Lots of really great stuff in this thread so far.
It's kinda similar to building SNAPs. You wander aimlessly around a hardware store looking for cool looking tubes that will probably fit together.
That's how I build most everything. I'm not much for "planning".
My non-nerf hobbies mostly involve sculpting air, or creating the tools to do so. Amusingly enough, I started homebuilding nerf because I already had the parts and tools around from making musical instruments out of PVC (not showing a PVC flute, they're sorta boring. It's a tube with holes).
A recent project: a tenor banjo, tuned celtic. I scratch built the neck, and made the pot out of a salad bowl from Goodwill. The resonator is a dollar store pie tin. Works fine, I've used it at a couple gigs.
Anglo-Saxon lyre. The sides are bent oak, I think.
One of my "wander around the hardware store" projects, a waterphone. (You know the squeaky/screechy sounds in The Matrix? One of those, but it can be used for a variety of effects. I made this track right after I built it as an experiment).
A lot of what I make is somewhat intangible, and this is my workshop. Ambient, orchestral, and sometimes I combine the two. I compose like I build...I'll wander around until something catches my eye (ear?) and I'll stick it on something else.
Edited by Carbon, 02 June 2016 - 08:40 PM.
Hello. I am Indigo of the Rainbow Clan. You Nerfed my father. Prepare to die.