Oddball Ingenuity: Surprising And Functional Contraptions Engineered By Amateurs
As the old saying goes, "If it's stupid and it works, it's not stupid." In many professional environments, there can be a bit of a gulf between what the handbook recommends doing and what the employees actually do. Whether it's due to a lack of materials or time, clever tradespeople have been finding ways to do more with less for centuries.
Of course, these quick fixes and jury-rigged inventions are likely even more common in the home. Because if it takes a long trip, a lot of waiting, or a big expense to get an official replacement for something people need, they're likely to resort to cobbling one together with what they have. And as these prime examples make clear, it can be surprising how often that does the job.
Well, it's almost perfect
Apparently, this person didn't have the AA batteries needed to power this light. And while they did have some AAAs, those wouldn't quite fit. And from the looks of it, they remembered enough of their science classes to identify a potential next step.
With the help of a few pennies, they were able to make the connection and the light worked as if these batteries were supposed to be here all along. The only problem is that now, they can't close the lid.
This already looks 100% cat approved
This person was creative enough and a skilled enough improviser to make their own backpack for this lucky cat. And while the results are impressive, they didn't require the use of too many materials.
As they said, they used some ratchet straps, as cardboard box, a colander, and some tape to hold it all together. Not only does the kitty not miss out on the fresh air this way, but it also means they get to ride around in a cardboard box. That's pretty much every cat's dream, right?
This must have taken some time
As far as anyone can tell, this person took the bed of a Chevrolet truck and hood this hatch on it to turn it into a little makeshift camper. Sure enough, this cozy trailer has enough room for two small beds and seems to work well for its intended purpose.
However, it's also covered in signs indicating that it's for sale. There's also one that says, "Easter egg hunt," but it's a little more unclear as to what that's about. In any case, time will tell whether somebody is impressed enough with the ingenuity on display here to actually buy this thing.
The best of both worlds
Aside from a vehicle that looks like it belongs in a Mad Max movie, it can be a little hard to tell what anyone is looking at here. But to figure it out, one only needs to realize that the SUV isn't the main part of this vehicle.
From the looks of it, somebody took the power train of a heavy-duty truck and added the Ford Explorer for its body. In other words, they wanted the power of a larger truck with the more comfortable interior of an SUV. And it seems their idea worked surprisingly well.
Now they're cooking with science
While Reddit user Shua89 and his friends were throwing a New Year's Eve party, he got the idea to make his own spit to roast some serious meat. And the best part was that the working results only ended up costing him $12. That's because most of this contraption was made from scraps in his garage, and he only had to spend money on the cups and bicycle wheel.
However, those materials were enough to make a water wheel that keeps moving thanks to the perpetual motion of the cups filling over and over again. Thus, he was able to slather the meat in barbecue sauce and cook it evenly without having to turn the spit himself.
Let's hope that holds
For those who spend enough time on the road, it isn't such an unusual sight to see another car go by with at least part of it being held together with duct tape or zip ties. They're a temporary solution, but they have a way of becoming permanent as other parts of life demand the driver's attention.
However, this one's a little different. Since there was already a hole on this side of the grille, they just tied some rope around the broken piece of their bumper and let their knot take care of itself. Hopefully, that knot is stronger than it looks, though.
It may look risky, but it seems to be working
As Reddit user breezy_moto explained, the exhaust pipe on their truck seemed to be drooping, so they decided to use an old phone charger to hold it up. Since that's not what they're for and engines can get pretty hot, this prompted some worries that their idea will end up starting a fire.
However, they replied that it's been working well so far and their muffler doesn't typically get hot enough to do any serious damage. They'll be proven wrong if the plastic starts melting but it sounds like they're willing to cross that bridge when they come to it.
Problem solved
As Reddit user The_BusFromSpeed explained, they're starting a new job as a welder, which means this helmet came as part of the equipment they were issued. However, it seems that their employer didn't quite remember everything, as they soon discovered it didn't come with a task light.
So, in a burst of liquid inspiration, they decided to superglue a $10 headlamp onto their $2,100 helmet. Although they're not looking forward to how they'll look on the job, they've made it so they'll be able to see what they're doing and ensured that their add-on won't be too costly to replace.
Someone wasn't interested in helping with repairs
Given the massive dents on the back, it's clear that another car rear-ended this Ford Explorer. And from the looks of it, whoever was responsible also took out their back window in the process and didn't wait around to help with repairs.
So, since it's likely to get a little drafty leaving it like that, this driver found a temporary solution. Armed with their luggage rack, a piece of rebar, a wood plank, and a sheet of plexiglass, they made their own back window. It honestly looks pretty secure.
It's alive!
In case it's too hard to tell what this is, it seems that somebody started with the motor and front end of a golf cart. Then, for whatever reason, they took the front wheel off this motorcycle and attached the rest of the unit onto the cart.
As a result, they basically have a giant tricycle for adults. Although it's driven from the cart, the owner rigged the clutch in such a way that any driver must also know how to ride a motorcycle. The original owner described it as "fun to drive," but it's worth noting that they didn't say "Safe to drive."
People didn't know whether to be impressed or worried
When Reddit user Nortu98 posted these photos, all they had to say for themselves was, "I didn't have a case for my home server." Faced with this problem, they decided to use a vegetable box to house these computer parts.
And while commenters appreciated the ingenuity at play and thought the box looked good, they also worried that this would be a fire hazard. However, the creator was confident that any part prone to overheating had no direct contact with the wood.
A creative twist
Apparently, this room isn't the largest, so this person didn't want their speakers to take up too much space. And their solution to that was both artistically minded and aesthetically pleasing. Speakers aren't that much of an eyesore but they camouflaged theirs anyway.
Since the the speaker is flat, they were able to hang it on the wall and conceal it in this artwork. Since art can look like anything, it's probably easy to miss that there's a speaker here at all.
They don't make them like they used to
Considering how expensive a lot of electronics are, it's always a shame to see how quickly parts of them can break. The whole unit may work fine, but if one of the little hinges breaks quickly, it's going to be a lot harder to use until the next model comes out.
Until then, some people will think of a stopgap that makes things a little more comfortable for them. Sometimes, their temporary solution ends up working so well that they won't get used to not having it anymore when they get a brand-new laptop.
A solution doesn't have to be complicated
As Reddit user PO_4b explained, something happened to the seal on this engine's exhaust, which was causing it to leak. Since this is a two-stroke engine, this problem meant that that leak saw hot oil run where it wasn't supposed to.
Although the vehicle it goes with wouldn't be road legal anyway, they makeshift engineer wasn't thrilled about that oil burning and smoking so close to the ignition lead. So, they used some copper wire to tie a small, metal plate in place and block any potential problems.
They just don't make a brush for that
When this person set out to paint their room, it didn't go quite as they planned. As it turned out, their ceiling was much higher than they anticipated. But since that needed to be painted just like everything else, they had to think of something.
Their solution may not have been an elegant one, but they were proud enough of it to post it online. By taping their paintbrush to this metal rod, they were both able to reach the ceiling and get into some hard-to-reach places.
Not everyone can afford air conditioning
As Reddit user hasanyonefoundmyeye explained, his wife was moved to a small office that is typically as hot as 82 degrees Fahrenheit inside. And since her management wasn't going to spring for air conditioning, her husband decided to cobble together his own makeshift unit.
And he put some serious thought into it. He used a USB submersible pump, put it in a cooler full of ice water, and rigged a computer's cooling coil to it. As shown here, he even included a condensate plate that was once a takeout lid and drains back into the cooler. As a result, he can keep his wife's office cool for three to four hours at a time.
A lot can happen at the job site
While some construction work was going on, it apparently became clear that this equipment would need a counterweight at the back. But while most people would use ballast in a situation like this, it appears that there wasn't any available.
Instead, they worked with what they had on hand. And that turned out to be a barrel that they ended up filling with cement before they attached it to the vehicle. Hopefully, they still had cement left over after this idea.
Somebody has quite an eventful hotel stay
Although some hotels will make microwaves and other facilities available to their guests in some way, others are a little more bare-bones. If a guest has some food they want to heat up, that isn't really the hotel's problem.
But just because the hotel didn't explicitly set aside any resources for this person to heat up their soup, that doesn't mean they didn't have them. The iron was enough to do the job on its own, but they figured it would be smartest if they put it over the trash can to handle any runoff and a coat hanger to keep it secure.
A highly technical solution
According to Reddit user matiwatii, their computer's side panel had a strange habit of vibrating. While that's pretty strange on its own, the real problem is that it would make a loud, annoying noise whenever it did this. That's not exactly conducive to getting any work done.
Although matiwatii eventually determined that these problems were caused by a loose GPU fan, they found that the only way to stop them while they were in action was to put pressure on the side. So naturally, they chose the most delicate and sophisticated solution. In other words, they taped a rock to it.
How much are shower curtain rings, anyway?
When Reddit user rohlovely posted this picture, they described themselves as "too broke and lazy" to get any shower curtain rings when they moved into their new apartment. But while they may not have had those, they did have some zip ties.
With the potential exception of duct tape, it's hard to find a more versatile tool in any amateur engineer's kit. However, that doesn't mean other commenters were all that impressed. As one said, "At least snip the tails."
That "wrong" sign seems pretty appropriate
Although the photographer is not sure how they did it, they were stunned to see that the person in the next lane had somehow managed to fit their motorcycle in a mid-sized sedan. That's normally a job for a truck, but this person obviously disagrees.
However, that didn't make it any easier to determine how they did it. Were they able to recline the passenger seat far back to fit this thing or did they take it out entirely? Is that how the bike isn't weighing down the car too much?
Looks like this wasn't so irreplacable
A good recliner has a nice, sturdy handle because switching the chair's positions back and forth can be pretty taxing on it. That's especially true when it's dealing with someone who doesn't know their own strength.
And from the looks of it, this person was either too strong or used the handle too much because it snapped off. However, that didn't turn out to be such a big deal for them. After all, it only takes a set of vise grips to accomplish the same job.
It's probably not seaworthy
It's hard to know how or why, but this proud man was able to turn his station wagon into a boat. One can only imagine that he hollowed out everything in that vehicle to make it possible for that standard boat motor at the back to power it.
Although cars aren't typically the most buoyant vehicles in the world, it seems that his modifications were able to balance it enough that his makeshift boat didn't immediately sink. It seems pretty risky to take it into waters any rougher than this canal, though.
This guy was no sucker
As Reddit user Awkward_Canary4597 explained, the man cave he set up in his garage didn't feel complete without a table celebrating his team, the Dallas Cowboys. Although the team does sell official ones, it turned out that those were much more expensive than he expected.
So, instead, he bought a much cheaper coffee table from a thrift store and went to work making an unofficial alternative. At the end of the day, all that it took was some blue and white duct tape and some Dallas Cowboys stickers. That meant he could get what he wanted for only $20.
It must have taken a while to find the right tool
As Reddit user Suitable_Dot_6999 explained, they had an unusual problem that's apparently a bigger deal outside of the U.S. They needed to replace their car battery, but Volkswagen doesn't exactly make that easy due to placing their screws deep down and tightly nestled in between pipes.
Although finding an extender for a 3/8-inch screwdriver isn't so hard in the United States, they explained that it's much harder elsewhere and that they couldn't wait a few days for the tool to show up. So, instead, they found that they could do the job with their grandfather's chisel and some duct tape. Now that's good thinking!
That pun is too good
Even the biggest pun hater will occasionally have to admit when they've come across a good one and this is a perfect example. When someone comes up with an idea as creative as a skateboard fan, they've earned the right to wink and nudge people about the sign they put on it.
However, that doesn't mean this clever idea should be imitated. Because skateboards are much heavier than regular fan blades, that makes them both more dangerous if something goes wrong and more taxing on the fan's motor. It's likely to burn out much faster.
Being lazy can be hard work
It's hard to tell what was so annoying about this light switch that someone would rather rig a low-tech system up than get up to turn it off and on. Considering that a hole needed to be punched in the switch for this to work, that seems like a lot of effort to do something so simple.
But as bewildering as it is, it's also hard not to be a little impressed. It's amazing what they were able to accomplish with some string and a couple of PVC pipes. Imagine what they'll be able to do when a bigger job comes along.
That snow's not going to plow itself
Although snowplows are usually much heavier-duty than this, it's also true that not everyone is lucky enough to have one run through their area. For those people, one of the only remaining options is to improvise. And that's exactly what this person has done.
It's hard to tell what this tub used to be a part of, but one can only hope that it works just as well as a plow. It doesn't seem like that's the most likely scenario, considering that its side appears to open, though.
This is just as conflicting as it is inspiring.
On one hand, it's hard to fault the ingenuity here. Securing an overhead projector can be rough without the right tools, so it's incredible that someone who clearly didn't have them was nonetheless able to get it done.
However, just because it was kind of brilliant to cut a hole in a plastic bin and secure it with zip ties, that doesn't mean this is likely to work out. That's because projectors are often prone to overheating, which isn't typically as noticeable when they have proper support. But the smell of melting plastic will be a crucial hint that this isn't proper support.
Talk about heavy metal
For the more hardcore music fans, it's not so hard to see why someone would want to turn a chainsaw into a guitar. It's ridiculous enough to stand out among all the other bands, and the idea is cool enough to get more than its share of genuine appreciators.
At the same time, that doesn't mean many people are likely to envy the guitarist who has to lug this thing around. And whether it's worth the effort will depend a lot on what this insane instrument actually sounds like.
It's that kind of belt now
Since they're a technician who works on Lexus cars, it's apparently not unusual for Reddit user JerewB to end up with more parts than they really have a use for. At least, that's the best explanation for what they did with this LS460 timing belt.
It may have been a timing belt when it was originally in the vehicle, but it seems like it's undergone a pretty significant change in roles. Now, it has a humbler existence as just a belt.
If Batman weren't a billionaire, he'd ride in this
In all honesty, somebody would have to be a pretty big grump not to think this is really cool. It obviously took a lot of doing, and the pieces didn't quite fit together, but the results are as awesome of a Batmobile as someone can realistically make with spare parts.
Really, the results better look as cool as they do here because they required the sacrifice of three different cars. And considering that the back was likely part of a Cadillac and the middle used to be a Corvette, those are some pretty costly sacrifices.
Seriously, don't try this at home
It's obvious that this truck has seen better days, but considering that whoever is driving this is using a bunch of plastic bags as a gas cap, it may not even have many bad days left. Naturally, that isn't the ingenious part of this picture.
Instead, that honor goes to this person's replacement for their missing tailgate. There's probably a great story behind how this truck lost both of those parts, but the idea of holding everything together with a Jeep grille, some chains, and a couple of big sticks is an admittedly brilliant one.
Apparently, this works surprisingly well
This man had a few seat belts left over from previous cars and was pretty short on ideas for what he wanted to do with him. However, since he needed a new belt for his pants, he figured it was worth a try to use one of them as a substitute.
Upon looking at this, most people would expect the big box near the buckle to get pretty cumbersome as the man moves around, especially as he bends down. However, he said that was more comfortable for him than he expected, and he's identified fitting the buckle through the belt loops as the only hard part of this fashion choice.
Just don't forget that it's there
Apparently, this dishwasher has a nasty habit of flying open in the middle of its wash cycle. Naturally, that's an annoying and potentially messy situation to deal with. Moreover, the permanent solution to it is probably a mysterious one, even if it's somehow not an expensive one.
But while others figure it out, one dad has come up with a temporary one that he was probably pretty proud of. With the addition of a tension rod in the right place, the dishwasher stays firmly closed. It may turn the kitchen into a Limbo game, but it's still an improvement.
This is only used under a specific set of circumstances
While there are circumstances that would make this setup look horrifying, it's worth expressing that this person isn't trying to drive down the road like this. When they're holding this skateboard against their brake pad with a weight, the car isn't moving at all.
Sometimes, a brake line can get some air intruding into space that's normally only reserved for the fluid. When this happens, it's common practice to "bleed" the brakes and ensure the air is being let out. This skateboard setup makes that brake bleeding easier.
Would this actually work?
Out of context, it may be a little hard to see what the point of hanging a pot with a bunch of utensils in it on a door could be. But the fact that they're all made of metal should pique the interest of anyone who's ever dropped any of these things while doing the dishes.
With that in mind, the intention here is clear. If somebody opens the door, the pot and everything in it will crash to the ground, making enough of a racket to wake up everyone in the house and (hopefully) scare any intruders away. But has that actually worked for anyone?
This isn't an old pair of headphones; it's two!
If these headphones look like they're in rough shape, that's exactly what brought them together. That's because Reddit user Fedor_Kuznetsov99 got the idea to take their dead Bluetooth headphones and their dead wired headphones and try to fuse them together.
On the surface, it seems totally illogical. Why would two kinds of headphones that didn't work separately suddenly work after they were wired together? That's a great question that the Redditor didn't have an answer for, but they nonetheless discovered that this is exactly what happened after this bizarre project was completed. Score one for mad science!
It seems brilliant and ill-advised all at once
Although they make dashboard phone holders that make getting GPS directions and other functions easier, somebody found an admittedly brilliant way to do the same job without getting one. Until now, who has ever thought of feeding the phone cord through a CD in the car's player?
That said, there are a few reasons why some people would still buy the normal holder even after this discovery. Unless they don't care about using this CD player for its intended purpose again, they may want to consider that they have the CD tray holding more weight than it's designed to carry.
A cozy, creative idea
Pallets seem to be one of the biggest staples in DIY projects, but one person went beyond the limits of other people's imaginations and made a playhouse for their daughter out of them. Although the results looked cozy and fun, others had some qualms.
Namely, they were concerned about the fact that the wood used to make pallets is generally not sanitized. So, without a coat of varnish or a similar sealant, this playhouse could expose the child to some potentially harmful bacteria and toxic chemicals.
