The Best How It's Made Documentaries

Engineering & Megastructures - 39 free documentaries about how it's made.

Start with I Tried To Make Something In America (The Smarter Scrubber Experiment) - Smarter Every Day 308 (49 min, Smarter Every Day), then Largest Fire Truck Manufacturer (48 min, Free Documentary). All 39 documentaries here are free to watch from their makers' official uploads. To read deeper, the top-rated book on how it's made is The Toaster Project by Thomas Thwaites.

• I Tried To Make Something In America (The Smarter Scrubber Experiment) - Smarter Every Day 308 (49 min, Smarter Every Day)
• Largest Fire Truck Manufacturer | Mega Manufacturing (48 min, Free Documentary)
• The Making of an American Truck | Exceptional Engineering (50 min, Free Documentary)
• How Firefighter Hoses, Helmets, Boots & More Are Made | How It's Made (35 min, Science Channel)
• Note by Note: The Making of a Steinway Piano | Musical Instrument (56 min, ENDEVR)
• Why are Smokestacks So Tall? (20 min, Practical Engineering)
• ROBOFORMING: The Future of Metalworking? (I Had NO IDEA This Was Possible) - Smarter Every Day 290 (30 min, Smarter Every Day)
• How Does Kodak Make Film? (Kodak Factory Tour Part 1 of 3) - Smarter Every Day 271 (57 min, Smarter Every Day)
• Excavator Factory | Mega Manufacturing (48 min, Free Documentary)
• Hightech Plane Makers | Exceptional Engineering (51 min, Free Documentary)
• Largest Car Factory in the World | Superstructures: Engineering Marvels (44 min, National Geographic)
• Things You've (Maybe) Never Heard Of | How It's Made (60 min, Science Channel)
• Crayons, Highlighters, & Other Writing Utensils | How It's Made (31 min, Science Channel)
• Toothbrushes, Tweezers, Toilet Paper, & Other Hygiene Products | How It's Made (61 min, Science Channel)
• Porsche: High-Level Car Manufacturer | Mega Manufacturing (48 min, Free Documentary)
• Custom-Made Volvo Trucks | Mega Manufacturing (48 min, Free Documentary)
• Fabrics, Fibers, Clothing & Accessories, Pt. 1 | How It's Made (60 min, Science Channel)
• Miscellaneous Items & Processes, Vol. 1 | How It's Made (75 min, Science Channel)
• Essential Building Blocks & Tools | How It's Made (39 min, Science Channel)
• How Does Kodak Make Film? (Kodak Factory Tour Part 2 of 3) - Smarter Every Day 275 (60 min, Smarter Every Day)
• How does a 3D Printer work? (A1 by Bambu Lab) (17 min, Jared Owen)
• This Thing is Crazy Fast - Kodak Part 3- Smarter Every Day 286 (60 min, Smarter Every Day)
• Pirelli: World's Most Renowned Tyre Manufacturer | Mega Manufacturing (48 min, Free Documentary)
• Exceptional Motorbike Factory | Exceptional Engineering (49 min, Free Documentary)
• Building Tractors in the Largest Tractor Factory in the UK | Ultimate Processes (48 min, Free Documentary)
• World's Biggest Truck Factory | Exceptional Engineering (49 min, Free Documentary)
• Life After Steel in the UK's Most Polluted Town: Rule Britannia (30 min, VICE)
• Dangerous Repair At Sugar Mill | Mega Mechanics (48 min, Spark)
• World’s Toughest Fishing Ships | Life Aboard Floating Factories (136 min, Free Documentary)
• Huge Car Factory - Ford | Mega Factories (46 min, Free Documentary)
• How Are Potato Chips Made In Factories? | Making Goods (22 min, Spark)
• This Truck Factory Is The Size Of A City (49 min, Spark)
• Volvo A60: How The World's Biggest Dump Truck Is Made (52 min, Spark)
• CHRISTMAS LIGHTS MADE IN A LAB! (39 min, Tech Ingredients)
• Dragons Gambit | Made in China, Built Around the World (25 min, Moconomy)
• Our Neurodiverse Workshop (50 min, Real Stories)
• Inside The Factory That Builds The Axion 960 Cemos (50 min, Spark)
• Undertaking Extreme Parkour In A Zombie Filled Factory (89 min, Wonder)
• The CANZ Nelson Composers Workshop: Inside the Incubator (43 min, SOUNZ)

Top-Rated Books About How It's Made

1. The Toaster Project by Thomas Thwaites - View on Amazon
2. Stuff Matters by Mark Miodownik (4.2/5) - View on Amazon
3. The Machine That Changed the World by James P. Womack - View on Amazon
4. Factory Man by Beth Macy - View on Amazon