When Eric Wilhelm started Instructables five years ago, it was supposed to be nothing more than a side project – a dalliance from his day job as a designer at Squid Labs. But Instructables, which catalogs super cool do-it-yourself projects in easy-to-follow detail, has grown into a full-fledged site with a huge following of its own. DIY was bigger than he thought.

We spoke with Wilhelm about Instructables, the cult of DIY, and just what makes a homemade Dachshund wheelchair so darn cute.