Awesome Making

Clamps are readily available at your local hardware store, but if you’re industrious, you could always make your own. Pask Makes shows off a square clamp he made from steel, and walks through the process of building one with handheld tools, then ramping up production with professional workbench tools.

Computer speakers aren’t the most elegant things. Matthew of DIY Perks wanted something different, and decided to build a sound system from pieces of bamboo flooring. He built a pair of angled dual-driver speakers and connected them with a monitor stand that houses a subwoofer, amplifier, USB hub, and led lighting.

Hot tubs can be pretty expensive. But not so if you’re a DIYer like HomeMadeModern. In this video, he shows us how he built a rectangular outdoor hot tub from cedar 2x6s and waterproof Flex Seal. A portable water heater and recirculating pump keeps the water nice and toasty.

You could just put M&Ms in a candy dish, or you could overengineer a solution like JBV Creative did. The machine is basically a tiny candy factory that dishes out individual candies from a storage tank onto a conveyor belt and then into a tray. Money shot at 7:56. Want your own? Grab the STL files for 3D printing here.

DanCreator continues to wow us with his awe-inspiring cardboard creations. This time out, he built a fully-functional miniature forklift out of the stuff, then used it to lift a bunch of tiny Amazon boxes on cardboard shipping pallets.

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.

Random Hands had an old anvil he used for blacksmithing tasks. When it was time to replace the rusty old thing, he chopped out a 40-pound chunk from its center and gradually reworked it into Thor’s mighty hammer, Mjölnir. Stick around to the end to see if he’s worthy and can lift it.

We’ve seen how colored pencils can be turned into some cool objects, and here’s another one for the collection. Sit back and enjoy as artist Andy Phillip takes hundreds of the pencils, bathes them in resin, and then turns them on his lathe to form a colorful torus. We rather enjoyed watching those resin threads go flying.

After building and restoring a number of power tools for their workshop, Black Beard Projects wanted to put them to use. In this video, see how they heated a thick steel rod and formed it into the head of an elegant Japanese-style tool known as a Dog Head hammer. We love the color of its heat-treated finish and burnt wood handle.

In this video from woodworker JAR Made, he how he made a unique accent lamp that lets light shine through gaps cut into a wooden shade. By making horizontal and vertical kerf cuts, he was able to bend the wood into a hyperboloid shape reminiscent of a nuclear cooling tower. He also placed an Alexa voice assistant inside.

In 2021, PC and accessory maker Corsair announced they were making an enormous 20″ square version of one of their PC cooling fans. It turned out to be a joke, but lots of people wanted one anyhow. Rather than wait for Corsair to make good, Angus from Maker’s Muse decided to design and build his own overpowered version.

Despite the name, a 3″ long 10-penny steel nail costs about four cents. We’re certain that this handmade golden nail by W&M Levsha cost quite a bit more to create. With its surface engraved with intricate patterns, this is one nail that you definitely don’t want to strike with a hammer. Wait until you see its secret purpose.

When is a coffee table not just a coffee table? When it’s a light show, of course. Dashing Axe built this unique piece of furniture with hexagonal cutouts filled with resin, then backlit with colorful rings of RGB LEDs and sensors that respond to movements. Sadly, a Kickstarter to make a production version was unsuccessful.

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.

Patrick Adair makes some really beautiful jewelry, specializing in unique rings and pendants. In this video, he walks us through the process of creating a golden ring wrapped in TruStone malachite, a composite stone stabilized with a polymer resin with stunning green marbling.

If you’re going to live off the land and build everything from scratch, you should probably start by building a shelter. Primitive Technology shows us how he made a large shelter out of skinny tree trunks and the leaves of native plants. It’s not only big enough to sleep under; it’s got space for him to work on other projects.

Carpenter Frank Howarth has made several wooden spheres in the past. This time he painstakingly assembled a globe with a funky mosaic pattern made from scrap wood pieces. It’s not as successful as his traditional globe design, but the build process was still quite interesting to watch.

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.

Artist Blake McFarland previously impressed us with his sculpture of a bear that he carved from wood and epoxy resin. Now he’s back with another amazing animal sculpture he made with the same technique. The finished piece looks incredible and now lives at The Founders Room at The Beacon in Topeka, Kansas.

My Mechanics was inspired to create a unique circular lighter after seeing a similar design from fellow maker W&M Levsha. They built this one entirely from scratch using stainless steel. It has a donut-shaped body that hides a wick, cotton and lighter fluid inside. A fake wick sticks out in its see-through center.