Awesome Hardware

Whether you smoke or not, you’ll appreciate the skill it took to create this lighter that’s the size of a cigarette. Random Hands shows how they started with a rusty bolt, removed its threads, and drilled its center to hold lighter fluid. A double-hinge mechanism allows it to open and exposes its spark wheel and wick. The craftsmanship on display here is stellar.

There aren’t many products that can be made by the millions, but hardware like screws are one such item. This video from SatisFactory Process takes us inside a facility in China that cranks out mass quantities of screws every day. Machines straighten coils of steel wire, cut, shape, then thread the screws before they’re heat-treated for strength and washed.

The Karakuri Channel loves to make unique mechanical art. This time, they designed and built a gadget that turns nearly 300 brass nails into a moving wave. To make it work, they removed the tip of each nail and attached a sleeve and a ball bearing. A motor turns interchangeable discs against the balls to create wave patterns. Watch with subtitles.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.