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Engineering & making (other): videos Hacker News recommends
Other engineering and hands-on topics: miscellaneous engineering explainers, product safety, inventions, patents and quirky devices. Below: every video in this topic that at least three HN users linked with real commentary, in at least three different months (11 demos, 6 explainers, 3 documentarys), best-scored first, with the comments on each video page.
- Aviation & aerospace engineering 124
- Cars, EVs & motorcycles 171
- Transit, cities & urban planning 174
- Civil engineering & construction 70
- Mechanical & precision engineering 141
- Manufacturing & industrial processes 69
- Woodworking, metalworking & workshop skills 34
- 3D printing, CNC & maker projects 58
- Home, DIY & practical skills 61
- Cooking & food 41
- Ships, submarines & maritime 24
- 9 HN recommenders 7 months 2023–2026HN's go-to link for correcting the lightbulb conspiracy myth, giving an engineer's view of the lifespan versus efficiency tradeoff.
- 6 HN recommenders 5 months 2024–2026HN people recommend it as the definitive, thorough guide to getting dishwashers to clean properly and often send it to friends.
- 3 HN recommenders 4 months 2019–2025HN treats it as the obligatory video to share whenever plugs and sockets come up, praised for its safety reasoning.
- 3 HN recommenders 4 months 2015–2019S SETI Institute · talkRecommended in threads about long-lasting structures and passing knowledge across generations, as a long but fascinating talk.
- 3 HN recommenders 3 months 2021–2026Recommended as a clear, charming explanation of how machines work, including a demonstration of building an electric motor.
- 4 HN recommenders 3 months 2022–2023Recommended as a clear explanation of why old headlights looked as they did, and as a case study in mandating requirements versus solutions.
- 3 HN recommenders 3 months 2018–2024Linked as the funny, famous porch-pirate revenge video whenever package theft comes up, with the faked-reactions caveat noted.
- 3 HN recommenders 3 months 2017–2022M Miniatur Wunderland · documentaryHN recommends it as an absorbing look at the most elaborate model railroad ever built.
- 3 HN recommenders 3 months 2017–2020B Buddy Runyan · documentaryHN recommends the series as an entertaining way to learn how everyday machines work, enough to start debugging them.
- 2 HN recommenders 2 months 2016–2024Cited in threads about cheap chargers as proof of why proper certified and isolated power supplies are worth paying for.
- 2 HN recommenders 2 months 2015–2018A Anthony Prezutti Comedy Mentalist · demoLinked as the canonical demo of a safety technology that stops a blade before it injures a finger.
- 2 HN recommenders 2 months 2021–2023W Well There's Your Problem Podcast · podcast episodeHN points to it as a good, detailed podcast account whenever the Goiania incident or lost radioactive sources come up.
- 2 HN recommenders 2 months 2024–2026HN cites it as the key example of Amazon selling dangerous counterfeit goods and warns people to test their fuses.
- 2 HN recommenders 2 months 2019–2023Cited in threads on rigged arcade machines and gambling-like games as the clearest demonstration that skill games can be tuned to be unwinnable.
- 1 HN recommenders 1 months 2021–2022Cited in atmospheric water harvesting threads as a debunking of products that promise drinking water from thin air.
- 1 HN recommenders 1 months 2022–2024HN brings it up as the obligatory link whenever package theft or booby-trapped parcels come up.
- 1 HN recommenders 1 months 2020–2024Cited in porch-pirate threads as the definitive revenge-engineering project, praised for its impressive engineering.
- 1 HN recommenders 1 months 2013–2015V Volvo Trucks · demoCited as a real-world example of automatic emergency braking already working on heavy trucks.
- cited 4× 0 months 2014–2020N NSSF—The Firearm Industry Trade Association · explainerCited as evidence that ammunition cooking off in a fire is much less dangerous than people assume.
- cited 4× 0 months 2016–2024S Sean Roos · videoShared as nightmare fuel in threads on diving and underwater work to show how deadly pressure differentials are.
- cited 4× 0 months 2019–2022Cited as an example of poor-quality knockoff products sold on Amazon, not recommended as a watch.
- cited 4× 0 months 2020–2022HN uses it as an example of Google's search answers confidently giving the wrong date for the invention.
- cited 4× 0 months 2020–2022G Gravity Industries · demoHN cites it as a practical use case for jet suits in emergency response, though some doubt how usable the suit is.
- cited 3× 0 months 2022–2023Commenters link the glitter bomb series whenever package theft comes up.
- cited 4× 0 months 2021–2024T Toyota USA · demoCited in hydrogen debates as evidence that pressurized hydrogen tanks do not necessarily explode when punctured.
Questions
What is the most recommended engineering & making (other) video on Hacker News?
Longer-lasting light bulbs: it was complicated by Technology Connections: HN's go-to link for correcting the lightbulb conspiracy myth, giving an engineer's view of the lifespan versus efficiency tradeoff.
How is this engineering & making (other) list ranked?
By HackerTube's score: the number of distinct months in which an HN comment recommended the video, plus half a point for every month with a strong recommendation. One viral thread counts less than steady recommendations over years.
Where do the videos come from?
From every Hacker News comment between 2007 and 2026 that linked a YouTube video, labeled by an AI model as a recommendation, a citation, a joke or a criticism. The list is published by HackerTube under ODC-By 1.0; this edition adds indexable pages and the comment context.
Video list and Hacker News comment labels from HackerTube (prompted by @karpathy), released under ODC-By 1.0, built on the open-index/hacker-news archive. Hacker News data is provided by Y Combinator; comments remain the work of their authors. Video titles, channel names and thumbnails belong to their creators and are shown via YouTube. HackerTube Watch is an unofficial edition. Data export of 2026-10-31.