Awesome Making

The eufyMake E1 is a desktop UV printer that can produce 3D textures. The compact machine delivers vivid, permanent color prints with textures up to 5mm depth on wood, metal, acrylic, canvas, and other surfaces. Its offers easy setup and self-cleaning tech, making it ideal for creators, small businesses, and hobbyists looking to elevate their projects.

The Swedish Maker spotted a cool-looking modern floor lamp, but it cost over $6,000 (though we found it for about $4K). Given his artist-level budget, he decided he would DIY one instead. After spending way too much time making his own dowels, he turned his attention to 3D printing its huge lampshade using his fancy new Bambu Lab H2D printer.

The 2025 Edition of The Maker’s Field Guide nearly doubles the original’s content, diving deeper into areas like prototyping, injection molding, mass manufacturing, robotics, and startup know-how. Whether you’re building cosplay props or launching a product, this travel-friendly volume is packed with tools, tips, and insights for makers and DIYers at any skill level.

Brainfoo TV shows off a fun desktop toy that can run all day and night on solar power.  He started by hacking apart a dancing flower toy, then 3D printed parts, and attached a solar panel and a supercapacitor to store energy. That powers an electromagnet that keeps its spinner upright and rotating 24 x 7 x 365.

Like most metals, steel is an easily recyclable material. In this video from Handyman Restoration, he shows us how he took a pile of steel nail clippers, forged them into a block which he hammered flat to form a fixed blade with a unique damascus pattern. It was interesting to see how he made the wooden handle too.

We love the look of these handcrafted damascus steel dice. Metalsmith HANS shows us how he made them by forging and pressing steel ball bearings inside a tube, then slicing the metal into cubes, beveling their edges, then drilling pips into their sides. After heating and quenching them, a final sanding and bath brings out their beautiful crackled pattern.

Early pigments were made from natural materials like minerals, plants, and even animals. Connor Creates thought it would be interesting to see if he could make paints using rocks. After selecting some stones that looked somewhat colorful, he crushed them into a powder, then added it to a binding agent made from water, honey, and gum arabic.

LEGO fans know that pulling apart bricks can be an uncomfortable task. Fortunately, LEGO started including their brick separator in the 1990s, saving many fingernails since then. To pay tribute to this essential LEGO tool, maker Uncle Jessy set out to create a 4-foot-long version on his Elegoo OrangeStorm Giga 3D printer. It took over 125 hours to print.

Minecraft players know that you can craft swords from materials including wood, gold, stone, iron, diamond, and netherite. The team from Mini Katana challenged themselves to make real-world versions of each sword, then asked fans to vote on their creations. They had to cheat for the more expensive materials, but they still look cool. Which sword is your favorite?

Mechanical engineering student Aaed Musa figured out a use for Mini CDs. Inspired by the Discos Locos in Far Cry 6 and The Hacksmith’s compact disc launcher, Aaed came up with his own spin on the weapon by shrinking it down to wear on his wrist. It uses a dual-stage flywheel system powered by brushless drone motors. Full build details on Aaed’s website.

In Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, a young Flint’s first invention is shoes that can be sprayed on to avoid having to tie shoelaces. Jlaservideo thought it would be fun to bring the idea to the real world. It took a lot of trial and error to come up with the right formulation, but eventually he got confident enough in his spray-on fabric to make other garments.

’90s kids might recall beige computer speakers. To help out his brother, who collects vintage Macintosh computers, Print Your Speakers was inspired to create a pair of retro desktop speakers with great sound quality and deep bass. He based his 3D-printed design on 1993 Apple Design Powered Speakers, but with modern parts and a smart acoustic design.

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.

A while back, WhistlinDiesel attached a jet engine to a kid’s carousel, then hung on for dear life. Aussie maker I did a thing attempted the same idea with another playground staple. While his propane-powered pulse jet engine isn’t as fancy as the aircraft jet that Whistlin used, his backyard swing looks far more terrifying – and completely unfit for human use.

There’s official LEGO luggage on the market, but the plastic suitcase and tiny backpack are really for the kids. Korean bag maker Hans Atelier shows us how he made a custom briefcase shaped like a LEGO brick. He started with a laser-cut wood structure, then wrapped it in Bellaro leather. His Hershey’s bar wallet is pretty tasty looking too. (Turn captions on.)

Artist Zak Miskry likes to make sculptures of animals and insects by recycling old electronics and other junk. Here, he shows us how he created a spider with gangly metal legs and a working light bulb for its body. He rigged up three LEDs inside an old incandescent bulb and powered them with a button cell battery, making it completely wireless.