I've always liked to make gadgets and gizmos that have some function, either useful or not so useful. It started with the simple things that many kids make - slingshots, a simple bow and arrow, a toy boat. Occasionally I made more involved items such as a canoe and a dune buggy. Then there was the grass hut - 12 feet across, octogonal in shape, and thatched top to bottom with a thick layer of grass. I built it in a remote location, near a stipmine filled with water. Hauled the cut grass in a 1972 Volkswagon convertible with the top down. Piled the grass high in the back seat. It must have taken a dozen trips back and forth from a nearby hay field.
Simple things appeal to me more than costly homemade items. A small project lets me pursue an interest without interfering with other goals. A project with a small amount of time invested seems more like entertainment. Time spent earnestly involved in the creation of something designed and made with ones own ingenuity can be quite enjoyable.
So now when I don't feel motivated to do more practical things I often turn to an idea about some device or other that I've wanted to try making but never got around to. I can recall many such improvised devices that gave me satisfaction and enjoyment.
Ideas for things to make come from many places. Most often the idea comes from some need. I do a lot of keying of text using a computer keyboard. I tend to keep the room temperature a bit cool, cool enough that my hands become uncomfortable. I ended up rigging a length of electrical heating tape wound in a large coil-shape to surround the keyboard. Tying the heat tape to a large piece of cardboard keeps it in place. It does a nice job of keeping my hands warm. I can leave the room temperature set where I want it. As far as I know, you can't buy anything like that.
As we build and invent, we improve our understanding of mechanical devices and materials. It becomes easier to manipulate and modify the physical things around us. With effort and imagination, we are able to make improvements and add enjoyment to our lives.
Both intuition and logic are used to make a homemade gizmo. The more the two abilities are used together, the more powerful the combination becomes. A strong partnership of reason and creativity helps a person to produce and enjoy life.
It is fun and satisfying to conjure up and build simple devices. Those created items command more appreciation than more casually acquired, purchased items. And it feels good proving that imagination and ingenuity can make life better. Having witnessed first-hand the process of invention, we wonder what other things we can achieve.
Alan Detwiler is the author of the ebook "Homemade Devices For Inventive Teens". He has a web site with a section about fun things to do for couples at Leisure Ideas.com.
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