Every Tool's a Hammer

Lessons from a Lifetime of Making

By: Adam Savage

Narrated by: Adam Savage

Length: 7 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's Summary

In this New York Times best-selling “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 40-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; 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. 

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2019 Adam Savage (P)2019 Simon & Schuster

I love Adam Savage and I returned this book

Honestly, it pains me to write this. The truth is that the book is fine. It was fine on the bus. It was fine on the train. It was fine at my desk. At some point, I couldn't bring myself to listen to it anymore because fine was all it was. I feel this book does a lot of hinting. It hints at how-to's, It hints at a biography, and it hints at a personal conversation. I just didn't find it to be any of those things. What's worse is the tone. I bought this book immediately after his interview with Tim Ferris to continue listening to Adams spark for life. I was surprised to find that the narration was toned down and reads much more like an essay.

The book's not bad. I picked up hints and tricks along the way. I expect to pick up things from any good book though. Like most things done for the first time, I think Adam hasn't quite found his rhythm yet. Still a big fan, but I just can't recommend this book.

Paradigm Changing Book

I found this book way more helpful than I ever thought it could be. As a fellow maker and someone who suffers greatly from analysis paralysis and fear of failure (iterations) I found the mechanisms and advise Adam gave priceless.
He talks about experiences and how he overcame them. It's reasurring that one of the great makers, Adam Savage, has been in the same place mentally as I am now. It's given me courage to move forward on projects that I've been putting off for fear of failure.

Highly Recommend
10/10 with rice

Melodramatic is an understatement

This isn’t as much a book about tips and tricks on being a maker as it is on how making makes you feel. I really like Adam, but man did I find my eyes rolling a lot. Nearly every chapter is the same thing. I can sum it up for you in these bullet points: You have permission to be you. It’s ok to be you. Failing doesn’t mean that you aren’t worth anything. Explore yourself and find yourself. Share yourself. That’s about it.

Inspiring.

if you're familiar with Adam Savage, either from Mythbusters or his work on the Youtube Channel, Tested, then you are familiar with his gushing over exuberance for almost anything he becomes obsessed with. Watching his "One-Day-Build" videos is somehow like watching both a child on christmas morning and seasoned master making something beautiful. In this book he dives a lot deeper into why and how he became a maker and also how it was connected with overcoming a fear of being found out as being too much of a nerd for something. i wish i could tell my younger self some of these lessons; that it's better to be true to yourself and dive deep into your passions/obsessions, than to bow to that fear and conform to some kind of banal normality where you never make anything special. Adam, your next build is a time machine, so you can send this book back in time to younger me. thanks for being an inspiration.

Makers Unite (and listen to this book!

A whole chapter about glue and cardboard? Loved it! Great listen, good paced, varied and personal.

Focus: building stuff and workshop habits / strategy

Grabbed this thinking it would be autobiographical the. Not really that - Was pleased however that to a great extent it is sort of a how-to primer for builders ( of models, costumes and general stuff for the common-man geek who likes to build. ( that’s me and I really liked Adam’s tips, anecdotes and philosophy. I already have ideas for making my workshop better, more productive and more fun!
Adam’s narration was engaging.

Who knew a chapter on glue could be so good?

If you're not a fan of Adam Savage, there's something wrong with you.
Okay but really: I don't read self-help books, I bought this because I love Maker Faire. Turns out, there were some truly useful little wisdoms in this, along with some "oops, yeah, I've done that, too's and a whole lot of encouragement, cheerleading, and suggestions for battling the ever-present question of 'what next?"

More importantly, every PARENT should read this, preferably before they become parents. This is what happens when you feed children's curiosities and let them risk cutting off a finger or two.

All delivered in Adam's delightful sense of wonder at this mad world we live in and all the joy it has to offer if you simply grab your toolbag and start investigating. Cannot recommend this book enough, especially if you have kids.

loved it!

My son and I listened to this book every day before school. we are both makers. Fenix with Lego's myself with just about everything. We both got something different from this book.

loved this book

i loved this book. i learned so much about how i work how i make and about how i organize my shop.

Great "How to" book on shop & life organization

I ended up reading the entire book on audiobook because of timing. Adam is a master at identifying and relating to the "everyperson". He tell you about where he got started in his professional career the mistakes he has made and how he has improved them. There is also a fair amount of instruction on tools as well as discussing many of his builds over his life. There is little to none of his personal life in this book, but I loved how it was written, his stories, and his humor.