Awesome Making

Lauri and Anni from the Hydraulic Press Channel took a break from their typical destruction to create something with their tools. By crushing rolls of toilet paper within an inch of their life, they were able to eventually come up with a semi-workable skateboard deck.

Jack Flynn and Nick David present a wonderful short documentary about the men and women who work tirelessly to weave, mill, dye, blend, spin, warp, finish, and stamp Scotland’s famous Harris tweed fabric.

Clickspring edited down footage from their extensive 23-part video series of a long-term build which took them over 1,000 hours to create – an elegant, fully functional timepiece built entirely in their machine shop. Sit back and chill for the next 12 minutes of wonder.

We don’t usually play with dolls (just Funko figures), but we couldn’t resist sharing this video that showcases the craftsmanship that goes into handmaking these classic Japanese figurines. The part where artist Yasuo Okazaki applies the paint rings is just so satisfying.

For his latest one-day build, Adam Savage and his Tested pals cheated a bit, spending a couple of days cutting, welding, and assembling a complicated walking machine inspired by the work of Theo Jansen. And you thought assembling IKEA furniture was tricky.

Man at Arms: Reforged takes on what is perhaps the most famous sword of all time – King Arthur’s legendary Excalibur, as based on its appearance in the video game King of Avalon. It’s one of their most impressive builds, and the engraving alone is phenomenal.

If you’ve ever wondered how they make those giant springs used in the suspension systems of cars, check out this footage of a molten hot rod of steel as it’s bent around a moving cylinder, then quenched in a vat of oil to harden it.

Miller Knives walks us through the painstaking process of transforming a block of brass and a sheet of steel into a ring that has two tiny knife blades that fold out of it. It’s cool to see how making the blades is very similar to a normal knife, only smaller.

Carpenter Jimmy DiResta has previously made some useful tool totes out of wood, but this time, he decided to make a more stylish and unique tote, welded from steel rods, and wrapped in leather. It’s heavy for a toolbox, but it’s not going to be used for field work.

Primitive Technology goes easy on himself for once and makes a shrimp trap. It has a funnel that lets shrimp in but not out. It doesn’t need bait and you can make multiple traps to get you more food. Or something to barter. Man, a complete PT village would be awesome.

Carpenter Frank Howarth’s latest creation is designed for fighting off walkers, ready to bash in their skulls with even greater effectiveness than Negan’s dirty girl, Lucille. Plus, Frank’s turned, patterned bat is simply beautiful when it’s not covered in blood and guts.

Man at Arms: Reforged celebrates its 100th episode by going all out to make one of the most fan-requested and complex weapons, Warhammer 40,000’s Blood Angel chainsword, complete with a fully operational chainsaw with oversize teeth. For the Emperor!

Primitive Technology spent about a day making a spear thrower. It’s made from a branch that had a smaller branch shooting out of it. The branch’s collar acts as a cup that cradles the spear. It let him throw a spear up to 49ft. away.

A look at a long-standing tradition in China’s Nanshan Village, where a handful of people have passed down the technique to create these long and skinny noodles, which are quite time-consuming and complex to make. We’re having some serious carb cravings now.

Miniature maker HMS2 shows us how to use plastic sheets and rods, and mad X-Acto knife skills to build a teensy toaster which looks absolutely perfect. Of course, you’ll need to make some tiny bread too, and be sure to wash it down with a tiny espresso.

How It’s Made walks us through the making of the modern day Peel 50, a tiny fiberglass-bodied car with a 1-cyl engine that doesn’t seem like something you should be driving on public roads. The original version dates back to the early 1960s and is worth up to $200k.

Primitive Technology built a roofed shed so he can store firewood and do other fire-related projects out of the rain. It took him a week to gather the timber and turn them into a frame, three days to make and dry a kiln, and almost a day to make the tiles.

Watch an ordinary block of wood carved into an intricate sculpture of a howling wolf by artist WieselRobot. If you’re wondering about the smaller wolf in the background, he also hand-sculpted that from clay.

A look inside Nissan’s Canton, Mississippi factory, where hardworking folks have built every single TITAN pickup truck since 2003. We’re still amazed to see how coils of steel are transformed by man and machine into the vehicles we rely on every day for work and play.

These days, most wallpaper is printed using industrial printing presses. But check out this wild 1960s footage of a British wallpaper factory, who still made the rolls of wall art using hand-carved block printing, and hand-applied flocking.

Frank Howarth is back with another awesome build – this time, he’s created a wonderful turned bowl using walnut and maple, with CNC cloud-shaped forms set into the sides. The stop-motion and orbiting time-lapse of the build is just the icing on the cake. (Thanks Victor!)

Maker Benjamin Uyeda used Inventables’ X-Carve 3D carving machine to cut hundreds of layers of wood, which he laminated together to make an impressive spiral staircase. The whole thing was made from 13 sheets of Purebond plywood. Full build video here.

Every Soyuz microphone is made by hand. This video shows but a few steps in the painstaking process of creating each microphone. Even the individual holes in each diaphragm capsule is hand-drilled. If you have any doubt how good the result is, just listen here.