Awesome Making

(PG-13: Language) Playing with toy cap guns is a rite of passage for many kids. Their impact-sensitive explosives make quite the racket at normal size, so imagine how loud a 5-foot-tall cap gun might sound. Builder Nick O’Hara shows how he designed and built his giant noisemaker, then used it to scare the crap out of his pals.

Enjoy this hypnotic look at a machine designed for the high-speed production of paper cups. It starts with flat sheets of paper, rolls them onto a form, glues the seam, adds the bottom, and eventually rolls the top edge, cranking out as many as 130 cups per minute.

Got some scratched-up vinyl records you don’t care about anymore? Maker Nick Zammeti saturated a stack of old 45s in resin, then shaved them down on a lathe in an attempt to create a layered bowl. The project was not without its challenges, but Nick came up with a creative use for the bits he was able to salvage.

We love mini amusement park rides built from LEGO. Half-Asleep Chris shows off the floor-to-ceiling LEGO roller coaster he built, which includes loops, a big vertical drop, lighting effects, and even a smoke machine. He cheated a bit with the wooden platforms, but building the structure from LEGO would have been cost-prohibitive.

After carving a kid-sized wooden Bugatti Centodieci, ND Woodworking Art found an even more expensive vehicle to build – a working, scale replica of the world’s most valuable car, the Ferrari GTO 250. The wooden version appears to be somewhere between 1/2- and 3/4-scale of the real car.

Mood rings use special thermotropic liquid crystals that react to the heat of your fingers. Makers Evan and Katelyn wanted to see if they could create a set of keycaps that change colors in the same way. It took a lot of time and trial and error, but the finished keyboard looks really awesome.

Thanks to its layered structure, plywood is a strong and versatile material that costs less than hardwood boards. Carpenters often work to hide exposed plywood edges, but Michael Alm came up with a better solution – he created his own custom plywood with beautiful and intricate edge patterns which you’d never want to hide.

The guys from TKOR assembled the largest laser pointer we’ve ever seen, wiring together 174 individual laser diodes to create a blinding green set of beams that burns holes through paper and explodes balloons. While it’s not the most powerful laser out there, it is the coolest looking. Be sure to check out the build video.

Typically, Damascus patterned metal is made entirely from steel. But it looks even more amazing with copper folded in. Tyrell Knifeworks walks us through the process of forging a gorgeous bowie knife by welding then pressing together layers of the mixed metals. The colors in the handle look awesome with the blade.

For some reason, makers Michael Reeves and Integza both hate tomatoes. To help them fight against their edible nemesis, Joel Creates set off on a mission to build the ultimate tomato-destroying weapon. The finished TED3 tomato gun works its magic by firing cherry tomatoes at bigger tomatoes.

The art of making tiles from cement dates back to the 19th century. Unlike other tiles, they require no firing, but they are quite labor-intensive to make. Business Insider visited Egyptian tile artist Saied Hussain to see how he crafts each of his colorful cement tiles by hand.

Ouroboros ARQ loves to build miniature structures using full-size construction techniques. For this project, they built a scale version of a suspension bridge, complete with steel-reinforced concrete pillars, and dozens of meticulously-threaded wires to support its paved roadway and guard rails.

Ever since the SNES game Donkey Kong Country, Nintendo’s big ape has lived in a wooden house up in the trees. Inspired by a fan request, builder Studson Studio made a model of the treehouse, incorporating twigs, dirt, and rocks he found outside to add to the authenticity. The tiny bananas are a nice touch.

This fascinating but brief video shows a special glassblowing technique that involves pouring molten glass onto spinning platters. As the glass spreads into the mold, it captures the underlying pattern and smooths out the glass on top. We’d love to see the finished pieces.

Motorized wheels aren’t the only way to make a self-propelled skateboard. Integza shows us how he built a 3D-printed water pump to propel a skateboard. After a couple of failed attempts, he was able to get enough water flowing to move the skateboard. It seems to be more effective as a water gun than as a skateboard.

Shane at Stuff Made Here is the engineer behind creations like the haircutting robot and the unmissable basketball hoop. In his past videos, you may have noticed that he has quite the assortment of tools in his shop. To show off his collection, he used each of his machines to make a different kind of ball bearing catapult.

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.

Artist Daniel de Bruin is an expert at making metal tracks for marble machines. He’s taught us how to make our own, and even made a room-sized marble track. Now, he’s downsized his efforts, creating the tiniest marble course we’ve ever seen, using a custom drive mechanism, 0.6mm wire, and a 5mm wide ball bearing.

A normal pool ball is made from polyester or phenolic resin, which makes them hard and durable. But the idea of playing billiards with metal balls intrigues us. My Mechanics rises to the challenge with this impressive stainless steel and brass 8-ball he made from scratch. We’d love to see a complete set of balls made this way.

Frustrated by missing shots on a regular pool table, The Q went ahead and built himself a special kind of pool table where the ball goes in the pocket virtually every time. The trick is its elliptical shape, which sets up the perfect bank shot at every angle. This video from Numberphile explains the geometry at work.

Good airflow is important for keeping electronic components cool, so most computers use fans to circulate air. But we’ve never seen a computer that cools itself by breathing. DIY Perks shows off a gigantic machine he built that quietly pumps air in and out using bellows.

Back in 2008, Bridge City Tool Works posted this video showing off a fun use for their precision Jointmaker Pro table saw. By cutting numerous alternating notches into a stick of lumber, it turns into the wooden equivalent of a wet noodle. Woodworker Stumpy Nubs posted a more recent video showing how the tool works.

RC aircraft enthusiast Troy McMillan spent countless hours planning, designing, 3D printing, and assembling a scale model of a jumbo jet. Here, he shares the time-consuming build process, its maiden flight, and tragic demise after a battery failure rendered his flight controller useless.