Awesome Metal

This metal spider looks like some kind of creepy-crawly robo-arachnid. It’s made from dozens of tiny stainless steel parts and can be assembled or disassembled without glue. The finished model measures about 4.92″ x 4.92″ x 1.38″. They also make a more complicated steel scorpion kit.

On the outside, this looks like an ordinary Sharpie – but the guys at Vital Carry have removed its guts and replaced them with a 5.3″ long metal tube for stashing pills, rolled up cash, matches, or a length of Kevlar string. Available in aluminum, brass, copper, or titanium for a few dollars more.

Ottocrkraft Design Habitat makes these fantastic low-poly 3D sculptures of animals. The marvelous metal menagerie includes gorillas, bears, dogs, frogs, spiders, and more. Each is hand-assembled from precision cut and folded sheet metal that’s screwed together. Prices range from about $600 to $2000, depending on size and complexity.

We’ve seen how rebar is made; now watch how these metal reinforcing rods get a second chance at life after they’ve been bent. Created by JP Botelho, this machine can take even severely mangled lengths of rebar and literally set them straight. It’s an oddly satisfying process to watch.

Celebrating 40 years of G-SHOCK, the GMWB5000PG offers a fresh take on the classic G-SHOCK DW5000 watch. It has a stainless steel case with a recrystallized gold ion plating that looks like gold leaf. Like the original, it’s light on features, but it does have solar power and Bluetooth app connectivity. The full-metal watch is also available in recrystallized silver.

The energy sword from Halo is the game franchise’s ultimate melee weapon. We’ve seen a number of real-life replicas of the sword over the years, now here’s another take on the weapon. Random Hands started out with a rusty old leaf spring from a truck, which he cut, forged, hammered, and split down the middle to form the two halves of the blade.

Inspired by the stainless steel pool ball made by MyMechanics, Cool Again Restoration set out to make their own. They used different techniques to set their pool ball apart and incorporated copper and epoxy resin. They started by machining cylindrical sections, gradually refining into a spherical shape. We’d love to see a whole rack filled with these.

It’s not too hard for most mortals to lift dumbbells. On the other hand, you must prove yourself worthy to lift Mjölnir. Random Hands shows us how they cut up plates from rusty old dumbbells and welded the metal together to make a hefty but liftable version of Thor’s mighty hammer. The finished Mjölnir can be wielded by a new owner for $5000.

The latest creation from the talented artists of AltDynamic puts a new spin on the machinist’s practice object known as a Swiss cube. Their version twists the cube in the middle and will have you wondering how they engineered such a thing. The palm-sized cube is CNC machined from solid aluminum in the USA, and comes in raw metal or anodized colors.

This modern metal wallet from GPCA features a lightweight aluminum or titanium frame and a sturdy elastic strap that expands to hold up to nine cards and cash. Its top edge has a bar that can be used as a lanyard clip or to attach a keychain, and its front has a swappable card insert for a work ID or design personalization.

IKEA furniture is perfectly functional but basic by design. Dave from Make Something shows us how he took a $150 IKEA KOLBJÖRN metal cabinet and transformed it into a high-end piece of designer furniture by wrapping and embellishing it with wood. He also improved its versatility by adding a top shelf and a removable serving tray.

Hitting molten metal with a bat seems like a bad idea. But The Slow Mo Guys are happy to take that risk if it entertains viewers. After melting some nails into a crucible, they tossed the liquid steel into the air, whacked it with a cricket bat, and captured the fiery spectacle at 10,000 FPS. Watch in 4K if you can.

You know what makes metal tools and accessories look even cooler? Giving them a stonewashed finish. Everyday Carry’s The Loadout put together this perfect collection of four pocket-friendly products, including a folding knife, titanium wallet, compact flashlight, and a titanium pen, all with an appealing weathered look.

Maker Connor Holland has previously shown us how he creates puffy metal objects by hydroforming. He teamed up with artist Hanna Clarkson to create a wearable armored puffer coat by welding together sheets of steel and then inflating them with compressed air or water. The finished suit looks like the Michelin Man and a Dalek had a child.

EDC company Ant Design’s latest release is a palm-sized fidget toy that converts between two modes – a clicky outer ring that spins around your finger and a haptic coin that freewheels when held between your thumb and index finger. Available in brass, stainless steel, and titanium variants.

Artist and maker Hassan Abu-Izmero was given the nacelle from a decommissioned jet engine as a gift. After thinking about what to do with the unusual piece of junk, he decided to clean out its interior, add shelves and lights, and turn it into a liquor cabinet for storing his whiskey. It’s a cool build, though we’d need a 777 engine to hold all our booze.

This stainless steel stencil is ideal for sketching out user interface and user experience concepts. It features common icons for things like menus, arrows, buttons, and sliders, as well as social media. Its top edge includes a pixel ruler and column guides as well.

Full Windsor presents a collection of magnetically-connecting plates and bowls that pair with their Magware utensils. These reusable steel dishes reduce waste and are great for picnicking and camping. They won’t blow away in the wind and stay neatly organized when packed. The side tabs make them easy to hold with hot foods inside.

We’d be happy to carry our lunch to the office in this unique lunchbox, which keeps foods neatly arranged into five serving compartments. A metal clip securely holds its lid closed, and its stainless steel construction resists odors and is non-toxic. Kids and adults can make it their own with one of PlanetBox’s colorful carry bags and magnet kits.

This fancy artisan keycap set includes 16 metal keys made using the element indicated on their face. The materials include zinc, nickel, chromium, aluminum, copper, iron, brass, black aluminum, titanium, tin, bismuth, magnesium, gold, silver, platinum, and rhodium – the first dozen use solid metals, while the more expensive ones are electroplated.

Blower fans use a spinning metal cage to move large amounts of air. See how a factory makes these fans in this video from All Process of World. At the core of the operation is a machine that accepts a pair of rings and curved metal blades, then bends the ends to hold them in place. The outer housing is assembled by hand using a rivet gun and power screwdriver.

Seth from Robinson Foundry has created some unique metal objects. But most of his projects use a single kind of metal. This time, he made a geometric puzzle with pieces cast from copper, aluminum, and bronze. He 3D printed the shapes which he used to make ceramic molds for the molten metal. He used sand casting and woodworking to create the base.

There’s just something about molten hot metal that gets us excited. In this video from Mega Process, they take us inside of a facility in Korea that produces huge metal bolts for industrial use. They start with long rods of steel which they cut down to bolt length, heat and shape the heads, then machine the screw threads.