Awesome Diy

Pask Makes shows us how wood skewers are good for more than serving kebabs. By stacking, cutting, clamping, and gluing hundreds of sticks, then planing and sanding the result, he created a beautiful cutting board we’d love to have on our kitchen counter.

The first portable computers weren’t exactly compact or lightweight. DIY Perks’ briefcase PC follows in these footsteps, but the payoff for the heft is a high-end gaming PC with a wrap-around 144Hz triple display, a 16-core AMD Ryzen 5950X CPU, an NVIDIA RTX 3080 GPU, 64GB of RAM, and a premium audio system with a subwoofer.

Normally, if you want a Mercedes-AMG G63, you’re looking at a six-figure price tag. Not so if you’re King of Crafts, who fabricated a drivable replica of the rugged G-Wagon out of cardboard. It rides on a homemade steel tube frame and can hit speeds up to 25 mph. It’s even amphibious… sorta.

To celebrate the purchase of his new iPhone 13 Pro Max, Matty Benedetto of Unnecessary Inventions wanted a case that nobody else has. So he got to work designing, fabricating, and assembling a case that not only protects his phone but can launch pieces of candy into his mouth. He’s gonna need a bigger pocket.

Ivan Miranda built himself a massive 3D printer, so what better to use it for but to make a 3D-printed tank that’s big enough to sit inside of and drive? He’s been working on the tank for some time but only recently added the seat and control pedals. He plans on adding a turret and a cannon soon.

Adafruit Industries shows us some nifty DIY zipper pulls they made using a 3D printer and glow-in-the-dark powder. Each pull holds a tiny glass bottle charm in the center that contains the pigment and has holes to help light to shine through. Read the full build guide on the Adafruit blog.

A normal turbo-jet engine runs entirely on ignited fuel. Integza built something a little different – a jet engine that uses an electric motor to spin its compressor. He made its main chambers out of empty butane cans, while its fuel source is a mix of butane and propane. Along the way, he built a low-budget spot welder.

John Wick and Heath Ledger’s Joker have both proven that a pencil can be a highly effective weapon all on its own. But it’s makeITcool’s job to make things cooler, so they got to work turning a saw blade into a tiny sword that stows inside of the body of a No. 2 pencil.

We love playing classic arcade games. But an arcade cabinet isn’t exactly the kind of thing you’d put right in the middle of most living rooms. Maker Alexandre Chappel shows us how he designed and built a 2-player arcade machine that hides inside of a sleek wood cabinet that hangs neatly on a wall.

Musician Rob Scallon has been working on a series of DIY instruments that can be assembled quickly and inexpensively. For this build, he and his buddy Simon created a makeshift piano in less than a day, using a bunch of spare guitar strings, tuning pegs, door stoppers, and other bits and pieces from the Home Depot.

We’re not too sure how we feel about a fuzzy keyboard, but this is the Internet, so somebody out there needs to try every idea at least once. Makers Evan and Katelyn took an ordinary computer keyboard and gave it a tactile feel with the same kind of velvet flocking they put in jewelry boxes. Last-minute Valentine’s gift, anyone?

Blackfish previously showed up how to make an Airsoft rifle out of plastic syringes. He also made a smaller weapon using the same technique. This plastic revolver fires pellets from its rotating cylinder and six chambers. A 9-volt battery drives its motor, and its projectiles are launched by springs.

This modular tabletop machine gives makers the tools they need to drill, grind, saw, turn, mill, and lathe objects. Its tools work with wood, metal, and engineering plastics and is ideal for DIYers. The base kit includes sawing, grinding, and drilling modules, while milling, lathing, and wood-turning are add-ons.

It’s a sad story we’ve heard before – our oceans are filled with discarded plastic that is destroying fragile ecosystems. To do his small part to help, Burls Art teamed up with 4Ocean who recovers and cleans plastic from the water. He then melted down the plastic chips and formed it into the body of a colorful electric guitar.

The Q decided that ordinary matches weren’t big enough for him, so he went ahead and made five giant-sized matches out of wood, rope, and a homemade mix of incendiary chemicals like the ones on a real match head. To complete the set, he built a wooden matchbox with a sandpaper striker on its side.

We’ve always wanted a proper cockpit for playing racing sim games, but most of the ones you can buy aren’t exactly living-room friendly. Maker Chris Salamone built this elegant sit-down racing rig from wood, and it looks like an expensive piece of modern furniture that doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb.

Modustrial Maker shows off how he built a sweet coffee table from concrete, wood, epoxy resin, and LED strips. The design is inspired by the lighting patterns found inside of the Death Star. Unlike the pure white lights of the movies, these ones can change colors to the beat of the music.

We have fond childhood memories of playing one of those tabletop hockey games and trying to smash the puck into our friend’s goal. Maker Sean Yan Muk of SeansCrafts decided to build himself a version of the classic game using cardboard, curtain rods, popsicle sticks, springs, and toy soldiers.

Maker Laura Kampf is always coming up with creative ideas for her workshop. This time she built something she can take with her – a battery-powered soldering station that looks like something cobbled together in the wasteland of a Fallout game. It has a removable storage bin, work surface, lighting, and a magnetic alligator clip.

What you’re looking at here isn’t a real robot, it’s a really impressive costume, built by artist XiaoQianFeng. She created the wearable mech outfit for her brother using wire mesh, paper mache, cardboard, wood, and if you can believe it, ceramic tile. The finished costume is too heavy to move around in, but it looks amazing.

Maker Peter Sripol wanted to see if he could build a functional submarine using off-the-shelf parts and a $100 budget. He assembled its frame from PVC pipe and 3D-printed connectors, and its remote steering mechanism is completely analog. He even rigged it up to pick up undersea “treasure” with magnets.

After making a small parts organizer, Neil Pasken challenged fellow builder John Heisz of I Build It to create his own. John’s version has 18 swing-out “butterfly” drawers, each with dividers for keeping parts readily accessible. Other than the tiny set screws, he built it entirely from wood. He also posted a build guide.

Miller Knives decided he could use another keychain knife so he set about building one that actually looks like a key. To make it work, he layered together three keys, cut the middle one to allow space, machined a butter knife for the blade, then joined the pieces together with a couple of nails.