Things To Make

Williams, Archibald, 1871-1934Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.2

Word count: 387K words
Chapters: 39

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Things To Make by Archibald WilliamsAuthor: Williams, Archibald, 1871-1934,Language: English, Class: TT: Technology: Handicrafts, Arts and crafts, Release Date: Jan 11, 2005

Editor's review

This book is hands-on, gathering a variety of craft projects; it belongs to public-domain books on craft and technique. Its strength is fairly concrete explanation of materials, tools, and steps, emphasizing small projects made from everyday materials, and it suits family activities, school craft classes, or club reference. Reading it yields not only practical ideas but also the tone and values of early twentieth-century popular technical education. Because it was written long ago, some tools, materials, and safety standards differ from today's; readers should adapt to modern safety requirements, especially for cutting, heating, or electrical work, which needs adult supervision. Overall it is more a project collection to spark hands-on interest than a strict modern engineering manual; read it while making, taking projects as needed.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Parents and teachers looking for parent-child craft projects
Readers who need material for craft classes or club activities
Teenagers who like making things from everyday materials
Readers interested in early technical-education books

Not a good fit for

Readers who need modern safety standards and professional tool guidance
Readers expecting systematic theory or engineering principles
Young children without adult supervision

Reading tips

Browse projects by material and tool, and start with one or two that use materials you already have.
Before starting, copy the steps into a checklist and verify tools and safety notes item by item.
For cutting, heating, or electrical parts, have an adult present and replace outdated practices with modern safety standards.
After reading, note which steps needed adjustment and keep your own project notes for next time.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Can children complete the projects on their own?

It depends. Some simple projects can be done by older children under adult guidance, but anything involving cutting, heating, or electrical work must have adult supervision. Parents should read the steps first, assess material and tool risks, and then decide which projects suit their children.

Can the methods in the book still be followed as written?

They are useful as ideas but should not be followed exactly. The book is old, and some tools, materials, and safety standards have been updated; adapt the steps to modern safety requirements, especially for sharp tools, heat sources, and circuits, and ask an experienced adult when needed.

Do I need many specialized tools?

Many projects emphasize everyday materials, but required tools vary by project. Pick projects with easily available materials from the contents first, then gather the listed tools; you need not buy everything at once—start with simple projects and add common tools gradually.

Comments

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About the author

Williams, Archibald, 1871-1934 Author

Archibald Williams (1871–1934) was a British writer of popular science active in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Public information about him is limited, and the details of his life are now difficult to establish. Judging from the four works held in the collection, he devoted himself to explaining machinery, invention and the principles of everyday technology to general readers. His representative works include The Romance of Modern Mechanism, The Romance of Modern Invention, How It Works and Things To Make. The titles themselves reveal his approach: using "romance" as an entry point to turn dry mechanical structures into readable stories, and employing diagrams and experiments to guide readers in understanding how things work with their own hands. Aimed at young people and amateurs, his writing combines instruction with entertainment and has had some influence in popularizing technical knowledge in the industrial age, making him a noteworthy figure in the early tradition of technical writing.