Ask HN: Recommendations for videos/documentaries about building things What videos/channels/documentaries do you recommend that watch teams of people designing/building things? For example: 1. [DarkAero (airplanes)](https://www.youtube.com/@DarkAeroInc) 2. [The Great Robot Race](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCRrXQRvC_I) 3. [PsychOdyssey](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRlI72bsNRc&list=PLIhLvue17Sd70y34zh2erWWpMyOnh4UN_) |
"How Primitive Building Videos Are Staged" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hvk63LADbFc
One expert, three mechanic/welders/engineers per team.
They’re assigned to build something fairly complex like a “flying car”. 10 hours to scavenge the junk yard and use whatever to build the item.
Paul Elkins: Designs and builds low cost novelty mobile homes and vehicles.
https://youtube.com/@paulwelkinsdiy
Mitxela: Hardware and software hacker/inventor. Mixes circuit design, microcontroller programming, and machining to make unique pieces. Featured on HN recently.
The Warthog Project. A dude builds a 1:1 scale cockpit for an A-10C Warthog simulator, including custom electronics.
Baumgartner Restoration: A professional art restorer documents his process restoring paintings and other art.
DIY Perks: A hobbyist/inventor designs and builds practical electronics and furniture, and shares the designs for others.
Marty's Matchbox Restorations: A man repairs and repaints old diecast toys with higher detail and quality paint. (Disclosure: I am good friends with Marty's son.)
Ronald Finger: A man finds a Pontiac Fiero parked in the woods for decades and restores it to factory-fresh.
AMMO NYC: A professional auto detailer documents his process, from detailing daily-driven cars to sanitizing and restoring barn-find antiques.
Primitive technology: researching/developing e.g. metalworking, agriculture, building techniques without using any premade tools. No voice but closed caption explanations.
Primitive skills: homesteading in Vietnam with traditional techniques, minimal outside materials/tools. No voice, closed caption explanations.
Wintergatan: years-long project to build a marble machine musical instrument reliable enough for stage performances. Lots of experimentation and some meta engineering techniques too.
Jamie Mantzel (spelling?) Used to be building a giant robot in his garage, more recently built small boats and a house. Haven't checked recently.
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLw7aVsjFLyMmkEqHami9AHGmc...
For German speakers, there is a recommended channel purely about craftsmanship from "SWR Handwerkskunst" [1].
He’s not that good with his hands, sweats easily, lack coordination and has the natural instinct for measures, roundedness, and flat surfaces of a goat. That makes so many of his attempts that much more credible. He insists (with some exception) on exclusively using tools that he made himself—something he called “The Great Reset”. This means a raggedly thread and an Flintstone-like pen for dimensions. Expectedly, that doesn’t help much.
It’s genuinely so much more valuable for that lack of professional training — although him and his growing team are learning, and getting genuinely good as things go.
He often has the help of a professional using modern tools and the difference with his own attempts is generally very intructive, more than the principle themselves. Can you make a nail from scratch? A professional blacksmith can make somethign really nice; an amateur can try… it will keep two planks together, but not inspire confidence.
Great entertainement value and very worthy reality check: could you make clay pot? You saw an attractive instructor seemlessly whip out something wonderful on TikTok once? Good for you. HTME will give you a more realistic expectation of what you can do on your first five tries: one of them holds most of the water.
Say what you want: after years of grit, they have raggedy but reasonnably useful workshop tools make from absolute scratch.
Im not sure if Ben Heck (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgeStlUnitobx8QcSxTw2aQ) is doing much lately but his back catalog is pretty good (one handed xbox controller, small electronic projects).
Diesel Brothers for trucks / snow mobiles.
BBC show but also on Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/@timhunkin1 A mix of old home equipment and basic component explanations (More quirky than detailed)