Ridiculously cheap, indispensable DIY books?

January 14, 2016 5:34 PM

What gems of the DIY literature are out there for next to nothing?

I was surprised to see this week that a usable copy of three best-in-class (IMO, anyway) books, George Hoffman's How to Inspect a House, Vic Sussman's Easy Composting, and Peter Grego's Moon Observer's Guide can now be had for as little as 9 cents, 88 cents, and 1 cent respectively. What other excellent DIY books are out there for a dollar or less?

By DIY, I mean books that teach practical or hands-on skills of any kind - I'm casting the net very broadly, so you should feel free to include books that fall at the edges.

Tip of the keyboard to Kevin Kelly whose contention that it has never been - and will never be again - as cheap as it is now to build a library also got me thinking about this.

posted by ryanshepard to Shopping (6 answers total)

Dale McCormick had two great books that are ridiculously cheap. One is called Housemending, and the other is called something about carpentry and women. The latter is illustrated with great drawings where things like clamps are labeled "Made in Amazon Nation"
posted by OmieWise at 5:55 PM on January 14, 2016

The Foxfire series of books are awesome. I'm sure some of the techniques are outdated but the basics are still there. And they have folklore and lots of other things besides. I picked up the first 3 from Goodwill a few weeks ago for $4.
posted by dawkins_7 at 7:36 PM on January 14, 2016 [2 favorites]

The majority of old editions are probably fairly cheap -- I think you just need a list of the classics. A few off the top of my head all came in within your price range:
Zinn and the Art of Road Bike Maintenance
Rodale's Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening
The Vogue Sewing Book

And while not quite that cheap on Amazon at least, either the Country Wisdom book (and others in that series, drawn from Whole Earth Catalog) or the Encyclopedia of Country Living are great comprehensive deals even new (the latter is about 1,000 pages), and there are likely older used copies around out there too.

AddAll, btw, is a great resource for figuring out the best combination of vendors to order from when going down the list.
posted by veery at 8:15 PM on January 14, 2016 [1 favorite]

If you want to gain a general understanding of how older cars (from the 1950s through the 1970s) work and how to fix them, any of the editions of Petersen's Basic Auto Repair Manual are a great resource. They've been out of print for decades but can often be found very cheaply on Amazon, eBay or in thrift stores. Most automotive shop manuals presuppose a certain level of basic familiarity with auto repairs. The Petersen books exist to provide that basic level of familiarity.
posted by zombiedance at 9:06 PM on January 14, 2016

Best answer: The 2 Oz. Backpacker, A Problem Solving Manual for Use in the Wilds by Robert S. Wood.

This is an excellent, physically small (as in the footprint of an index card) collection of things that are useful when you spend time outdoors. I love this thing, goes with me everywhere. I got mine for 50 cents at a used bookshop. Even when new it's only 5 or 6 bucks.
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 9:33 AM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]

There are also a bunch of books published by Sunset, called things like Basic Wiring or Basic Plumbing. They are clear, concise, and can be had for a few cents at Amazon.
posted by OmieWise at 8:59 AM on January 16, 2016