When you design a circuit for your project, you will likely make one, or a few, of them. Commercial products produced in the millions are engineered for lowest possible cost, and fewest returns to stores by customers. Ten more cents’ worth of copper matters when you make 50 million iPods. Ten feet of extra copper wire matters not at all when you are making a Tesla coil to ruin your neighbor’s TV reception.

The craft of electronics requires a different set of techniques than engineering does, though clearly the underlying physics of electronics is the same. The same is true in all skill areas.

CONCLUSION: Engineering is not craft.

nient. The solution? Putter! Organize your car parts. Unshelf/reshelf all the paper-tape gear. Peruse obsolete catalogs. Put another coat of shellac on that radio. All of these things are inspiring and worthwhile. You might even rediscover some forgotten artifact and embark on a new project! CONCLUSION: Puttering is good.

4. Take one step at a time.

You should challenge one or two skill areas in a project. If you know how to do electronics and PIC programming, say, then go make that mechanical robot arm. But if you’ve never done electronics or programming before, that might be a foolish project; build a simple electronics kit first. Remember, making is a process! When (not if) you are a neophyte in some skill, it’s hard to know how to begin. I have decades of experience in electronics, software, and metal working, but no idea how to use plaster or model railroad materials. My experience in other areas gave me the confidence to ask stupid questions at the model Keep project notes together. store, and buy stuff to experiment with. Now I have the leftovers on the shelf for future projects, and the beginnings of a new skill! CONCLUSION: Be reasonable!

Write and draw in pencil, and note changes!

5. Plan ahead — visually.

I’m shocked when I see people start projects without the slightest bit of written or drawn visualization. Art-trained people are better at this, keeping notebooks filled with scribbles, notes, and drawings. These are critical thinking tools. They are also communication tools. Others cannot read your mind; if you cannot document your ideas, no one will understand you. And chances are, a few years from now neither will you. Computers are often very poor tools for this; you were warned. CONCLUSION: Write! Draw! Document!

6. Find inspiration in everything you do. Sometimes the urge to do something hits me, and must be satisfied, and no current project is conve-

Keep notebooks together.

I hope I’ve made it clearer that failures and problems are not character flaws or reason to quit, but are how we all learn new skills. Making is about the process more than the artifacts; it’s about remembering that a mental toolbox is the most valuable, and the most portable!

Tom Jennings ( tomj@wps.com) is a technical artist and chronicler of dead technologies living in Los Angeles.

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