Screws are one of those everyday objects we take for granted but are critical to holding together everything from our kitchen appliances to our vehicles. Process X takes us inside Japan’s Okitsurasen factory to see how they turn coils of steel wire into millions of precision screws, washers, and other hardware.
We’ve seen how a skilled carpenter can create a traditional Japanese Kumiko lattice. Neil from Pask Makes wanted to see if the same sort of pattern could be created using another material – steel nails. He started with a wooden template to hold the nails in place, then welded them together and smoothed out the rough bits.
One of the coolest weapons that ninjas carry is the throwing star – also known as a shuriken. Maker B offers a satisfying machining video showing how he transformed a large industrial bolt into a pocket-sized shuriken with points that deploy with the push of a button. He made its body from the bolt head and its retractable points from slices of its threaded shaft.
This cotton canvas bag from Bucket Boss helps keep parts, hardware, and small tools organized. It has 13 exterior and six interior pockets and closes securely with a pull of its drawstring. Stack up to four inside a standard 5-gallon bucket, and grab their rubber bucket handle for added carrying comfort.
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.
Screws come in all shapes and sizes. In this video from Mike at Chronova Engineering, he show the process of creating an insanely small 0.6 mm screw for use in a watch. After milling down a metal rod on a watchmaker’s lathe, the part is turned in a threading die, its head cleaned up, and a slot cut into it with a skinny saw blade.
The head of an old bolt doesn’t seem like it would make a very nice piece of jewelry. But in the capable hands of artist Anif G, this ordinary piece of brass hardware is transformed into an impressive knight-themed pendant with a hinged door and storage compartment for a photo or pills.
One of the coolest things about metal is that it can be heated over and over again to make new things. My Mechanics, shows us how they transformed an ordinary steel nut into a tool that can turn nuts. The miniature wrench they made can grab onto nuts up to 8.5 mm across.
Melting steel normally requires a very hot, gas-fired furnace. But NileRed shows us how a relatively inexpensive induction heater can be used to turn a pile of nails into a molten blob, thanks to the heat generated by 3500 watts of electricity being conducted through the metal.
King Process takes us inside a Korean factory that makes large industrial nuts. The process starts with rods of steel, which they heat in a forge, then use machines to shape the molten metal into hexagons, punch holes into them, and tap screw threads after cooling and polishing. If you need some bolts to go with, here you go.
Losing a bolt while working on your car can really suck. The Boltster securely holds onto bolts and fasteners thanks to its flexible silicone construction. Its hex-shaped holes hold bolts from 7mm to 17mm in diameter, while its perimeter holes hold smaller screws. They also make an organizer tray and a mini version.
Each time The Q makes a new bicycle, we think he couldn’t possibly get outlandish. Well, he’s back with another unusual and creative bike build. This time, he arranged and welded together 147 nuts to create a functional bike frame. The structure is weight-bearing and could be used to screw in accessories if he wants to.
In this experiment from the Hydraulic Press Channel, they wanted to test how the thickness and number of threads on nuts affects their strength. So they placed different nuts on the same kind of bolt, then pressed down to measure the force required to move and bend each one.
Audiophiles and tech junkies generally prefer component systems. We love the look of this equipment rack from Silver Beard Lamp Co. It’s handmade from thick threaded rods, bolts, and blackboard – birch laminated plywood with a layered pine core. It comes in 4- and 5-tier heights and sizes from 22″ x 12″ to 30″ x 22″.
Combination padlocks aren’t necessarily the most secure locks, but there’s a certain appeal to not needing a key to unlock them. In this video from Maker B, they show us how they machined pieces of stainless steel bolts and assembled them to form a working combo lock that looks like it came right off the store shelf.
The threads on steel bolts are designed for strength and to resist stripping. But they’re no match for a 150-ton hydraulic press. Place your bets now and guess how many kilograms of force different kinds of bolts can survive. While most of them compress, the biggest one explodes when it fails.
For those of us who dabble in building and repairing things, our workbenches of often relegated to a corner of the basement or a garage. And then there’s Doug, a Houston-based commercial contractor whose workshop is better equipped than a Home Depot store. Bauforum24 visited from Germany to tour this amazing workshop.
Screws are a great way to attach objects to each other, but they usually stick out or have slots to cover up. Woodworker and inventor Andrew Klein shows off a design for a machined metal screw that tightens flush to the surface and has no visible slots thanks to their hidden turning mechanism. More here.
Design the Everything makes this tabletop tray for sorting small parts. Each one is machined from aluminum and has three sections for storing screws, nuts, washers, and other hardware. It’s also good for rings or cufflinks. It’s smaller than it looks, though, at 6″w x 3″d, x 1″h. Choose from a raw or tumbled finish.
Ever wonder how they get all the nails in a box to lay in the same direction? In this all-too-short and all-too-silent video clip, they show how a pile of randomly grabbed nails immediately point in the proper direction when dropped between a pair of electromagnets. Here’s another machine that does it without human intervention.
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.
Robinson Foundry shows how he made a double-threaded bolt using the lost PLA method he used to make that awesome bronze skull. The process involves dipping 3D-printed models in ceramic, firing then, then melting away the plastic with metal. The design was inspired by a bi-directional bolt machined by Oleg Pevtsov.