Historians of science have in recent years shown a growing interest in material culture in the sciences. It has been argued that this engagement with the material world has happened entirely on linguistic terms. Historians have transformed instruments and other scientific objects into metaphors or icons instead of following what could be called a hands-on approach to the materiality of scientific endeavour. One reason for this I see in the general lack of and unfamiliarity with methodologies for such hands-on approaches to scientific objects and the practices connected with them. In my presentation I will share my experiences of replicating Heinrich Hertz’ experiments on the propagation of electric force (electric waves) of 1987, and argue for the method of re-building historical instruments and replicating historical experiments as one method for the historian of science to explore scientific instruments and to analyse and interpret practices related to building and using them.