson’s book, and am LOVING it! One current project I’m working on is how to chemically dispose of/destroy used medical-waste hypodermic needles (“sharps”) safely so they don’t end up in landfills or washing up on beaches. And how to reclaim those metal atoms to reuse in making new compounds. In-home recycling!

Tinkering doesn’t just apply to engineering. There’s a lot of it in other scientific fields, too. Jump in!

My husband and I are launching a website to connect people who are or would like to save money and save the planet by taking action at home–by conserving energy and drawing power from alternate energy sources. There is lots of technical information available, and many companies selling stuff, but many of us want to talk with another householder to find out what works.

One of your callers was intriguing to us. He was identified as Kevin from Amherst, and he is building a solar furnace. We would like to talk with him. Would you be able to forward this note to him if you have his e-mail address?

Many thanks.

[...] back America By fiveislandsorchard An episode of On Point on NPR caught my ear the other evening, inspired by a piece in the WSJ about the [...]

I’m surprised that only Drew Horn mentioned the patent issue. The number of American inventors that have been screwed over by megalomaniacal corporate malice and greed is apocryphal. I agree that it’s nearly impossible to defend oneself against corporate lawyers who are intent on destroying your patent. Forget that movie about the wipers. This show may be well-intentioned but we all know which road is paved with good intentions. The content of the show is very misleading. I find Tom’s schoolgirlish reaction to tinkerers alarming. I agree that a much better show would be one where practicing patent attorneys spelled out the pitfalls and perils awaiting any would-be-inventor.

Hi,
This was an interesting podcast for me to listen to because I am an industrial design student. We go to school for five years in order to gain a mastery of the skills needed to use rapid prototyping technology, problem solve, design good products, and many other things. I think this segment hit upon an issue facing my industry (although it didn’t acknowledge the issue.) Rapid prototyping is becoming more prevalent (and accessible) on an almost daily basis. People (and designers) are using their computers more and more to aid with design. However, there is a sensitivity to products designed by hand that is lost in most products made on the computer. Is this just the path of society, or can we hold onto the handmade feel?

Also, I would love to hear a podcast about product design or design thinking. I think both are very relevant right now… designers are being both hired and fired in this recession. They are both disposable and indispensable. Its an exciting time for the design community.

One of three shops in the country, Portland Techshop has all the tools, instruction and DIY Community in one place. Take a look at the site:

http://www.portlandtechshop.com

Let me know if I can answer any questions,

Very Best Regards,
Denney Cole

I second Mary on the call for more info on bio-tinkering.

When will genome sequencing be affordable on the desktop? The cost of decoding human DNA is currently around $5000 per genome. Today it has to be done professionally in a lab. How long until the working method is available to hobbyists? How much computing power do you need? Can the number crunching be crowd-sourced?

Who will create the first genetically modified carrot variety in their garage?

[...] An article (WSJ) and radio show (NPR). [...]