The Big Book of Hacks

Charge up that drill, fire up your soldering iron, and get ready to hack! Starting with a robust introduction to basic yet essential maker skills and followed by four comprehensive chapters of hack projects, this book has everything you’ll need.

BASIC MAKER SKILLS From setting up your workspace to using basic hand and power tools to tinkering with robotics, find the top tips and essential skills every maker and maker-in-training needs to be successful. Other skills include 3-D printing, lasercutting, CAD design, and more!

GEEK TOYS Be the life of the party with quirky drinking amusements, amazing pyrotechnics, and robots. Includes projects for installing a shower beer caddy, freezing LEGO ice cubes, wielding a potato launcher, building an LED-light dance floor, and constructing a light saber, with updates like a sword that detects free Wi-Fi, a solar-powered rover that really goes, a replica of a Roman catapult, and more!

HOME IMPROVEMENTS Pimp out your pad with a laser-security system, an improvised sous-vide cooker, a secret door, an aquarium in an old TV, the perfect gaming chair or a life-size cardboard display of anyone you want. New projects include a sensor that lets you control your home’s temperature and energy use from afar, an automated pet-feeder, and a light made with pennies!

GADGET UPGRADES Want to use an XBOX 360 controller as a phone case or build a polygraph test? Looking to brighten up a standard flashlight or charge your phone with solar rays? Improvise a fisheye lens for your camera or dye your laptop? Now you can upgrade many household items without breaking the bank. Look for updated content, such as a hacked radio that lets you listen to meteor showers, your very own DIY particle detector, and a cool soldering stencil.

THINGS THAT GO Give your motorbike a Tron vibe or make a unicycle out of an old bike, deck out your car with an action-figure hood ornament or install a bed in your van, upgrade your kayak to a sail boat or take aerial photos with a balloon. Find these mobile projects and more—plus new stuff, like a heart-rate monitor you wear on your sleeve, a bike jacket with flashing turn signals, goggles with prescription lenses, and a bicycle-powered generator!

With its clever tone, step-by-step instructions, and useful diagrams, every project is accessible to people of all ages. Find all the ingenious and hilarious projects that every techie will enjoy, in the upgraded The Big Book of Hacks.