Man Made DIY

So...if I had my preference, I would never admit this to anyone that hadn't seen me in bandages. I'd keep it as my own little secret, and try to come off as a professional, and never have to be vulnerable online. Cause that's what you do with embarrassing information, right? Curate it out of your internet identity, and only take photos of your house when its clean and full of interesting items and cups of tea?

Except...I don't really believe that. I believe in authenticity, and telling the whole story, and being willing to geek out over something amazing and admitting you're not too cool to get obsessed with stuff, and all that junk.

So here it is: I hurt myself on the table saw. Like soft pink flesh meets forty teeth-per-inch carbide tipped blade spinning at 3000 RPM.

To clarify: any table saw injury is bad news. (At least, when it's running. I regularly stub my toes on it, or bang into it when moving stuff around, but that's just cause I'm a spaz.) And as far as table saw injuries go, I was very, very lucky. I still have ten fully functioning fingers...though one is a bit out-of-commission right now. But (see above), those *&#$ers are dangerous, and no matter how lucky you get and grateful you feel (I was and I do), it's no small potatoes.

If you wanna hear the story, read on. There are a few photos of post-stitches injury. They're not gratuitous, nor bloody, or particularly gross, but do be aware if you're not much… read more

I know, I know...this is a little email forward-y. But, I've made a lot of mistakes when DIYing and making stuff, and have had to start over from silly errors, or being underly cautious. I guess it makes me feel better to know that at least I didn't do this:

You, like any sane person, hate the gym. Of course, you feel great when its done, but the getting there and your presence can be...tough. "The mindless repetitions on the weight machines, halfhearted crunches, daytime TV during the treadmill. Such a sad, unimaginative excuse for a life," when you could be outside or at home, doing the things you love.

"Gym machines are boring, CrossFit is sadistic, and dieting sucks. Luckily, none of them is essential to being truly fit." With a bit of trial and error, and simply thinking smart about what you do and put into your body, its possible to create real… read more

As more turn to bicycling for more than just recreation, city and regional planners are rethinking roadways to accomodate all those using bikes to get to work, shopping, and to each other.

The best cycling cities (see here for Bicycle mag's top fifty list - my city came in at #34, but the ManMade/Curbly HQ in Minneapolis/St. Paul scored #1) have already been implementing lots of choice options. AOL's Rented Spaces has assembled a cool list of innovative tactics, including bike lane and sharing programs, and my favorite, the bike box, cycle triggerable traffic light programs already established in Portland.

… read more

Greetings, ManMakers! June 2010 is Bicycle Month on ManMadeDIY.com. We're passionate about two-wheeled transportation - both for its impact on the environment and your health, as well as the infinite number of bike crafts and hacks that one can do to totally take a DIY approach to cycling.

One of the key aspects of cycing is safety, especially when sharing roads with other vehicles. So, to kick things off, here's a great mini bike light how-to that makes everything completely from scratch. This version is housed in a hose-to-faucet adapter, and uses three LEDS powered by triple-a batteries. A rocker switch is added to the back to control on/off… read more