Village Tech

Make profiles New Guinean 'Makers':

Tim Anderson, who does the awesome Heirloom Technology column in MAKE, has a zillion great Instructables covering all manner of indigenous tech, shop tips, tool hacks, and other flaky golden biscuits of makery goodness. Here are some excerpts from a piece he did after visiting a town on the western tip of Papua, a place called Tempat Garam (meaning "salt making place"). It's a sweet maker portrait of the Mombrasars, a family of blacksmiths that have a shop there. The family build boats, forges tools for the village, and invents their own cool gadgets...[continue reading]