Introduction
If you enjoy playing around with things, disassembling stuff, and even reverse-engineering machinery then you’ll probably enjoy taking up one of our dedicated tinkering hobbies.
People who tinker are usually quite creative and often like to find novel ways to enhance or augment the things they interact with which can lead to some very obscure but interesting end results.
With that said, it doesn’t always reach that depth but even being hands-on or practical can offer you a sense of craftsmanship that many people enjoy.
In our opinion, tinkering is about enjoying the process of how things are made and being able to improve upon an already existing concept; it might not always look good but if it serves a function then who cares?
Ready for Inspection?: 12 Hobbies That Involve Tinkering and Fixing
1. Toymaking
When you think of toymaking you instantly envision an old man working in his cozy workshop tinkering away at his creations.
To make toys is to bring joy to millions of kids and adults alike, all around the world.
Or perhaps, maybe you enjoy making toys for more personal reasons such as to display them or to create a certain look you’re going for in one of your rooms.
The great thing about this hobby is that you can make toys with a variety of different techniques so you won’t be limited to only one specialization.
You can really get creative and if you want to, you can opt for mechanizing your toys meaning you get to play around with your creations even more by adding intricate joints, gears, or even wind-up mechanics.
2. Watchmaking
Watchmaking is another hobby that is often romanticized in terms of the imagery it conjures up when you think about it.
You probably picture an eccentric genius tirelessly inspecting their watch creations surrounded by schematics and cog pieces.
And at one point in time, you wouldn’t necessarily be wrong as watchmaking was a hobby for master craftsmen who would make all the tiny delicate parts by hand to then be fitted in the watch.
At this point in time, watchmaking is mainly done with automated techniques as they are far more time-efficient and generally accurate.
With that said, we don’t think that should stop you from attempting to learn about watchmaking by hand as it will give you the ability to tinker for years on end.
3. Car Customization
Car customization is a niche area within car mechanics whereby the enthusiast will try to optimize the appearance of their car and the general performance.
Similar to other building hobbies, car customization allows you to tinker with the inner workings of your machine giving you a greater bond between you and the car.
Most people who get into customizing cars either do it commercially or spend their time trying to get famous in car magazines or trying to make a name for themselves on popular social media pages.
This can be quite an expensive hobby to get into and can even become addictive so make sure you have the funds before you try this one.
4. Woodworking
Woodworking is a multi-functional hobby that has many applications such as making work benches, creating furniture, and even making decorative wooden ornaments for around the home.
In truth, you can do basically anything with woodworking; it’s one of the most practical hobbies that you can do meaning you’ll become very popular with your friends and family once they catch wind of your skills.
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The great thing about woodworking is that it offers you the ability to customize the world around you whilst also making functional objects that can serve many needs.
You’ll even have your own dedicated workshop where you can setup lots of cool machinery such as band saws, miter saws, table saws, and sanders to make your perfect creations.
Lastly, wooden creations are much better for the environment than some other materials meaning you’ll be contributing toward a better society and a safer world for future generations.
5. Blacksmithing
Blacksmithing is a hobby that still remains popular in some niche circles, especially where customized weaponry is concerned.
In fact, it’s a hobby that can make you extremely rich if you perfect your metalworking and forging techniques.
If you like the idea of working away in a grungy workshop with a glowing fire on the go then you’ll definitely love blacksmithing.
Again, this hobby is similar to other artisan crafts in the fact that you’ll need to do some deep research to make the most of it and so you can get good at it.
6. Diorama Creation
If you like the idea of building beautiful vistas or creating intricate landscapes then you’ll love making dioramas as they can help you customize basically every aspect of how a certain scene looks.
In essence then, you’re making a model landscape, often as a piece of art to be admired rather than a functional object.
With that said, some specialized hobbies such as Warhammer can incorporate diorama creation to be the backdrop for the game to be played on.
Most people make dioramas around famous battles or various war machinery as they offer far more context than something abstract.
Making dioramas can be easy to get started but hard to master which we think is great as it means you’ll have plenty of hours to have fun making various things.
7. Rock Tumbling
Rock tumbling is a tinkerer’s dream as you’ll turn otherwise mundane objects (rocks) into stunning gems, jewelry, and ornamental pieces that can be displayed or sold to budding customers.
Essentially, a rock tumbler can smooth away any jagged edges making your rocks far more palatable for people to buy or wear as a decorative piece.
In fact, the process is relatively easy and all you’ll need is a rock tumbler and some barrels with varying grits to polish down your stones.
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This process, although easy, actually takes from 2 weeks all the way up to longer periods of tumbling for a month or more to make sure your rocks are gleaming.
The great thing about rock tumbling is that you can add your perfect stones to other crafts such as epoxy projects and woodworking depending on what you’re wanting to achieve making it one of the most versatile hobbies.
8. Refinishing
If you like the idea of bringing old things back to life then refinishing might be for you.
In essence, you’ll be refinishing a variety of surfaces, especially wooden surfaces where you can apply fresh lacquer or varnish to make it sparkle like used to.
This can also be applied to restoration projects such as wooden cabinets or furniture pieces meaning you should always have something to be working on.
9. Restoration
Restoration is the bigger brother of refinishing and involves a more all-encompassing skill set to bring a range of objects back to life.
You could be working on cars, furniture, toys, and even huge projects like houses where you’ll need to bring them back to their former state of newness.
Lots of care goes into restoring things and you’ll have to slowly tinker away to make sure you’re doing it justice to maintain originality as it’s easy to make a mess if you don’t have good attention to detail.
10. Model Making
Model making is one of the best hobbies for people who like to tinker with things purely because there are so many intricate pieces and objects to play with.
Most models are built to scale meaning you’ll get a deeper knowledge of how things are made, for example, you’ll find out the wing size needed to hold up the fuselage of a 747 which is actually really cool.
Model making doesn’t just stop with aircraft though, and in truth, you’ll find a huge range of models to be made or played with depending on your interests.
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In fact, you can even combine diorama creation with model making and build a beautiful model railway if you so wish.
There’s no end to the creativity you can apply here so if you enjoy fiddling with things then you’ll love this hobby.
11. PC Building (Gaming)
Although primarily done as a business, PC building is a really fun way to spend time making stunning gaming systems for budding gamers and even for yourself.
You’ll need to install hardware such as motherboards and you’ll also need to optimize the heat efficiency by implementing cooling systems such as water cooling loops or various fans throughout the case.
You can really get inventive with PC building and if you’re wanting to take it to the next level, you can even make your own custom spray paint jobs for your case.
We find that gaming systems become more complex with every year that passes meaning there are even more accessories to order that can enhance or augment the dream system you’re wanting to build.
12. Leatherworking
Leatherworking is an old-school craft hobby but one that still remains relevant to this day.
Leather is a versatile material that can be carved, shaped, and molded to suit your needs to make a huge list of functional or decorative items.
In fact, some of the most common objects involve belts, shoes, straps, bags, and even leather surfaces that can be applied to a woodworking project.
It’s also an extremely tough material and fairly water-resistant meaning leather will never go out of fashion as it’s too useful.
Conclusion
Tinkering hobbies are some of the best because they allow you to get hands-on with whatever it is you’re doing.
If you like fixing, optimizing, and even customizing objects then hopefully this list has given you some inspiration of what you can get started with.
If you enjoyed our article, don’t forget to save our homepage to your favorites as we regularly update and release new hobby information.
You can also browse our big list of hobbies for more ideas like the ones we’ve provided and some different ones in case you’re curious.
