Ask Adam Anything #3: Talent vs. Ambition
This week, Adam takes a question about what to pursue in high school to prepare for college. It’s something that Adam can relate to, and his advice applies to makers of all ages. If you have a question or something you want to share with Adam, post in the comments below! We’ll be back next week with another question answered!
48 thoughts on “Ask Adam Anything #3: Talent vs. Ambition”
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Oooo, I saw a hammerhead shark. What is that from?
Nicely put, one thing I would add is that it is nice to know what you have a rough interest in before you leave school, many people I knew who didn’t know what they wanted to do spent a lot of time after school drifting for years through courses they could get into rather than doing courses they had a genuine interest in , when looking for summer jobs , try and get them in places where you think you’d like to work, you may only be doing a menial task, but you will see what each job role does and which ones peak your interest
Hello there Adam!
You have been one of the biggest inspirations in my life. When I was younger (about 10yrs old) I knew that I liked to make things, but I lacked direction. Your enthusiasm for sharing your knowledge and the plethora of videos you have sharing your techniques, tools, how-to videos and podcasts have been so pivotal in my development as a maker. One of the most important things that I learnt from you is this: if you set yourself a goal, work hard and keep moving towards
it, anything is possible. My ultimate goal is to become a prop maker for the film industry, since releasing that this dream could come true, (thanks to you!) I have built up a portfolio of my work and have just recently been offered a place at the University of Hertfordshire to Study a BA in model design and model effects. I would just like to say I am so grateful for everything that you have shared with us, I know that it has affected me in a very personal and positive way.
Anyways, onto my question! I am currently working on a creature suit (inspired by the Rancour construction videos!). Some of the work can be quite repetitive and so was wondering what podcasts/music/audio books/ interviews you like to listen to while you are working in the shop?
Thanks,
Evie
During creative courses at a degree of even high school level is very reliant on the amount of bookwork you have to do to reach a final design or point in which you can finally start making or building. How important is the documentation of your thought process? especially in terms of commenting on every sketch and picture you add to the collection.
Hi my name is zach I am a junior in high school. I am taking machine tool(machine shop) classes my school is ranked either 1 or 2 in my county for our shop so I gess we are doing smothing right . I am interested in doing this as a career but i am not to sure what kind of opportunities I will have entering this field any advice?
Hey,
Any tips for people who don’t have space for a real workshop?
I only have my desk as a working spot and i’m concerned about the mess, the dust and how to store my equipment.
Thank you
I have a fairly succesful youtube channel on which I build stuff.
But now I’m in a position where I can’t quit my job to grow the channel and I can’t grow the channel (enough to make money) if I don’t quit my job.
What should I do? It keeps me up at night being in this limbo.
Thank you Adam.
Giaco
Hi Adam,
Thought that you passed along some good advice this week. I can see you doing several videos like this but, in case you don’t, I have a question. I live in the DC area where is there is a museum on every block (nearly). It is also the home of the Smithsonian. Have they approached Mythbusters about donating any props that survived the shows? An exhibit based on the Blueprint Room would be awesome.
It might help if you linked to your channel here! A ready made audience into making!
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYH-XXUE2QDaWKvABsWJh8w/featured
Post your link here man, every little bit helps!
Hi Adam!
I have a tool related question:
I have been volunteering in the scene shop at my community college’s theatre around my classes. They mostly do set building, so there a lot of wood working tools. For cutting lumber they have a chop saw similar to your Dewalt and a redial arm saw. The radial saw makes nice cuts and isn’t too noisy, the chop saw on the other hand is atrociously loud and doesn’t cut as cleanly (leaves a rough edge). Is this normal for chop saws, or do we have a dull/incorrect blade?
Thanks for answering the community’s questions!
Hello Adam,
First, thank you for everything. You’re my role model. My name is Chase, I’m 22 and currently in the U.S. Air Force. I love making and is something I would like to do once I’ve separated from the military. I feel like my main flaw is that I’m terrible about sharing what I’ve made with others. I feel like my work isn’t good enough to share and frankly I’m just lazy about posting pics. So I focus more on raising the quality of my work, rather than sharing it with others. Is networking, and showing what you’ve made just as important as making your work higher in quality? Will showing it help me make my work better? Advice on networking would also be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time.
P.S. what do you listen to while working in your shop? music, podcast, movies?
Regards,
Chase Kiefer
Hey Adam,
I’m really enjoying this new series. My question is about not only encouraging young makers, but how can anyone financially afford to allow them to make. I’m a 4th grade teacher at a small, parochial school (less than 200 students in grades kindergarten through 8th grade). In the last couple of years, I’ve started to incorporate coding into my curriculum. What a great feeling to watch a student’s face light up as they figure out how to draw a circle or even make a ball bounce on their screen through coding! Obviously watching their success is one reason I like teaching code, but the fact that it’s free is a big bonus. Thank you, code.org! Now, recently I’ve had some of my former students who are now in middle school come asking about building on their coding experience and also actually making things. My heart sank as the immediate thought that popped into my head is that I can’t do anything because it’s just too expensive. I know better than to ask the school for any funds, sadly they just aren’t there. I hate the idea of letting them down. Do you have any ideas of what I could do to make sure these kids have a chance learn something new and possibly gain some lifelong skills?
Thanks
Hey Adam,
I recently signed on to work on a committee to help design a fabrication lab for our local high school and also create programs for the community to get involved in. The main purpose is to help introduce students and the community to rapid prototyping, 3D printing, and other processes that are becoming more and more prevalent in the workforce. I’m actually proposing classes on movie props, costumes, etc. after watching all the videos you’ve done, and exploring the RPF. I was wondering if you could recommend important aspects that you think should be included within in the lab. Whether it’s tools, machinery, or whatever else you can think of. I know you briefly discussed this in your first video but I was wondering if you could go more in depth with it. I’ve been using your videos as references for some things I think would be convenient to have in the lab. Thanks for all the content, you’ve been a huge inspiration for me.
Best,
Tyler Holmes
Seems like you have done a lot to upgrade your shop– are you considering doing contracted work? Namely, have you put any thought into getting back into the effects game with your own workshop? The follow up question would be if you’re hiring haha
A bad cut from a chop saw could be because of the blade, though it could be the saw itself as well. Chop saws are used for two main purposes: Woodworking in a shop or construction work. Construction chop saws aren’t very accurate or quiet; they are optimized for efficiency on a construction site where the cuts will all be covered up anyway so appearance doesn’t matter. Nicer chop saws, like ones made by Festool, will make accurate and clean cuts all day long. The saw at your local shop may have just seen better days, and/or it has an aggressive, construction style saw blade on it that’s designed to cut 2x4s and 2×6’s really fast but won’t give good results for finer woodworking. Unless the saw at your local shop is in terrible condition a good blade with finer teeth will probably improve the results you’re getting.
“Hi my name is zach I am a junior in high school. I am taking machine tool(machine shop) classes my school is ranked either 1 or 2 in my county for our shop so I guess we are doing something right . I am interested in doing this as a career but i am not to sure what kind of opportunities I will have entering this field any advice?”
Hi, Zach,
I’m not Adam, but I usually work as an engineer in small shops with lots of machine tools so I can answer your question. Right now is a very good time for starting into machining. The pool of people doing that kind of work is shrinking as the older machinist retire and the pool of experienced machinists shrinks. In fact if you go over to Mike Rowe’s facebook page or watch the videos of the Youtube shop Community
https://www.youtube.com/user/KEF791/channels?view=60
you can see that a lot of people in the field are very concerned about the lack of new people entering the field. Keith Fenner even runs a toolbox giveaway for newbies. So the opportunities are wide open. From my experience, you will be even better off if you learn how to use a manual lathe and vertical mill before learning to run the CNC machines. That will allow you to be creative, flexible and able to work in any shop. In my experience you learn more in a small shop and I would check around your neighborhood and see what’s there. Just walk in and see if you can sweep the floors. That way you will be in contact with the old hands and learn all the tricks that make a good machinist a true artisan. Also, if you don’t have a copy of machinery’s handbook, get one. Good luck.
Hi Adam,
This new series inspired me to go Premium and I am definitely not let down! Thank you for this amazing content. I do have a question for you:
I am a software engineer by trade and consider myself a maker of sorts in that area of expertise. I am always looking for new ideas and ways of using this talent to help not only grow my skill set, but also make money. However, I am always stretched thin and sometimes find it hard to focus and deliver a great result on everything that i do.
I work for a startup full-time in which I have a TON of responsibility and long hours. I have freelance work from time-to-time and just recently have started engaging a large client based off of a recent hack-a-thon in which I helped create an amazing concept for a product that they want to bring to production and could end up being a lucrative side business. I want to do everything, somehow balance time with my wife and deliver awesome things. What tips do you have from your experience that could help me do this?
Even if you don’t get to this question thank you so much for this inspiring series!
Hey Adam,
I’ve been inspired by the LED Light Strips on your display cabinets and want to do the same on my own. However, I was wondering exactly what your setup is, specifically how you’ve handled the power source. If it’s a power cable, where does that go? If it’s a battery, how do I get that working?
Thanks a bunch, you’ve always been a huge inspiration for me,
Tim V.
For inspiration on working without a full shop, look at this thread on a guitar forum. A guy building a Les Paul electric guitar (non powered hand tools only) in his small Tokyo apartment without getting kicked out by his wife.
http://www.mylespaul.com/forums/luthiers-corner/129825-barnabys-lp-scratch-build-hand-tools-only.html
Almost 70 forum pages of build documentation, tools discussions, humour, sidetracks and an earthquake. It’s quite old though so some of the images have gone lost.
Thank you, i’ll take a look 🙂
Hi Fellas,
Would you guys ever consider creating a Roku subscription channel? It would so cool to be able to view your latest escapades and projects on mobile devices and on a big screen. Perhaps this would be a way to increase the number of premium users.
I do have another question – how can a hobbyist like myself learn to work with metal working tools safely? I want to build antennas for my ham radio hobbyist but my challenge is learning how to work the metal for my projects. what books do you recommend?
Yesterday, I finished buying all the Mythbusters episodes on Amazon, so I’m never going to really miss you guys; however, I’m looking forward to seeing what you do in the future.
Be Well,
Jose
Hi Michael, you are probably correct with the blade being dull. Chop saws are one of those tools that people tend to forget that blades need to be changed on. The motors are fairly loud but should be not much louder (if at all) than the radial arm saw. I’m guessing that the chop saw gets used a fair bit more than the radial arm saw does as well. If you notice rough cuts and burning/browning on the cuts you should change the blade out right away. The type of blade can make a difference as well. If you require really neat, clean cuts then you can pick up a finishing blade for your chop saw. The more teeth, the smoother the cut.
Old Air Force expression “All thrust and no vector” 😉
“The purpose of a bachelor’s degree is to teach you how much you DON’T know about a specific subject”
Sorry, stream of consciousness..
If you have even the slightest interest in electronics, keep feeding it! Electronics takes no space, produces no dust and is cheap!
Most electronic components are dirt cheap. A 5v 1.5a regulator on ebay comes for 10pcs a dollar.
So if you get tired of it or find it not to your liking, no biggie. You’ll be set up good for the same price as a decent chop saw.
You’ll need some tools though, like a soldering station (get a decent one, not the best, but like decent)
A power supply. Get one off ebay or build it from a desktop computer power supply. Save yourself some headache and get a wirestripper from the get-go as well 🙂
Other tools I find that I use with my electronic projects are a hot glue gun, knifes, pliers and the likes. Nothing large, and mostly cheap.
A good cop saw makes nice cuts. Could be the blade or just a cheapo saw.
When tackling a new process or subject, say getting into tig-welding or working with epoxies or learning more about how to make good, hard surfaces on wood. How do you tackle it? Do you always tackle it the same way? I imagine you are learning based on what you want to do. Like, you suddenly want to make a bike frame, and then you realise you need to learn tig-welding. And then you do it. For me, that method has some drawbacks, you move to fast and your understanding is shallow. How do you counter it?
Thanks!
Watching the last season of Mythbusters, I was in awe of the use of drones. But given they were around explosions throwing off debris and shockwaves, I was was wondering – did you have any issues with that? Were any drones hit in the line of duty, or were they simply held far enough away that the explosions didn’t cause trouble?
Thanks for the answers! No browning on the cuts, so it must just be the blade. It makes sense that contractors would want their wood cut fast, especially since the finish doesn’t affect anything and time is money.
Hello Adam,
When trying to get work in the movie industry or any artistic venue when you do consider persistence necessary and when do you think its time to step back so your not annoying?
Hey Giaco, this doesn’t answer your question but I thought I’d let you know I really enjoy your YouTube channel. I am a subscriber and think the work you put out is brilliant. Keep up the good work mate.
Love the Awesome Hacks
It is either a dull blade or the wrong type of blade for the material. Most likely a dull blade.
Great advise and great video as usual!
I have a technical question about your workshop: dust collection/control. In a number or tested videos we see Adam just cutting and sanding without any protection or vacuuming system (I assume due to noise issues with the video). Can you quickly show us what you have? Thanks!
Hi Adam,
My question is related to time management/prioritizing. You’ve managed a full-time job (ILM, M5, Mythbusters, etc.), a family, kids, and still had time to build things on Tested (and otherwise) and seemingly have normal activities like reading, watching movies, and keeping up with TV shows. How do you prioritize what to work on or pay attention to? Do you have every minute of your day/week planned out?
Thanks for the amazing videos!
Zee
Greetings Adam! I am a little student over in England studying special effects and propmakeing at the university of Hertfordshire.
It seems I, like you, have a desire and am eager to learn as many new techniques, processes and materials as I can get my hands on. So in true student faction, Are there any tips or ticks you’ve learned by experience a younger self would have found invaluable?
You are the only person i have ever given the position of role model when it comes to how I work. although I must work on my ‘First Order Retrieve-ability’
Lots of love, Isaac.
Hey Adam, you have a lot of projects going at once, and yet you still manage to show off plenty of completed projects. I too have plenty of things I am building, but have more things unfinished than I’d like. How do you get the motivation to do that last 20% of your projects rather than picking up your tools and building something new?
Hey Adam! A question about time management.
How do you manage your time when you have a list of things to do and multiple projects? Do you start the day with the most difficult task to get it out of the way, or do you start with the low hanging fruit to gain momentum? I find that time management skills are useful both at work as a mechanical engineer and at home when I have home projects. I’m a fan of lists with checkboxes, but I would like to hear some of your methods.
Question: Is there something wrong with the player? I’m unable to adjust the volume. Clicking it just mutes the volume, and I don’t see a volume bar.
Hey Adam,
I’m constantly trying to improve my skill set and knowledge to be able to build bigger and better projects for clients. What skills do you recommend are the best to know for makers? What skills would you expect builders (that you employ) to know?
Thank you
I subscribe to you channel and it is awesome man! A Giaco/Adam one day build would be really cool……
Hi Adam,
I’m in my first year at high school, but have always struggled socially in school. I’ve always been into making and want making to hopefully be a window to forget about all the issues at school and what not. My problem is that I don’t have a lot of money to spare on tools, supplies, etc. How do you think I could begin to physically beginning making instead of just theoretically coming up with a design in my head?
Adam just verbalised how I have felt for the last 5 years (I’m 24). I love building and making. As Adam would say “I’m a serial collector of skills”. It’s just that I don’t have defined path to walk along. I currently work in the art world – building display items and furniture, but this avenue is a fairly narrow one. It doesn’t allow much space for advancement. Prop making seems like an increasingly good avenue for me.
Hi Adam,
With space being a scarcity in many small shops how do you decide what projects to keep for yourself or around your shop to give you inspiration/ entertainment?
Thanks for any help you can give!
Hi Adam,
With space being a scarcity in many small shops how do you decide what projects to keep for yourself or around your shop to give you inspiration/ entertainment?
Thanks for any help you can give!
Hi Adam,
You have a lot projects that take years sometimes to collect all the parts, develop skills and collect the information for. You’ve been doing shop organization lately. How have you changed how projects are kept together?
That’s a great question! Would love to see an answer there. Podcasts I love are:
Untitled with Adam Savage
Reply All (One of my absolute favorites, has lots of variety of interesting Internet related stories)
Idle Thumbs (Smart San Francisco people talk about Video Games… Also Will Smith, formerly of tested has been on there once!)
Tone Control (Interviews with Video Game developers about their process)
Political Gabfest (Smart people talk about politics)
The Ezra Klein Show (Ezra Klein interviews all kinds of people, his interviews are absolutely fantastic)