im wanting to get into a new hobby thats realatively cheap. going into college so money will be limited. im going into mechanical engineering so something to build or along those lines of engineering. at first i was thinking robotics or build an engine but that is pretty expensive so really just looking something interesting to do that would be fun and $400 or less price

 

Modeling.
Alot of engineering there. Especialy clipper ships. Only a good keal can build a strait ship.
Less expensive and more time consuming, a wooden clock. Lots of basic engineering there. But to build a clock of wood and it keep time is cool.

 

If you're going into engineering, just look around the engineering college for different clubs. At my collge (KSU) we have a kart team (mini formula car), off road buggy, solar car, etc. etc. Just look around! Most of the clubs are sponsered by the university, so you dont have to pay to join them.

 

Cheap hobby for College Student.....Pizza,Beer, & NETFLIX!............

 

my school has clubs which i plan on joining a few but i also want to have my own projects. i was kind of wanting a project to work on before classes start on the 18th.

 

Last week I decided I'm going to learn how to fly RC electric helicopters. Ordered a HoneyBee FP and it will be here tomorrow. My friend who already has a HBFP plus a Blade 400 tells me I will be crashing a lot to start so I also ordered lots of spare parts. The HBFP was only 99.00 (ready to fly) and I spent another 100.00 on the spare parts (blades/motors/rotor hubs etc). That's not as cheap as a bagfull of ice cream sticks and some glue but should be more exciting. Since I like to fix things anyways it should be right up my alley if I'm going to crash as much as I'm led to believe.

Learning how they fly, what breaks and how to fix them or fix them to be stronger should be perfect for for an mechanical engineering student. Here is the heli and if you browse to the parts section you'll see most of them are actually cheap.

 

Sorry, didn't realize you wanted to build something from scratch. I only saw the term Hobby and not Project. Modeling sounds like a plan.

 

Disc Golf, it;s aggrevating yet relaxing. Cheap as you make it. Not engineering oriented but growing across campuses and cities. Site has course directory and rules... and it's cheap. Trust me I took engineering, you're gonna want a break from it.
http://www.pdga.com/

 

If you are planning on joining the clubs and taking a full class schedule, you arent going to have time for much else, trust me. Just save your money to spend on beer and relax on the weekends.

 

kansas flareside i know ill be busy with all that but im gonna slow down on my drinking since i know ill have to study my butt off and i figured something like a new hobby might distract me from drinking as often as know.

larry i was kinda thinking rc helicopter actually lol ive always had nitro cars and electrics rc cars i just saw how easily you can spend $500 on one quickly and kinda want to try something a little different but helicopter is still on my list of possibilities. kinda thought it would be cool to mount a little cheap camera on it.

keep the ideas coming and thanks for all the ideas already guys

 

Like for hovering in front of a girls dorm window?



Many more ideas here

 

haha i didnt think of that. thats freakin awesome. a new level for a peakin tom. but a quick ticket to jail im sure!