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Snip, Burn, Solder, Shred: Seriously Geeky Stuff to Make with Your Kids
Snip, Burn, Solder, Shred is packed with fun craft and toy-making projects for geeks on a budget. Inside, you’ll find illustrated instructions for 24 quirky playthings. Part Kid Stuff contains child-friendly projects like the Lock-N-Latch Treasure Chest and a PVC TeePee; Part The Electro-Skiffle Band is devoted to homemade musical instruments; and Part The Locomotivated showcases moving toys, like a muzzleloader that shoots marshmallows and a steam-powered milk-carton boat.
Each project costs just $10 or less to make and is suitable for anyone, regardless of experience level. As you build, you’ll learn useful sewing and carpentry skills, and the appendix offers a primer on electronics and soldering.
You (and your kids) will have hours of fun making projects
–A simple electric guitar
– An oversized joy buzzer that (safely) administers a 100-volt jolt
– Cool, mess-free, screen-printed T-shirts
– Kites made from FedEx envelopes
– Booming Thunderdrums made from salvaged x-ray film
– Classic board games like Go, Tafl, and Shut-the-Box
Whether you’re a mom or dad in search of a rainy day activity, a Scout leader looking to educate and entertain your troop, or just a DIY weekend warrior, the projects in Snip, Burn, Solder, Shred will inspire and amuse you. Now, roll up your sleeves and make!
Each project costs just $10 or less to make and is suitable for anyone, regardless of experience level. As you build, you’ll learn useful sewing and carpentry skills, and the appendix offers a primer on electronics and soldering.
You (and your kids) will have hours of fun making projects
–A simple electric guitar
– An oversized joy buzzer that (safely) administers a 100-volt jolt
– Cool, mess-free, screen-printed T-shirts
– Kites made from FedEx envelopes
– Booming Thunderdrums made from salvaged x-ray film
– Classic board games like Go, Tafl, and Shut-the-Box
Whether you’re a mom or dad in search of a rainy day activity, a Scout leader looking to educate and entertain your troop, or just a DIY weekend warrior, the projects in Snip, Burn, Solder, Shred will inspire and amuse you. Now, roll up your sleeves and make!
- GenresNonfictionCrafts
360 pages, Paperback
First published October 15, 2010
5 people are currently reading
124 people want to read
About the author
David Erik Nelson
42 books42 followersDavid Erik Nelson is an award-wining science-fiction/horror writer and essayist. His fiction has appeared in Asimov's, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, The Best Horror of the Year, and elsewhere. Find his fiction online at https://www.davideriknelson.com/FreeFiction
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
January 12, 2015
My husbands eyes lit up when he saw this book! He couldn't get enough of it. He said it made him feel like he was back in Shop Class! The projects are a lot of fun. Most are based on musical instruments. I wish there was more variety (the only downside in my opinion). However, the projects are laid out to be more of a guideline than an exact do it this way sort of thing. You (the creator) are encouraged to go your own way & let it become what you want!
The majority of the projects are done using scrap items. You don't have to run out to buy something new. You don't have to use the exact knob used for example. Just use something that will work! It's your project after all. If you don't have many odds & ends laying around, dumpster diving, garbage picking, yard sales, flea markets & more are fun ways to get other peoples "junk" & turn it into something super cool! My husband built one of our chicken houses entirely out of other peoples discarded stuff! NO it doesn't look like crap! When we tell people how it came to be, they simply are stunned! It's beautiful! It has wood siding, a real roof & more. We did buy the stain for it...
In today's age where we are told to protect our kids from everything. This is so refreshing! Power tools, soldering irons, hammers, & more for your kid? Yes indeed & that is how it should be! How are we ever going to learn if we are coddled? We need some bumps & bruises along the way. It makes our accomplishments all the sweeter! So go dumpster dive, get dirty & have fun. It doesn't matter if you are a boy or a girl. Life is meant for living!
The majority of the projects are done using scrap items. You don't have to run out to buy something new. You don't have to use the exact knob used for example. Just use something that will work! It's your project after all. If you don't have many odds & ends laying around, dumpster diving, garbage picking, yard sales, flea markets & more are fun ways to get other peoples "junk" & turn it into something super cool! My husband built one of our chicken houses entirely out of other peoples discarded stuff! NO it doesn't look like crap! When we tell people how it came to be, they simply are stunned! It's beautiful! It has wood siding, a real roof & more. We did buy the stain for it...
In today's age where we are told to protect our kids from everything. This is so refreshing! Power tools, soldering irons, hammers, & more for your kid? Yes indeed & that is how it should be! How are we ever going to learn if we are coddled? We need some bumps & bruises along the way. It makes our accomplishments all the sweeter! So go dumpster dive, get dirty & have fun. It doesn't matter if you are a boy or a girl. Life is meant for living!
June 16, 2013
I wrote the damn thing! *BOOOOOM!*
December 28, 2019
Loving this so much. It is exactly what I was looking for in terms of explaining and making fun projects with my middle schooler.
April 4, 2011
Snip, Burn, Solder, Shred : Seriously Geeky Stuff to Make With Your Kids lives up to it's title.
First, this isn't a book just for kids. If you've had an interest in learning basic electronics and how to build simple circuits, or how to make various kinds of instruments, or just in general love to make things, this book has something in it for you. The projects are a little too complicated for little kids to do alone, but they could certainly help parents and learn from them. They are perfect for older kids and teens to do. If you would trust them with a wood burning tool, they can probably do all the projects in this book. As always, read all instructions all the way through before starting.
The projects extensively use re-purposed materials. Bicycle innertubes, x-ray films, old cell phones, socks, aluminum cans and Tyvek envelopes are some of the materials used. None of the projects cost more than 10 dollars to make. For things you might need to buy parts for like some of the electronic parts, part numbers are given to make them easy to get.
The projects are fantastic. Sure to inspire any budding tinkerer. Everything is very well explained, and the science behind the projects is also explained. In some ways, this book reminds me strongly of some of my very favorite vintage books. Recycling and handy skills being taught in a way that is challenging and interesting.
The first chapter is named Kid Stuff. There is a basic switch box project in it that teaches the beginning of electronic circuits to make a box that has lights and sound. The Sock Squid is a sewn project with a very cute Cthulhu variation. This chapter also has classic games you can make and a box that gives you a safe electric jolt when you touch it.
The next chapter, Electro-Skiffle Band has instruments. Again, lots of innovation using re-purposed material, as well as some of the history of the instruments themselves. Enough instruments in here that you could start a band. Percussion, horn, guitar and amps and stomp boxes. It's a fun starting place to learning about music from building an instrument to seeing what kinds of sounds you make from it.
Chapter 3, The Locomotivated is probably the chapter that people who really like to play will be more interested in. It starts with a boomerang with 2 versions, one for indoors, one for out. Made simply from re-purposed cardboard packaging. Things that move is the theme of this chapter, from a very simple little robot to a nicely involved geometry project to build a box kite of Tyvek envelopes, rockets and a marshmallow gun.
It's a wonderful book. One that my whole family will enjoy together.
First, this isn't a book just for kids. If you've had an interest in learning basic electronics and how to build simple circuits, or how to make various kinds of instruments, or just in general love to make things, this book has something in it for you. The projects are a little too complicated for little kids to do alone, but they could certainly help parents and learn from them. They are perfect for older kids and teens to do. If you would trust them with a wood burning tool, they can probably do all the projects in this book. As always, read all instructions all the way through before starting.
The projects extensively use re-purposed materials. Bicycle innertubes, x-ray films, old cell phones, socks, aluminum cans and Tyvek envelopes are some of the materials used. None of the projects cost more than 10 dollars to make. For things you might need to buy parts for like some of the electronic parts, part numbers are given to make them easy to get.
The projects are fantastic. Sure to inspire any budding tinkerer. Everything is very well explained, and the science behind the projects is also explained. In some ways, this book reminds me strongly of some of my very favorite vintage books. Recycling and handy skills being taught in a way that is challenging and interesting.
The first chapter is named Kid Stuff. There is a basic switch box project in it that teaches the beginning of electronic circuits to make a box that has lights and sound. The Sock Squid is a sewn project with a very cute Cthulhu variation. This chapter also has classic games you can make and a box that gives you a safe electric jolt when you touch it.
The next chapter, Electro-Skiffle Band has instruments. Again, lots of innovation using re-purposed material, as well as some of the history of the instruments themselves. Enough instruments in here that you could start a band. Percussion, horn, guitar and amps and stomp boxes. It's a fun starting place to learning about music from building an instrument to seeing what kinds of sounds you make from it.
Chapter 3, The Locomotivated is probably the chapter that people who really like to play will be more interested in. It starts with a boomerang with 2 versions, one for indoors, one for out. Made simply from re-purposed cardboard packaging. Things that move is the theme of this chapter, from a very simple little robot to a nicely involved geometry project to build a box kite of Tyvek envelopes, rockets and a marshmallow gun.
It's a wonderful book. One that my whole family will enjoy together.
March 22, 2015
Buying how-to or DIY books can be something of a craps shoot: too often, the proffered simplicity or thriftiness is somewhat less than promised.
Fortunately, David Erik Nelson's "Snip, Burn, Solder, Shred" escapes that trap and delivers a series of projects that are simple enough for novices and cheap enough for the most cash-strapped of parents.
The book is broken into three sections: Kid Stuff, The Electro-Skiffle Band, and The Locomotivated, each loaded with fun projects and primers on things like sewing and electronics.
Most importantly though, the book is filled with inspiration. It's easy to see how to take the skills learned from tackling the projects and apply them to new projects of one's own devising.
This is truly a valuable book for parents and kids alike. Working these projects together will teach both kids and parents interesting skills and creative ways to express themselves. Highly recommended.
Fortunately, David Erik Nelson's "Snip, Burn, Solder, Shred" escapes that trap and delivers a series of projects that are simple enough for novices and cheap enough for the most cash-strapped of parents.
The book is broken into three sections: Kid Stuff, The Electro-Skiffle Band, and The Locomotivated, each loaded with fun projects and primers on things like sewing and electronics.
Most importantly though, the book is filled with inspiration. It's easy to see how to take the skills learned from tackling the projects and apply them to new projects of one's own devising.
This is truly a valuable book for parents and kids alike. Working these projects together will teach both kids and parents interesting skills and creative ways to express themselves. Highly recommended.
December 19, 2010
Snip, Burn, Solder, Shred is a really cool book on how to make Seriously geeky stuff with your kids. HONEST! Everything from a simple electric guitar to screen printed shirts. The great thunder drums and board games and even (safe) way to make a joy buzzer. I love the treasure chest to keep your special things in. Every kid needs that. And of course what family is not in need of a marshmallow muzzle loader? With just a lil ability to follow direction you too can be the king of geek and a cool dad too!
December 29, 2013
Despite the fact that I don't have kids, I read 1 billion books a year for kids or for adults who have kids(?????).
This book was pretty cute. Again, no kids, so I don't know how easy it would be for small-humans to follow, and a few of the projects aren't that interesting to me (kites, etc). However, all the projects about musical instruments--pedals, synths, etc---are really easy and neato. I am really pleased that this book does such a good job of making these projects accessible to encourage kids to make their own (other wise expensive) effect pedals.
This book was pretty cute. Again, no kids, so I don't know how easy it would be for small-humans to follow, and a few of the projects aren't that interesting to me (kites, etc). However, all the projects about musical instruments--pedals, synths, etc---are really easy and neato. I am really pleased that this book does such a good job of making these projects accessible to encourage kids to make their own (other wise expensive) effect pedals.
July 16, 2015
Caveat: I read the whole book, but I haven't built any of the projects (yet). Does that disqualify me from writing a review of a book like this?
Nelson does a great job of curating projects and of describing how to build them. He treats his readers with respect and I love how this book isn't clearly for adults or clearly for kids -- it's really a family book.
I'm looking forward to building several of these projects, both with my kids and by myself.
Nelson does a great job of curating projects and of describing how to build them. He treats his readers with respect and I love how this book isn't clearly for adults or clearly for kids -- it's really a family book.
I'm looking forward to building several of these projects, both with my kids and by myself.
June 6, 2011
This book is incredible. It has really simple, fun, scientific, cheap things to do with kids... or for the kid at heart. Makes me want to make a little milk carton putt-putt boat for my bathtub. Very cool ideas!
January 23, 2011
A great book for parents looking for projects to do with their kids. Use of potentially dangerous items is described(solder irons) so may not be appropriate for younger kids
March 4, 2013
I wrote the damn thing! Also, I'm testing the Goodreads-Twitter integration!
July 20, 2015
I'm totally making the Cthulhu sock. Then I have to learn how to solder.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews