Awesome Making

Robinson Foundry shows how he took a digital 3D model of a human skull and used it to create a cast bronze sculpture. The Lost PLA method starts by making a 3D-print, coating it with a ceramic material, kiln-firing it to harden it and melt away the plastic, then filling it with molten metal and eventually chipping away the casting.

Burls Art has created a few guitar bodies from colored pencils. This time, he made a 5-string bass using a similar technique. Before sealing the pieces in resin, he sorted and grouped the colors and fanned them out into a bold, angular design. He also added a timer to the video to show how long it took to build.

A Bugatti Chiron costs at least $2 million. To save money, Steven Song and a team of builders made their own Bugatti using junkyard parts. They started with a busted-out Pontiac G6, then built a custom metal frame, sculpted a mesh and foam form, and covered it with Bondo. It wasn’t without setbacks, but they eventually finished the Walmart Bugatti.

We never really thought about it before, but some hammers are made with other hammers. This video from Process X takes us inside a small tool factory in Japan to see how a skilled blacksmith makes various traditional hammer heads by forging steel and shaping each one using a pneumatic power hammer and hand tools.

Peter Sripol is no stranger to making unusual aircraft. In this video, he builds and tests out three weird designs for airworthiness, including a plane with a fuselage made from springs, a propeller that works like a tank tread, and a ridiculous set of wings that resemble Venetian blinds.

Jake Carlini wanted a motorcycle but didn’t have the budget to buy a real one. Instead, he decided he’d build his own using various bits of junk and trash he found in his garage. He made its frame out of steel signposts and scrap wood and powered it with a cheap electric scooter motor from China.

Hot tubs are great, but the view you get while soaking remains static. If you want to see more of the world while you warm up, you need a hot tub boat. While you could spend thousands on one of Yacht Tubs’ professionally-built boats, David Rule shows us how it’s possible to build your own with stuff you can buy at the hardware store.

Our ability to reclaim and reuse metal means it’s possible to make knives and tools out of all kinds of stuff. Knives Project shows us how they burnt the explosive coating off a bunch of sparklers, then twisted and forged the remaining metal rods to create a uniquely patterned blade.

Quiet Nerd was looking for a way to add some warmth outdoors. Rather than buy an off-the-shelf heater or stove, he decided to build his own. He started out with four stainless steel dog bowls, which he cut and assembled to form the body of the wood-burning stove. It stands on four tall threaded rods.

Like most metals, steel is an easily recyclable material. In this video from Handyman Restoration, he shows us how he took a pile of steel nail clippers, forged them into a block which he hammered flat to form a fixed blade with a unique damascus pattern. It was interesting to see how he made the wooden handle too.

Take a look inside the Vincent Bach factory, where they handcraft premium brass instruments. In this video, you’ll see craftspeople transform stamped sheets of brass into a variety of precision trumpets for professional musicians. Along the way, you’ll learn about how a trumpet works, too.

We can’t think of any practical reason you’d need a car jack that fits in the palm of your hand. But where there’s a will, there’s a way. Maker B took the time to craft a 1/5th-scale hydraulic jack from steel, brass, and copper. It not only looks amazing, but the tiny jack is fully functional. Maybe he can use it to change tires on an R/C car.

Maker Ivan Miranda wanted to build a mechanical clock that uses marbles to show the time. He created an elevator that lifts marbles and drops them into a track. He used light sensors to detect white marbles and solenoids to release the right ones to display dot-matrix digits. It’s a work in progress, but it’s already impressive. Watch part one of the build here.

You can buy very small Bluetooth speakers already, but we’ve never seen one embedded inside a walnut. Penguin DIY nibbled on the nutmeat inside before outfitting the shell with a tiny amplifier and Bluetooth circuits, a minuscule speaker, and a rechargeable battery. We worried he would crack it while drilling holes, but the shell remained intact.

Random Hands shows how they turned a stack of stainless steel rulers into a unique Damascus pattern, which he sandwiched around high-carbon steel to make a beautiful Japanese-style meat cleaver. He fitted it with a hexagonal wood handle and a hand-stitched leather sheath. We’d love this knife in our kitchen, but sadly, this one isn’t for sale.

Most knives have an uninterrupted cutting edge, but this unique blade has a serrated edge that makes it look like a metal feather. Knives Project shows us how they created the knife by forging a hunk of steel, cutting and grinding its edge, and then etching a pattern into its blade. The shiny brass handle gives it a truly elegant look.

If you were around in the 1970s, you might recall those compact cameras that used 110 film cartridges. Maker Wesley Treat shows us how he made a coffee table based on the popular (but grainy) film format. He built the super-size Kodacolor cartridge from wood using kerf bending techniques to make the curved sides. Also, his wooden Gonk Droid is awesome.

Aerospace engineer Tom Stanton has built a few R/C airplanes powered by compressed air. He’s continued to work on refining the design by reducing weight and increasing thrust. Tom’s latest pneumatic aircraft is the best yet, offering the best flight time of the bunch thanks to improved aerodynamics, a larger air chamber, and an efficient new engine,

This video from TEKNIQ shows how factory workers take man-made “volcanic” glass and transform it into perfect spheres. The labor-intensive process starts by slicing large sections with a circular saw, and then hammering away the outer layers until they get a rough ball shape. Using other rotary tools, they refine the shape until it’s round, then polish it.

While an all-terrain personal mobility device sounds like a good idea, we’re not sure that boots that drive like tanks are the best way to get around. Joel Creates shows off his design for a wearable off-road vehicle that’s totally impractical yet extraordinarily cool to see in action. They’d balance way better if they had longer tracks.

With Halloween coming up, you might wear a wig as part of your costume. Chances are that it has synthetic hair made from thin strands of plastic. While most fake hair is made by machines in factories, this one artist shows how he makes the stuff from scratch, using nothing more than some plastic, a toaster oven, a wire brush, and his hands.

Like some of his previous projects, metalsmith Seth Robinson made this bronze skull mask using lost PLA casting. He started with a 3D model by Zane Rogers, which he 3D printed, coated in ceramic slurry, and baked in a kiln to remove the plastic. After that, he filled the shell with a mix of copper/tin, cracked off the coating, then cleaned up the excess metal.

The guys from FliteTest created a small aircraft called the Orbit. They have since been commissioned to build a much larger version of the round-winged aircraft. In this video, you’ll see how they took the design and scaled it up using foam and curved plywood ribs to reinforce its unconventional wing.