Make: Volume 80 – War on Repair

No, you’re not crazy: For years, it’s been getting harder and harder to repair your stuff. From implementing proprietary components and specialized fasteners to withholding schematics and mandating repairs go through “authorized” outlets, modern companies do their best to make it difficult to fix the products you already own. This, by design, gives you no choice but to buy new things whenever your old things break. But it’s still your stuff, and you should have the right to fix it.

In this issue we hear from Right-to-Repair luminary Cory Doctorow and iFixit CEO Kyle Wiens about the uphill battle for policy progress at the national level in the U.S. and beyond. Plus, we look at how makers are already addressing repair needs in their own communities, from online meetups for repair advice to cultivating a repair mindset in students at a young age.

Plus, more than 35 projects including:

Build a GPS-guided parachute that guides your aerial payload back to you
Construct a workspace fume hood that funnels toxic gasses out of harm’s way
Make an e-paper box that displays popular quotations via Reddit’s hivemind
3D print a versatile vise that conforms snuggly to whatever it holds
And much more!

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Columns

Welcome: Repair It Yourself

What does it look like when people are empowered to modify, fix, and improve the things they use?Page 06

Made on Earth

Backyard builds from around the globe.Page 08

Share the Repair

Repair Wars

Cory Doctorow

Corporations have stacked the decks against servicing your own purchases. The community is now resisting — and winning.Page 16

Inside iFixit

Kyle Wiens

Building a path towards a repairable world, one teardown at a time. Page 20

Maker’s Bill of Rights

Sherry Ritter

First published in Make: Volume 04, these are the tenets to keep your projects and products open and maker-friendly.Page 23

The Professional Repairer Trap

Nathan Proctor

We are all fixers. Don’t let the corporations tell you otherwise.Page 24

The Fix Is In

Peter Mui

Need a repair? The Fixit Clinic will guide you to get things working again. Page 26

Omega Appliance Repair

Dale Dougherty

Wayne Seltzer started his own repair business in eighth grade. Now, in his retirement, he’s part of the global fix-it movement.Page 32

Cultivating a Repair Mindset

Brooke Toczylowski and Aaron Vanderwerff

Use this educational repair toolkit to guide young learners to resourcefulness and student agency.Page 36

Mod Squad

Nirav Patel

Framework’s modular laptop aims to fix an industry built on obsolescence. Page 38

Repair Roundup

More resources to up your repair game.Page 40

Projects

Wearables What’s What

Lee Wilkins

It’s been 15 years since LilyPad. Learn what’s new in wearables boards, fabrics, and threads — and make your first iron-on circuit.Page 42

DIY Fume Hood

Téa Forest

This build sucks — toxic fumes away from your workshop! Page 52

Freaky Fractal Feedback

Dave Blair

How to build the world’s coolest HD video feedback machines to make wild fractal video art.Page 60

Building an Open Wave-Receiver

Shortwave Collective

Experiment with no-power, low-budget crystal and foxhole radios using found materials and your local environment.Page 68

Get Smart

Gareth Branwyn

Top tips, tools, and tricks for your workshop — and your life — from our new book. Page 76

Auto-Return Parachute

Yohan Hadji

This GPS-guided recovery chute steers itself back home — you’ll never chase a payload again!Page 80

Electronics Fun & Fundamentals: Intruder Alert!

Charles Platt with Fredrik Jansson

Build this alarming project two ways — from bare components and from a Pico microcontroller.Page 88

Neverending Quotes

Vanessa Bradley

Get an everlasting stream of wisdom from Reddit, by glancing at a little e-paper box. Page 96

Fractal Vises

Christopher Borge

Makers are reinventing an incredible morphing vise from 1913, using 3D printers.Page 100

1+2+3: Felt Eyeballs

Jane Curthoys

These gross-out fabric eyeballs are perfect for folks who want a little spookiness all year long.Page 105

Toy Inventor’s Notebook: Resurrecting Vintage Toys

bob Knetzger

Prepare for silly surgery! Try these tricks to refurbish broken toys.Page 106

Prank’d

Practical jokes are fun to make and even more fun to deploy. Here are 19 favorite shenanigans to try.Page 110

New From Make: Projects

Dan Schneiderman

The latest cool stuff from here.Page 112

Skill Builder

Medieval Arch Hacks

Joan Horvath and Rich Cameron

Geometry rules! Bring out your inner Gothic architect with a compass and the materials of your choice.Page 114

Pixel Knitting Part 2

Adrienne Hunter

Double bed jacquard knitting makes the most of your hacked machine, with 3-color patterning and backings that look neater, too.Page 118

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