Name: Lynette Pedersen's review of Every Tool's a Hammer by Adam Savage
Item: Every Tool's a Hammer
Rating: 3
Author: Lynette Pedersen

Adam Savage

In this New York Times bestselling “imperative how-to for creativity” (Nick Offerman), Adam Savage—star of Discovery Channel’s Mythbusters—shares his golden rules of creativity, from finding inspiration to following through and successfully making your idea a reality. Every Tool’s a Hammer is a chronicle of my life as a maker. It’s an exploration of making, but it’s also a permission slip of sorts from me to you. Permission to grab hold of the things you’re interested in, that fascinate you, and to dive deeper into them to see where they lead you. Through stories from forty-plus years of making and molding, building and break­ing, along with the lessons I learned along the way, this book is meant to be a toolbox of problem solving, complete with a shop’s worth of notes on the tools, techniques, and materials that I use most often. Things like: In Every Tool There Is a Hammer—don’t wait until everything is perfect to begin a project, and if you don’t have the exact right tool for a task, just use whatever’s handy; Increase Your Loose Tolerance—making is messy and filled with screwups, but that’s okay, as creativity is a path with twists and turns and not a straight line to be found; Use More Cooling Fluid—it prolongs the life of blades and bits, and it prevents tool failure, but beyond that it’s a reminder to slow down and reduce the fric­tion in your work and relationships; Screw Before You Glue—mechanical fasteners allow you to change and modify a project while glue is forever but sometimes you just need the right glue, so I dig into which ones will do the job with the least harm and best effects. This toolbox also includes lessons from many other incredible makers and creators, including: Jamie Hyneman, Nick Offerman, Pixar director Andrew Stanton, Oscar-winner Guillermo del Toro, artist Tom Sachs, and chef Traci Des Jardins. And if everything goes well, we will hopefully save you a few mistakes (and maybe fingers) as well as help you turn your curiosities into creations. I hope this book serves as “creative rocket fuel” (Ed Helms) to build, make, invent, explore, and—most of all—enjoy the thrills of being a creator.

Life Is What You Make It

Every Tool's a Hammer

Steve C

Lynette Pedersen

This book is precisely what I would expect a book by Adam Savage to be--a frenetic flurry of information, some obvious, some insightful, but all delivered with an undeniable enthusiasm. I appreciate that he acknowledges the massive privilege he's had in his life, but it's still just a wee bit annoying that he says things like, "I called up Guillermo del Toro..." Sure, great, let's all just call up our heroes in Hollywood and get some inside information. While the occasional acknowledgement is appreciated, it might help mitigate the privilege a bit to have maybe a list of other resources that could be useful for those of us who don't have del Toro, employees of ILM, Jamie Hyneman, or R̶o̶n̶ ̶S̶w̶a̶n̶s̶o̶n̶ Nick Offerman in our back pockets. 

All in all, I got a couple tidbits out of it, and it was a pretty fast read. I definitely appreciate the chapter on lists and drawings since I'm prone to list making but always felt like it was taking up precious time so often force myself to skip it. Savage seems like a pretty down-to-earth guy, and that's got value too. I would suggest that this book is aimed at younger, newer makers though, and that anyone who is a little further along in their maker journey may find less value in his discussions (unless, of course, you just want to read about Adam Savage and get a good idea of his personal journey--there's certainly value in that too!).

Rohit Gupta

An amazing book about Adam's journey. Very insightful as a maker myself and having grown up watching Mythbusters. Highly recommended

Sans

Hard to quantify what this book is but I loved every second of it.

Erik Craigo

Matt Leonard

Erik Horton

Laura

Katherine Oelsner

Pedro Pinheiro 

Ryan B Harvey

Pravesh Narayan

Bryce Thornton

Jason Long

Patty M.

Sergio Lopes

Adam

Allison Hornery

Aaron Long

MythBusters' Adam Savage - Discovery Channel star and one of the most beloved figures in science and tech - shares his golden rules of creativity, from finding inspiration to following through and successfully turning your idea into reality. Adam Savage is a maker. From Chewbacca's bandolier to a thousand-shot Nerf gun, he has built thousands of spectacular projects as a special effects artist and the co-host of MythBusters. Adam is also an educator, passionate about instilling the principles of making in the next generation of inventors and inspiring them to turn their curiosity into creation. In this practical and passionate guide, Adam weaves together vivid personal stories, original sketches and photographs from some of his most memorable projects, and interviews with many of his iconic and visionary friends in the arts and sciences - including Pixar director Andrew Stanton, Nick Offerman, Oscar-winner Guillermo Del Toro and artist Tom Sachs - to demonstrate the many lessons he has picked up from a lifetime of making. Things like: don't wait until everything is perfect - in your workshop or in your life - to begin. Plan with pencil and paper. Sweep up every day. Learn from doing. Share your toys. There is an exact tool for every task (Adam probably has four of them in his wondrous shop), but if you need to pound in a nail and all you have handy is a skill saw - hammer away. The most important thing, always, is just that you make something. Every Tool's a Hammer is sure to guide and inspire you to build, make, invent, explore and, most of all, enjoy the thrills of being a creator.

Dustin Wyse-Fisher

Tyler Jefford

Steve C &
Every Tool's a Hammer by Adam Savage

Reviews

Join the club

Steve C &Every Tool's a Hammer by Adam Savage

Reviews

Join the club

Steve C &
Every Tool's a Hammer by Adam Savage