Make Your Own For The Fun Of It By Alan Detwiler At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

I've always liked to make gadgets and gizmos that fill some need but at the same time are not practical enough to be thought of as necessities. 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.

Simple things appeal to me more than costly homemade items. A project with a small amount of time invested seems more like entertainment. A small project lets me pursue an interest without interfering with other goals.

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. Each project gives me something to be proud of and relief from the tedium that often must be endured with more practical endeavors.

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 learn. We become more able to manipulate the physical things that are around us and we gain pride in our ability to do so.

The more we learn, the more we realize that even simple things are complex. And what is complex can be summarized in simple terms. These insights let us more fully appreciate and enjoy the physical world.

Intuition and logic are used together to make a homemade gizmo. The more the two abilities are used together, the more powerful the combination becomes. Moreover, a strong partnership of reason and creativity increases a person's ability 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 available at Amazon.com. He has a web site about homemade items at www.MakeGizmos.com

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