Awesome Making

Man at Arms: Reforged finally takes on one of their fans’ long-requested weapons: Dark Souls’ Greatsword of Artorias. The divine weapon is like a Gothic column, eye-catching in terms of both size and detail. There’s no way a normal man can one-hand or roll with this beast.

Gold is the most malleable metal, but it still takes a ton of manual labor to turn it into these silky sheets. This documentary by the Japan Science and Technology Agency shows how Japanese craftsmen painstakingly turn gold bars into gold (alloy) leaves.

After showing the craftsmanship that goes into handmade tools, John Neeman Tools built an entire home from hand-felled trees, locally sourced stones, and mostly using hand tools. The frame and roof were made with wood joints and pegs, with no nails, screws or hardware.

Who knew mixing mud and water could result in such beautiful and shiny spheres? We sure didn’t. Artist Bruce Gardner shows a brief glimpse into the Japanese tradition of Hikaru Dorodango, in this short film by P2 Photography. Learn to DIY on Instructables.

Primitive Technology uses his stone tools to craft a 55″ bow and a set of 2′ arrows. He also made a quiver out of bark. He says the bow was durable, lasting for about 200 to 300 shots. The string lasted about 100 shots but was easily repaired. And don’t worry, the turkey’s okay.

It’s human nature to want to pop the little bubbles in bubble wrap. So there’s nothing quite as sadistic as what maker Peter Brown did – by submerging bubble wrap in crystal clear resin and making frustrating coasters that can never be popped. Oh the humanity!

Primitive Technology made lots of charcoal by breaking down pieces of dried eucalyptus wood then slowly burning them in a kiln made of dried leaves and mud. The entire process took about a day. Bronze Age, here we come!

Metalworker Engineer BrunS walks us through the painstaking process of machining a block of aluminum into a metal matchbox with a sliding drawer, then making tiny brass matches to go along with. They don’t actually burn, but they still look amazing.

Man at Arms: Reforged used a railroad track and a black iron pipe to make a life-size replica of the nasty Saw Cleaver from the horror action RPG Bloodborne. It can transform between a short saw and a long cleaver, just like its video game counterpart.

A team of guys in Russia show off the build process behind their own homebrew tank. We’re assuming the plywood bits at the start were an earlier prototype, as the finished MS-1 tank appears to be made from sturdier materials like metal and rubber.

Munchies dropped down Ginza, Japan’s Bar High Five to get a look at owner Hidetsugu Ueno’s perfectly balanced and artful cocktails, and his ability to individually carve chunks of ice into glimmering diamond shapes. Ironically, Hidetsugu doesn’t even drink.

Artist Andrei Muntian handmakes amazing wooden cutting boards by layering together precisely cut pieces of contrasting woods. Watch as he creates one of his trippy 3D illusion cutting boards. More on Instructables, and buy his work at MTM Wood.

The modern Stone Age man of Primitive Technology has acquired lots of blisters just from trying to start a fire. So he homo sapiened his way out of his predicament and built a drill. Then he used the basic tool to create upgrades for itself.

Jimmy DiResta put on his best Man at Arms impression and made a real world replica of the long-ass knife tattooed on WWE wrestler Brock Lesnar’s torso. The result is as intimidating as it is impractical.

After building a house from scratch, Primitive Technology made coil and woven baskets out of palm leaves and lawyer cane, and two hatchets using branches and sharpened rocks. We hope we achieve immortality so we can watch the rise of his civilization.

They’re one of the world’s most ubiquitous objects – metal shipping containers used to transport goods around the planet. In this clip from BigSteelBox, we go inside a Chinese factory where the containers are crafted by a laborious mix of machine and human effort.