Welcome: Repair It Yourself
What does it look like when people are empowered to modify, fix, and improve the things they use?Page 06
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!
Table of Contents
Columns
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
Toolbox
Toolbox
Caleb Kraft
Gear up with the latest tools and kits for makers.Page 122
The Last Word
Just Make
Something. Anything. Everything.Page 128
