I very much enjoy Clickspring. It’s a Aussie fella with a lovely voice in his garage machine shop building a pendulum clock from scratch. I’m not particularly interested in clockwork, watching him go through building step by step, however, is fascinating. The clock project has actually been completed and he’s started on a new one, building an Antikythera Mechanism from scratch, using the techniques and tools the ancient greek craftsman probably used thousands of years ago. Wonderful stuff.
I second Modern Rogue, that is a fun channel. Those guys also have a sister channel, Scam School, about teaching bar tricks and sleight of hand magic and similar.
(And no, I don’t think they realize how much their content appeals to women as well.)
His work is amazing. If you want to learn techniques for making very precise and beautiful things, Clickspring is the way to go.
One of my favorite Clickspring tricks is to use super glue or red Locktite to attache a part to an aluminum mandrel or backing plate–you can then happily machine the difficult-to-grip part and then heat it with a torch afterward to release the grip.
Bronze Cowboy
A guy in Scottsdale, AZ dresses up perfectly as a metallic statue. People will sit down next to him or even just stand next to him, and then he’ll casually come to life. It’s hilarious seeing peoples’ reactions when their reality is turned on its head!
I’ve picked up a few more since the ones I recommended last year.
The Slingshot Channel: mad genius Joerg Sprave kludges together ridiculous implements of destruction that are all somehow classified as toys under German law
Cocktail Chemistry: some very elaborate beverages, along with basic bartending techniques
agadmator’s Chess Channel: I don’t play chess, yet I can watch this guy talk about it for hours. He recaps interesting matches, with some background on the players and just enough tactical information to make it understandable without becoming overwhelming to the casual viewer.
MICKEY -renraw-: Video game playthroughs with a healthy dose of humor
SUSD is my favorite board game review channel. They also have Cool Ghosts as a side project, which is about video games. Both channels can be…let’s say overindulgent…at times, but I think they do the best job at deep examination of the games.
His “talking torso” presentation style is remarkably similar to that of Binging With Babish, which Biggirl mentioned upthread. But it’s ok; they lampshaded this by doing a crossover episode back in May.
This video is so cute, I just had to share. I previously mentioned Shawn Woods and his Mousetrap Mondays videos. This one has Shawn and his young son demonstrating a Lego mousetrap. This video is fine for the squeamish. It’s a live catch-and-release trap, and they do release the mouse at the end.
Good thread - some of the stuff I’ve checked out so far.
Speaking of checking it out…
For bettering myself, my go-to channel is (Dr. Steve) Brule’s Rules
Agadmator - chess discussion, his enthusiasm and presentation rekindled my interest in the game.
Crime Pays but Botany Doesn’t - a crude dude with a thick Chicago accent describes plant species and general ecology and why it matters. Also a heavy dose of modern society hate I find refreshing.
LockPickingLawyer - man has lock picking skills and his delivery is calming like Mr. Rogers. If you never watch it, just know Master is a shit lock company.
Mr. Chickadee - a self taught wood craftsman that makes incredible things with no electric tools. No words, just nature sounds. Very Zen.
I didn’t realize this was a Zombie thread until I saw my own post from 3 years ago.
Anyway, I felt compelled to note that Grant Thompson passed away last year, but TKOR is still going and still quite entertaining.
If you are still looking for YouTube channels, I didn’t see anyone mention Mark Rober, who has fun and interesting science and engineering and led me to TKOR and others. My favorite now is How Ridiculous. 3 Australian guys dropping heavy items from a 45-meter tower.
GTOger is the channel that had humorous videos of cars being towed from a lot in an alley in Deep Ellum in Dallas.
Freakin’ Reviews looks at As-Seen-On-TV items and other stuff we probably don’t need but look like good ideas.
How to Cook That is both baking and chocolate-making videos, but also debunking YT viral fake videos such as 5-minute-crafts.
I like Kevin Nealon’s Hiking With Kevin, where the ex-SNL member hits the trails of LA with his celebrity friends.
I don’t know if it would appeal to folks here, but I really enjoy taking vicarious road trips with Traveling Robert–a homespun vlogger who has an upbeat attitude that is kind refreshing these days.
