Awesome Metal

As impressive as large-scale milling machines can be, compact machines that can create intricate parts are equally fascinating to us. In this clip, Bantam Tools shows off their Desktop PCB Milling Machine as it carves a miniature topographic map of Washington’s Mount Rainier out of a cube of aluminum.

Metal Wall Games sells a variety of popular board games you can mount on your wall. This 32″ x 23″ metal Scrabble board lets you and your friends play the classic crossword game vertically. The set includes 100 magnetic game tiles, a chalkboard for tracking scores, and a burlap tile pouch.

Most axe heads look pretty similar – a thick, wedge-shaped piece of metal with a sharpened edge. But The Metalist wanted to build something a little different and set to creating a functional axe that looks like a human hand. This thing can dish out a serious knifehand strike. Karate chop!

Andrey Kazantsev of Dirt Customs makes amazing low-polygon-count metal animal sculptures. Watch as he welds together a wonderfully pointy Doberman sculpture from dozens of pieces of precision-cut metal. He ships internationally, and his contact info is on his Instagram page. That giant panda sculpture blew our minds.

Scott & Heather of Scavenging Metal create amazing art inspired by pop culture. One of our faves is this steel cassette tape that’s five times larger than the real thing. We love the details like the ball-bearing reels and tape made from chain. Oh, and next Halloween, we’re totally going with their propane tank jack-o’-lanterns.

Hallsen’s 60% mechanical keyboard comes with keys made from stainless steel. The switches are designed for responsiveness and have full n-key rollover and anti-ghosting tech. Each key has RGB backlighting with 15 lighting effects to choose from. It connects wirelessly via Bluetooth 5.0 or wired via USB-C.

Mechanical engineer Kiyoshi Adachi created this wonderful work of kinetic wall art which features a tiny metal man who turns a crank, setting into motion a ballet of spinning gears and dancing rods. Those elliptical gears are especially cool.

As we’ve seen several times in the past, metalsmith Shurap likes to make Damascus from various metal hardware. This time out, he used hundreds of skinny fishing hooks to make a knife. The fine lines of the hooks resulted in an interesting sort of crackle pattern on the finished blade.

Iron fences are typically made by shaping and welding together multiple pieces of metal. But this factory uses a technique where entire fence sections are cast in large molds, with multiple workers pouring in molten metal to fill in the complete pattern at once.

The accessory design experts at Craighill present their first folding knife. The Rook is a minimal pocket knife made entirely from metal. It has an SV35N steel drop-point blade, a one-handed flipper mechanism, and a frame lock. Available in stainless or tri-color with half-brass/half-stainless handles and a black PVD-coated blade.

Need to work on your pocket knife or other small items? This metal tray from BDKtools provides the perfect spot for maintenance. It’s CNC milled from a single piece of aluminum, anodized in black, and lined with rubberized cork. It’s got a large work tray, three smaller parts trays, and holders for a bit driver and bits.

Hydroforming is the process of shaping metal structures by inflating them with pressurized water or air. Maker Connor Holland has been experimenting with the technique, and shared this compilation of some of the more interesting and satisfying results. The pillow one looks like a metal whoopee cushion.

This desktop plaything from the makers of the Mezmoglobe and Mezmotop tricks your eyes when you spin it. The mirror finish aluminum toy looks like a stack of coins, and its smooth spinning mechanism creates a wavelike illusion as you get it up to speed. Sold in standard and nano sizes, as well as a bundle with both.

Estonian design shop Udrik’s playful metal stand provides the perfect place to store your over-the-ear headphones. Serving as both a work of modern art and a functional accessory, the powder-coated steel and oak stand resembles an abstract human who is happy to wear your cans when you’re not using them.

Robinson Foundry crafted this useful brass kitchen gadget using a 3D printed measuring cube as a starting point. Like some of his other creations, he used the “Lost PLA” method to create a ceramic mold around the 3D print and then melted away the plastic. We wonder how accurate it is compared to the original.

The Michelin Man, aka “Bibendum,” is one of the most iconic advertising mascots of all time. Awesome Restorations, got their hands on an antique metal sculpture of the rotund character and sandblasted away years of rust, then repainted it, restoring its former glory. He looked like a toasted marshmallow man before his makeover.

This CNC-machined aluminum building block from Gundae Productions is a great gift for LEGO fans. The block is roughly twice the size of a standard 4×2 LEGO brick, measuring 2.5″ wide. It’s not designed for a tight fit though, so consider it more of display piece than something you’d build structures with.

Cast metal versions of organic forms can look awesome, like this seashell that Seth Robinson made. The process involved placing a marlin spike shell into a sand mold. After melting aluminum and pouring it into the mold, he removed the casting and cleaned up the excess metal to reveal what the insides of the shell look like.

Maker Ross the Random has a thing for turning hardware into critters. After he transformed a few nuts and bolts into a shiny hornet, he took a single screw and managed to massage it into a palm-sized sculpture of a scorpion.

If you’ve been to a firing range, you’ll see countless shell casings littering the ground. Seth over at Robinson Foundry wanted to put these to use, so he melted down the brass casings and turned them into custom coins. He created the shapes by 3D printing coin models, then placed them into a sand mold for casting.

Ian Davis needed a prosthetic to replace four fingers on his left hand. Rather than purchase a commercial model, he engineered an awesome metal hand that looks like something straight out of The Terminator. It’s capable of opening, closing, splaying its fingers, and makes satisfying sounds as it flexes.

Magnetic Games presents yet another wonderfully satisfying video, in which he uses hundreds of magnetic rods and spheres to create an complicated geometric sculpture. He placed a light at the center of his masterpiece, so it casts interesting shadows as well. After it’s all done, he knocks it down with a catapult.

Keep all your vinyl records organized and easily accessible with this hand-welded metal storage tower from Design Atelier Article. It comes in two variants – one that holds 240 LPs and one that holds 300 LPs. Both measure 45″ high, but vary in width from 15 3/4″ to 19 2/3″. They also make a squared-off storage unit with casters.