The Tinkerer’s Handbook, Page 5 (of 8)

Comic Transcripts

[[A banner at the top reads: “Striving boldly into new arenas (and losing interest)”]]

[[A large picture shows a box full of stuff, captioned: “Why let the detritus of previous failed projects clutter up your workspace and demoralize you? PUT IT AWAY FOR GOOD.” “BUILD A JUNK BOX – For all your unifinished projects”]]

[[The article reads: “MATERIALS. This plan builds a 4″ x 8″ x 16″ box. We advise using reclaimed materials whenever possible. One box (4″ x 8″ x 16″ or larger); Assorted junk.”]]

[[“DIRECTIONS. 1. If the box you have obtained is larger than the prescribed size, cut it down to size. We have done extensive testing and our size is unequivocally the best. If your box needs to be watertight (say, if some of your unfinished projects involve plumbing, rainwater reclamation, or crab-husbandry) be sure to seal the new seams you are creating with plumber’s goop. Also take care to cut straight so that your seams will join smoothly. Really 80% of this project is getting the seams right. The rest is just putting stuff in a box.”]]

[[“2. Once your box is cut to size and sealed (as necessary), place your old project materials in the box. Create dividers if desired. We recommend putting the oldest projects nearest the bottom to create a sort of strata of failure. That way you will not be too discouraged when you open the box; you will only see the birdhouse you failed to finish last week, rather than the solar-powered water-heater you discovered was way over your head three and a half years ago.*” “*For example.”]]

[[Another picture shows some sort of box, circular diagrams, illegible writing, and what looks like a gear inside a pizza.]]

[[“3. Our simple pattern for the box (left) includes hinged walls held in shape with cotter pins. This way, should you fail to complete construction of the box itself, you may simply remove the pins and place the loose pieces within the general shape of the half-formed box. This recursiveness cuts down on waste.”]]

{{Alt-text: NEXT ISSUE: Building A File Box For The Projects You Clipped Out Of Magazines But Will Never Actually Build}}

The Tinkerer’s Handbook, Page 5 (of 8) transcribed by in

[[A banner at the top reads: “Striving boldly into new arenas (and losing interest)”]]

[[The article reads: “MATERIALS. This plan builds a 4″ x 8″ x 16″ box. We advise using reclaimed materials whenever possible. One box (4″ x 8″ x 16″ or larger); Assorted junk.”]]

[[Another picture shows some sort of box, circular diagrams, illegible writing, and what looks like a gear inside a pizza.]]

{{Alt-text: NEXT ISSUE: Building A File Box For The Projects You Clipped Out Of Magazines But Will Never Actually Build}}

The Tinkerer’s Handbook, Page 5 (of 8) transcribed by in

[[A banner at the top reads: "Striving boldly into new arenas (and losing interest)"]]

[[A large picture shows a box full of stuff, captioned: "Why let the detritus of previous failed projects clutter up your workspace and demoralize you? PUT IT AWAY FOR GOOD." "BUILD A JUNK BOX - For all your unifinished projects"]]

[[The article reads: "MATERIALS. This plan builds a 4" x 8" x 16" box. We advise using reclaimed materials whenever possible. One box (4" x 8" x 16" or larger); Assorted junk."]]

[["DIRECTIONS. 1. If the box you have obtained is larger than the prescribed size, cut it down to size. We have done extensive testing and our size is unequivocally the best. If your box needs to be watertight (say, if some of your unfinished projects involve plumbing, rainwater reclamation, or crab-husbandry) be sure to seal the new seams you are creating with plumber's goop. Also take care to cut straight so that your seams will join smoothly. Really 80% of this project is getting the seams right. The rest is just putting stuff in a box."]]

[["2. Once your box is cut to size and sealed (as necessary), place your old project materials in the box. Create dividers if desired. We recommend putting the oldest projects nearest the bottom to create a sort of strata of failure. That way you will not be too discouraged when you open the box; you will only see the birdhouse you failed to finish last week, rather than the solar-powered water-heater you discovered was way over your head three and a half years ago.*" "*For example."]]

[[Another picture shows some sort of box, circular diagrams, illegible writing, and what looks like a gear inside a pizza.]]

[["3. Our simple pattern for the box (left) includes hinged walls held in shape with cotter pins. This way, should you fail to complete construction of the box itself, you may simply remove the pins and place the loose pieces within the general shape of the half-formed box. This recursiveness cuts down on waste."]]

{{Alt-text: NEXT ISSUE: Building A File Box For The Projects You Clipped Out Of Magazines But Will Never Actually Build}}

NEXT ISSUE: Building A File Box For The Projects You Clipped Out Of Magazines But Will Never Actually Build

The Tinkerer’s Handbook, Page 5 (of 8)

— May 3rd, 2011

[ Tags: craft, diagrams, tinkerer ] Permalink: https://wondermark.com/c/tink5/

(Start from Page 1.)

Buy a Print

The past few weeks have been a frenzy of assembling the very laborious, very bespoke first print run of NOODLE BATTLE, the puzzle game I am releasing this weekend at PAX West in Seattle!

PAX has an event called the PNW Tabletop Game Market (Saturday night ONLY), which is a curated selection of short-run games from local designers. As I’ve mentioned in this space before, I applied for a space in this fall’s event mainly as a way to force myself to finish a new game. And here it is!

The drawings are all by Jason Poland, good pal and cartoonist of My Dad Is Dracula. Jason played an early version of this game at Alaska Robotics Comics Camp this spring, and really liked it!

So I said, “Do you want to help me make it?” And so he has! It was his idea to make all the characters fun little animals, and I think it adds a ton of charm.

Because this edition is limited-run, it has been incredibly labor-intensive to make! The boxes and cards were made by a game factory in the usual fashion, but separately. The blank tiles were made by a woodworker dude out of Connecticut. For each game, we have had to:

Cut a piece of plastic and install the box window
Paint all the tiles, hundreds at a time
Apply a sticker to both sides of every tile
Apply stickers to the box (we couldn’t get the box back printed in time, so the whole back side of the box is a sticker too)
Apply the “Nutrition Facts” sticker, which was a late suggestion by my kid that I just had to run with
Fold up the rule sheet (they come from the printer as big strips of paper)
Put all the components into the box and seal it all up

I knew it would be a lot of work and would require some inefficient, expensive compromises AND I WAS RIGHT. But the final product is turning out great, which is the important thing!!

I will have 50 copies with me (if all goes well) at PAX, and then between now and the holidays we will be putting together additional copies to round out this first edition.

I will announce additional copies on Patreon first, once they are available online!! And here too, naturally, before long.

You can also sign up here if you’d like me to email you once the game is available online!

Comic Transcripts

The Tinkerer’s Handbook, Page 5 (of 8)

— May 3rd, 2011

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