Awesome Metal

We’ve seen metal miniature kits before, but never ones like these. Time 4 Machine’s big selling point is that their detailed models are mechanical. The wind-up cabrio and tank actually drive, the clock tells time (for an hour), and you can actually play the table hockey game.

A truly stunning piece of drinkware unlike any other. Each of Discommon’s Lowball 2 whisky tumblers is CNC machined from a block of aerospace-grade aluminum, and features precision engineered geometry and textures for an optimal grip and to minimize drips.

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.

Transform your basic black Apple Watch into a wearable piece of neo-futurist art with one of Joy Complex’s metal covers. They’re available in cast bronze or silver with a patina finsh, or shiny or distressed cast copper. You can find the watch bands shown over on Amazon.

Designer Paul Braddock of the Mold3D Channel demonstrates how to use objects made with a 3D printer to create silicone molds for casting items from a mix of metal powder and resin, giving them a sturdy and substantial part with a weathered metallic look with actual rust.

Those fidget spinner thingies are starting to turn up everywhere, but rather than buy some cheap mass-produced toy, our old pal Engineer BrunS decided to make some of his own. There are few things more satisfying than watching metal shavings go flying as it’s milled.

Appropriately named metalsmith Alec Steele starts out by welding 31 layers of steel together, then heats and repeatedly hammers them together so many times that he eventually hits one million layers. He later turned the resulting Damascus steel cube into a karambit knife.

One of the few self-illuminating materials to find its way in front of The Slow Mo Guys‘ lens is this liquid copper being poured at more than 1200ºF. We’re sure glad they didn’t splash any on their schmancy high-speed camera.

Truly unique six-sided dice which have an open void in their centers. They’re precision machined from anodized aluminum, and weigh just 1.5 grams each. Their unique pip design and balanced weight distribution ensures statistically fair rolls too.

Over the years, YouTuber NurdRage has demonstrated how pouring liquid gallium onto aluminum can cause catastrophic failure of the normally durable, lightweight metal. Watch as the stuff causes a heat sink, sheet metal, and even a baseball bat lose its strength.

Each of Craighill’s metal desk puzzles does double duty as a pint-sized work of art and a brain-teaser. The six-piece puzzle measures 3″ x 3″ x 3″, weighs about a pound, and is milled from solid cartridge brass in Massachusetts.

This video from the Crown Point High School machine shop works on multiple levels. It’s not only a cool demonstration of how to create a complicated metal sculpture, but we’re also convinced the school has developed the ability to time travel back to the 1980s.

Owen & Fred’s stainless steel shot glasses each hold 2oz of your favorite spirit, and are die stamped with an appropriate cheer of “Bottoms Up” in the bottom that you can read as you prepare to gulp down your drink.

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.

Thailand sculptor Mari9art’s incredible build is made from recycled car parts and scrap steel. It measures 2.2m tall (~7.2 ft), and includes free door-to-port shipping, though getting it to your house might be a challenge from there. His lifesize T-Rex is even more mindblowing.

Poligon’s etched metal calendars not only look cool, but offer a satisfying feature – the ability to punch out each day as it passes. Choose from a foldable triangular design or a flat version with hidden magnets for fridge mounting.