About the Project

Bottlehead began in 1995 under the ownership of Dan and Eileen Schmalle. In 2026, the company was purchased by Middle-Aged Kids Engineering (MAKE) - a family-owned company of DIY enthusiasts committed to continuing Bottlehead’s legacy.

MAKE has decided, with the cooperation and encouragement of Dan, Eileen, Paul Joppa, and Paul Birkeland, to provide manuals for select legacy kits to the DIY community under a Creative Commons license.

We take great pride in our excellent customer service, but we have limited ability to support legacy kits. Support for new projects built from these manuals is limited to general advice via the legacy section of the Bottlehead Forum. 

License

Bottlehead has licensed Legacy Project manuals under Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

This license requires that reusers give credit to the creator. It allows reusers to copy and distribute the material in any medium or format in unadapted form and for noncommercial purposes only.

A Note about Parts Availability

Over time, Bottlehead’s inventory has evolved to reflect its current product lineup. We are unable to supply parts for products in the Bottlehead Legacy Project, and some parts listed in the manuals may no longer be in production.