Making It · 23 Jan 2026 · 1h 09m
Jimmy Diresta, Bob Clagett, and David Picciuto discuss overcoming creative hurdles, with Jimmy detailing his first attempt at sewing a jacket and Bob explaining his CNC production of sewer caps. The group explores the psychology of perfectionism, the importance of audience encouragement, and the technical challenges of new tools like sewing machines and resin 3D printing. They also share personal updates on home projects, including boiling wood for a fish tank and managing winter weather impacts on their workshops.
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Hosts Elecia White and Chris White discuss personal projects and burnout, with Chris detailing his experience using CircuitPython and the MIKROE 8800 board to run Conway's Game of Life, and Elecia sharing her paper engineering class. They explore the psychology of creativity, the desire for obscurity versus recognition, and the operational strain of maintaining a weekly podcast schedule, announcing a potential reduction in frequency.
Tom Gerhardt and Dan Provost of Studio Neat discuss the production challenges of the Keen safety razor, specifically the assembly of tiny M1.4 screws and the surprising color preference data where orange leads black. They also reveal they have hired Jacob, a junior designer/engineer, to help scale operations, leading to a deep discussion on the psychological dynamics of receiving feedback, the importance of separating personal identity from design work, and the distinction between design as service versus art.
Jeff Miller, a prolific furniture maker and author, discusses his transition into building classical guitars and skin-on-frame canoes, treating them as new creative challenges. He explains his design philosophy, which applies musical concepts like melody and harmony to furniture curves, and details his rigorous prototyping process involving comfort and aesthetic iterations. Miller also emphasizes the critical importance of body mechanics and proper tool handling, using the 'baby bird' analogy for saw grip to minimize tension and maximize efficiency.
Hosts Jen Castillo and Alvaro Prieto discuss their pandemic-era projects, including Alvaro's recreation of his father's 7400-series digital clock, a USB-C power adapter using a Cypress chip, and a t-shirt quilt. Jen details her reverse engineering of a greeting card chip, her exploration of Chinese manufacturing via Alibaba, and her choreography of a remote dance piece. They also cover the cancellation of hardware conferences like Hackaday Supercon and HackRF, and recommend movies such as 'Mood Indigo' and '3 Idiots'.
Hackaday editors Elliot Williams and Al Williams discuss recent community hacks, including Fiona Bell and Leah Bukley’s paste extrusion of glass and eggshells, John Duffy’s bespoke Raspberry Pi multimeter, and Shadow Man 39’s 8-bit mechanical computer built from K’Nex. They also analyze the industrial design stagnation in modern smartphones and the complex logistics of the North American cold chain infrastructure. The episode covers the failure of AI coding tools, USB-C power delivery hacks, and a lock-picking robot that failed due to mechanical binding.
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