Please share the smaller channels if you have them handy! I’m very interested.

I'm not sure how similar these are to what you're looking for, but:

- https://www.youtube.com/@primitivetechnology9550 - Primitive Technology, with John Plant. Non-narrated, but subtitled, videos of him building houses & other useful things with just clay, wood & stone. It's not a recreation of how people lived, but of what people might have done - he does research and tries to apply what he's learned to the materials available.

- https://www.youtube.com/@TechnologyConnections - Technology Connections. Less making, and more explaining, this has deep dives into (usually) older technology. There's something like six hours explaining how a particular pinball machine works, and I think his most recent video about VHS-C has already made it to the top of HN earlier this week.

A few I like:

https://www.youtube.com/@Blondihacks - A (primarily) model engineering channel with a focus on hobby / home precision machining

https://www.youtube.com/@daliborfarny - A guy working to keep the art of nixie tube manufacturing alive

https://www.youtube.com/@StuffMadeHere - Silly / improbable projects mostly for fun (e.g. basketball hoop that you can't miss a shot)

Second Primitive Technology (don't forget to turn on the captions). Don't recommend Technology Connections to be honest (a lot of talk to the camera, I prefer videos that show things that can't be conveyed via text).

Here's the channels I like, in no particular order:

- https://www.youtube.com/@TechIngredients Thumbnails and titles are clickbaity, but don't let that fool you. One of the most thorough channels. Polymath like Applied Science.

- https://www.youtube.com/@HuygensOptics Optical Systems and connected topics from a veteran of the field

- https://www.youtube.com/@Borgedesigns Designing 3d-printed tools

- https://www.youtube.com/@Nighthawkinlight Like Applied Science, but trying to do stuff with easily acquirable materials

- https://www.youtube.com/@AdvancedTinkering Chemistry and vacuum tech

- https://www.youtube.com/@ExcessiveOverkill Hardware projects, one of the biggest is controlling an industrial robot arm, but others are cool too

- https://www.youtube.com/@SamZeloof Reached home-made semiconductors

- https://www.youtube.com/@projectsinflight Trying to reach home-made semiconductors

- https://www.youtube.com/@christopherhelmke Building industrial 3d-printed parts sorting system

- https://www.youtube.com/@MariusHornberger Most thorough woodworker

- https://www.youtube.com/@BreakingTaps Like Applied Science, but with more free time

- https://www.youtube.com/@benmakeseverything Cool hardware projects

- https://www.youtube.com/@ancientjames Holograms

- https://www.youtube.com/@NileRed More entertaining than educational, but a prominent chemistry channel

- https://www.youtube.com/@BenEater Classic: made computer on a breadboard

- https://www.youtube.com/@theCodyReeder Like Applied Science, but more outdoors type; builds a Martian-like base

- https://www.youtube.com/@colinfurze A welding guy with extremely high energy, builds underground garage

- https://www.youtube.com/tomstantonengineering Hardware projects mostly about flying stuff

- https://www.youtube.com/@mymechanics Machining guy restoring things; currently restores a car by individually handling every nut and bolt (yes)

- https://www.youtube.com/@HyperspacePirate Hardware / Chemistry projects, made liquid nitrogen with disassembled AC units in a long-running series of attempts

Chris from Clickspring, the canonical YouTube machinist who has been slowly but accurately reconstructing the Antikythera mechanism for about one decade now.

- https://www.youtube.com/@Clickspring

Not small but he's a regular amateur: RestoreIt [0]. I love this guys channel.

[0] https://www.youtube.com/c/RestoreIt