10 useful hobbies for mechanical engineers

in this post were going to list the 10 useful hobbies that mechanical engineers can do, and have an effect on their careers.

1 – programming

The first thing that mechanical engineers should take at least as a hobby is programming. In other words, programming is very useful, especially learning the C language which can is very helpful to build useful designs in CAD.

You can find some mechanical engineers design programs that work with programming platforms like OPENSCAD as you can see in the video below.

The language used in this program is C++. So we recommend for mechanical engineers learn and take programming as a hobby, especially learning C and C++ which will be very useful in their career.

Thus if you love and are interested in computer science or the programming industry, you can read this article: 3 tips to switch from mechanical engineer to CS

2 – 3d printing

The second and interesting thing you should learn or take at least as a mechanical engineer is 3D printing. Normally mechanical the majority of mechanical engineers have their own 3d printers. So if you don’t have one you should think about that seriously.

3d printing is not complicated to learn, as a mechanical engineer you already know how to design in CAD. So the only thing to do is have a 3d printer in a house and start making some fun gadgets and small projects.

you will have 2 advantages by owning a 3d printing whit are:

• 1 making any design you think about in just a few minutes
• 2 printing broken plastic pieces that you can’t find in-store appliances

You can watch in this video below the most fun 3d printing that mechanical engineers could do.

3 – lego buildings

This is a great thing to do to spend time with your family especially if you have kids. Buying some lego sets will allow you to use your imagination and also make your kids engage with you in lege projects.

Currently, we still find aged people playing with legos, so you don’t have to be shy to play with these sets. Especially when you engage and buy a big lego set to complete as a challenge.

this video is an example of a good lego set to make some funny mechanical engineering systems.

you can read this related article:

Is Lego overrated? (5 things you should know)

Are adults ruining lego? (Solved)

4 – driving drones

driving drones remains one of the best hobbies that mechanical engineers could have in their life. Especially for the people who make their own drones who have some skills in programming and 3d printing.

It is right you can make your own drone if you know how to program and use 3d printers, it is right that a drone would not look professional. But you will enjoy making something from your own creation.

If you don’t love to bother yourself to make and build your drone you can buy it, and enjoy driving. Why not make your own cinematics videos.

In this video below you will find a simple way to make your own drone from scratch.

5 – clay modeling

Sculpting is one of the most interesting hobbies mechanical engineers can do, it is a great thing for mechanical engineers who care and work in mechanical engineers’ design projects like car design or salon car design.

All you have to do is to bring clay and have a workshop to not miss the environment messy. But it is very enjoyable if you have an art bias.

you can make a lot of fun models, but clay modeling requires to have patience. Even if you aren’t patient you will learn how to acquire it doing this activity.

you can watch this video below to know more about clay modeling.

you aren’t demanded to make these amazing designs overnight it will take time, but the most interesting thing is to enjoy your time.

6 – watching mechanical engineering documentaries

if you don’t like to go and move you can sit in a chair and watch the wonderful mechanical engineering documentaries. As a result, you will have a lot of inspiration and understand where your industry is going.

we will let you this link to find some brilliant mechanical engineering documentaries to watch.

7 – building electronic circuits

the most interesting thing that you should have as a principal hobby is to learn electronics. Because it will be very useful in your mechanical engineering occupations.

today a lot of mechanical engineers take advantage of their knowledge in electronics and programming to make some sort of test in their jobs.

So for instance, if you to make a test on a chassis of the strength of the piece you could make a machine using Arduino or raspberry pi. As a result, reduce a lot of work and the headache to pay for someone to build for you.

in this video, you can find some mechanical engineering projects you can do with Arduino.

8 – crafting wood projects

Making wood projects will be a great idea if you have a workshop in a home. If you love wood you can make beautiful projects, it is like clay modeling but it is harder a little bit.

you can make beautiful wood projects and gadgets tath you can find in this video below.

but you need to invest in some tools in order to start this hobby. in addition, why not sell your works on the internet?

9 – learn to weld

normally mechanical engineers know how to weld, but if you are a CAD designer and work a lot in offices or are still a student. Therefore learning how to weld is very important.

This will allow you to make the metal projects you designed and test them without calling a welder to work with you.

This hobby is will make you dirty and require to have a workshop, but it is very useful to put all your idea into the reality

10 – play video games

The last hobby that can mechanical engineers do to chill out is to play video games, especially the physical ones like Forza horizon as you can see in the video below.

this game gives an amazing feeling to people who like sports cars.