Awesome Making

Oh the humanity! After spending an inordinate amount of time assembling this model of a F1 race car out of matchsticks, builder The Q burns it to the ground in seconds. It’s at once deliciously satisfying and totally wrong.

Man at Arms: Reforged hammer, chisel, cast, and chisel some more (actually a lot more) to make an absolutely exquisite replica of Wonder Woman’s shield from Batman v Superman. We actually like it more than Cap’s shield now.

If you ask us, there are already way too many fidget spinners. But if were going to play with one, it would have to be PressTube’s awesome custom build – an oversize brass triple spinner made by melting and molding bullet casings, then quenching them with liquid nitrogen.

Devon of the Make Anything channel shows us a neat trick you can do with a 3D printer. By slicing your model just right, you can make just about any object into a springy, bendy, Slinky-like plaything. Separating the layers looks like a pain, but the finished models are super cool.

National Geographic and filmmaker Mile Nagaoka introduce us to Yuasa Town, Wakayama, Japan – the first place make soy sauce, and continues to do so for 750+ years. The process, which involves fermentation of soybeans reminded us of how spirits are made.

Need an axe but all you have lying around the shop is a hammer? Miller Knives transforms one into the other, through a painstaking process that mostly involves pounding and grinding the hammerhead’s ends until they take on the desired form.

Master of making stuff The Q is back with another cool build, though this one is decidedly less complex than his other creations. It’s a tiny, handheld ping pong table, which lets you bounce the ball back and forth between the sides when you can’t find a partner.

Wielded by samurai (and The Walking Dead’s Michonne), the katana is one of the ultimate bladed weapons. Now learn to make your own mini razor-sharp katana thanks to BrainfooTV, who show us how to craft one with household tools. Take that, strawberry!

A hypnotic video of the people and machines working tirelessly inside the factory of UK confectionary company Simpkins, who has been making its colorful hard candies and packing them up in its iconic round tins for nearly 100 years.

Primitive Technology made a proto-robot arm. The monjolo is a hydraulically-powered hammer that’s often used to grind beans or grain. When water fills the trough, it lifts the hammer’s head. The empty trough then rises, and the head falls down.

Miniature model maker HMS2 shows us how even a complex real-world object like a see-through Perrier bottle can be put through the shrinker ray. The process requires painstaking detail work to create a teeny mold for casting clear resin bottles. Amazing.

We’re not sure we’ve had enough caffeine to handle the enthusiasm of the Aussie surfer dude presenting this video from Better Homes and Gardens, but we can certainly get behind the design of this cool piece of DIY furniture, which can change forms to suit a variety of needs.

Is there anything The Q can’t make? The mysterious YouTube builder shows us how to make a set of nasty claws like Wolverine’s – without using any adamantium. These ones are made from popsicle sticks, toothpicks, rubber bands, paper, and a bit of Krazy Glue.

For Inventables’ fidget spinner challenge, Giaco Whatever decided to see if he could make one that could float in mid air. After a bunch of experimentation, he was able to get it to work by placing it between two opposing magnetic fields, and spinning it for stabilization.

One of the most necessary tools in any woodworker’s toolbox is the drawknife. Watch as blacksmith Torbjörn Åhman walks us through every step of the process to turn a hunk of steel into a useful tool. We love how one of the tools he uses in his craft is a log. (Thanks Victor!)

You’ll need to take 29 minutes out of your busy life to watch the entire video, but you should at least check out the first minute as artist Shaun Hughes shows off one of his most awesome creations, a 1973 Lincoln Penny that he’s re-engraved with a skull and intricate scrollwork.

We’ve seen how jawbreakers can be crushed and melted, now watch how they they’re made. Each bone-crunching candy starts out as a tiny compressed sugar pellet, and gradually grows through a ridiculously loud process of tumbling in sugar, flavorings, and food coloring.

Backyard engineer Peter Sripol turned a NERF rifle into a souped-up airsoft gun with a fairly large barrel. Then he loaded the gun with all sorts of improvised projectiles, such as AA batteries, 6″ nails, and fireworks. This guy’s going to be just fine in the apocalypse.

The Q shows us how to build a structurally-sound miniature house entirely out of wooden matchsticks, without any glue, then proceeds to burn it to the ground. Build one for yourself, and you’ll feel like a god as you control the fate of your tiny architectural creation.

…and not just a ring, THE ring. Student of the world Mike Boyd took a big risk by deciding to make his girlfriend’s engagement ring with his own two hands. Don’t worry, it ends well. Excellent job Mike, and congratulations!

The Northmen Guild (fka John Neeman Tools) made this short film showing engineer and wood craftsman Rihards Vidzickis making one of his specialties: a dugout canoe. The process took place over a few months. We just want that paddle.

Remember that time in school where you said you don’t need to know geometry? Builder John Heisz shows us how wrong we were with the precise diagramming needed to create an awesome throwing star that doubles as a fidget spinner. He also made one out of wood.

A CNC knitting machine. Kniterate (knit + iterate) lets you create apparel and accessories (or at least their prototypes) out of digital templates. You’ll be able to design templates using Kniterate’s web app or import previously made designs.