My friend Federico turned me on to these great videos that show how things work by taking them apart and building working models of them.

They are a bit dated, and very British… but what Maker could resist Tim Hunkin’s The Secret Lives of Machines? They are made available via the Exploratorium web site.

The thumbnails are of the intro cartoon, but they are live action videos.

Here is the first episode:
The Secret Lives of Machines – The Vacuum Cleaner

Enjoy!