Awesome Brass

This version of the classic circular maze toy is made from cast brass or titanium alloy instead of plastic. It measures 48mm (appx. 1.89″) in diameter and it comes with three ceramic beads inside to roll through its corridors. A great desk toy for fidgeters.

Most smartphone headsets have tiny microphones built into their cords. W&M Levsha took one of those mics, pulled it from its case and created a new enclosure for it out of brass. The finished microphone has a 3.5mm jack for plugging it in and looks like a miniature version of one of those fancy studio microphones.

Start celebrating the holidays with this festive medley of Christmas classics performed entirely on brass instruments. Musician Scott Sutherland put together this warm dose of holiday cheer along with 229 tuba and euphonium players from 21 countries around the globe.

The Front Man’s mask in Squid Game is just one of the hit series’ many great design elements. Ben from PressTube made a replica of the iconic low-poly mask by melting down empty brass bullet casings and then casting them in a sand mold he made from a 3D-printed model.

This elegant and practical navigational instrument from Oceanus Brass is machined from solid brass. It has a smoothly turning face dial and a protective cover that attaches securely with threads. Its oil-filled capsule ensures the pointer won’t stick, and a bright luminescent ring and pointer help with low-light visibility.

The musicians of theFivEquartet perform a lively brass arrangement of Michael Jackson’s 1987 hit track Bad. The instrument they’re playing is called a euphonium – which sits somewhere between a trumpet and a tuba. And how about those dance moves?

Brass player and arranger Seb Skelly and drummer Alex Shad performed this gleeful cover version of AC/DC’s hit track You Shook Me All Night Long. The combination of brass quintet and drums kind of reminds us of a marching band, minus the football field and the funny looking hats.

The consistently amazing Brass Against performs a killer big band cover version of the Alanis Morissette track Uninvited, lead by the monumental vocal talents of Sophia Urista, along with special guests Roopa Mahadevan and Suphala.

The members of the brass-forward, lo-fi NYC band Too Many Zooz turn in one of the coolest cover versions of Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit ever. Matt Muirhead’s trumpet stands in for Cobain’s vocals, Leo Pellegrino’s baritone sax takes the guitar parts, and David Parks kicks out the beats on his marching band drum kit.

Maker Ross the Random has a thing for turning hardware into critters. After he transformed a few nuts and bolts into a shiny hornet, he took a single screw and managed to massage it into a palm-sized sculpture of a scorpion.

If you’ve been to a firing range, you’ll see countless shell casings littering the ground. Seth over at Robinson Foundry wanted to put these to use, so he melted down the brass casings and turned them into custom coins. He created the shapes by 3D printing coin models, then placed them into a sand mold for casting.

When Queen created the track Killer Queen back in 1974, they probably never envisioned it being performed by a brass quintet. But here we are, nearly 50 years later, and the operatic rock classic sounds fantastic played on trumpet, solo horn, flugelhorn, soprano trumpet, and trumpet by the talented Seb Skelly.

A normal pool ball is made from polyester or phenolic resin, which makes them hard and durable. But the idea of playing billiards with metal balls intrigues us. My Mechanics rises to the challenge with this impressive stainless steel and brass 8-ball he made from scratch. We’d love to see a complete set of balls made this way.

3D printed objects are typically made out of plastic. But as Robinson Foundry shows us, these computer-generated pieces can be used to produce detailed castings for more substantial materials. In this case, he output a 3D print of a menacing alien emperor and used it to create a ceramic mold for an awesome brass sculpture.

The curvy tower design of the PlayStation 5 has been polarizing, to say the least. Whatever you may think of its looks, there’s no arguing that the brass case Matt from DIY Perks built is amazing. Cutting and bending the brass into the proper shapes took a tremendous amount of work, but the end result was worth the effort.

Rademic Puzzles creates awesome-looking metal puzzles, including the stainless steel Hexahog. This 3-dimensional puzzle is made of 14 unique pieces which interlock to form an outer cage and an inner cage, which contains a sculptural brass nugget. PuzzleMaster explains the puzzle’s design without giving away any tricks.

Minute Objects‘ wallet-sized card includes details on 79 different measurement units, including abbreviations and conversion multipliers. Reference charts include length, area, volume, mass, pressure, and temperature, as well as metric prefixes. Each card is laser engraved on a black-plated brass sheet. They also make a Periodic Table card.

Virginia Beach tool shop Teale Designs handmakes a variety of useful pocket pry bars, each of which features a bottle opener and a lanyard hole. Some models also hold a screwdriver bit, too. We particularly like the perforated designs, which not only look cool but reduce weight. They come in stainless steel or brass.

From the makers of the Bosun’s Edge knife comes another beautiful, nautically-inspired tool. The Kraken Blade packages a sharp and replaceable utility blade into an elegant solid brass handle. It deploys with a quick snap action, then holds closed with a magnetic catch. An optional bow shackle can be used for attaching the knife.

This handmade brass case is perfect for carrying business cards, so they don’t get bent up in your pocket or wallet. Its friction-fit lid stays on firmly, and it’s also big enough to hold folded U.S. currency if you use it to carry cash. Measures 4″ x 3.75″ x 0.5″.

Having a tough time waking up and starting your day? Let musician Seb Skelly ease you out of the funk with a cover of The Beatles’ track Here Comes the Sun that starts out slow and smooth, and ramps up into a bright and cheerful ray of light. Sun, sun, sun, here it comes…

Maker Ross The Random loves to turn ordinary items into works of art. In this video, he shows us how he transformed a simple brass bolt into a shiny metal phoenix through a series of heating, bending, hammering, filing, and cutting with basic hand tools.

Brass Against is known for its energetic brass cover versions of rock songs. Led off by the powerful vocals of Sophia Urista, their performances are like a lit stick of dynamite dropped into a fireworks warehouse. In this clip, they bang out an amazing original track that you’ll want to play at maximum volume.