Awesome Steel

King Cobra Blades Art handmakes these unique damascus steel 6-sided dice. Each one features a distinctive pattern made by forging and folding layers of metal together numerous times. They come in 16mm, 20mm, and 1″ sizes. They also make some beautiful damascus knives and rings.

The latest addition to AltDynamic’s series of collectible desktop curiosities comes in a satisfying tubular egg shape. Inspired by the mathematics of Gabriel Lamé and the 1960s Superegg design by Piet Hein, the roly-poly metal egg comes in titanium, stainless steel, and copper editions with machined or mirrored finishes.

In Iron Man 2, Happy and Pepper come to Tony Stark’s rescue with a slick new suit of armor that fits inside of a briefcase. After making a retractable version of Iron Man’s helmet, Jake Laser’s fans demanded more, so he got to work on a real-life version of the Mark 5 briefcase suit, made out of plasma-cut steel.

We love the minimal yet classic design of this steel tool bin designed by Japan’s Puebco. Whether you use it for storing small hand tools, as a desktop organizer, or as an improvised planter for your herb garden, it’s definitely worthy of being on display and not hidden away in a closet. Measures 12″ w x 6″ d x 7″ h.

Virginia Beach tool shop Teale Designs handmakes a variety of useful pocket pry bars, each of which features a bottle opener and a lanyard hole. Some models also hold a screwdriver bit, too. We particularly like the perforated designs, which not only look cool but reduce weight. They come in stainless steel or brass.

The Hydraulic Press Channel usually shows how machines can be used to destroy stuff. But in this video, they take us inside Componenta, where such equipment is used to create things. Watch as a molten pillar of steel is loaded into a duo of presses, which gradually shape it into a ring that will be used to make a giant gear.

Artist Ricardo Churchill brings the illusory magic of M.C. Escher to life with these impossible-looking desktop sculptures. Each one is handmade from mitered, welded, and finished steel. They come in three sizes: 6cm, 9cm, and 22cm, and in raw steel, silver, antique metallic, or powdercoat finishes.

Inspired by the incredible work of artist Peter Walker, fellow blacksmith Alec Steele wanted to try his hand at sculpting a miniature head out of metal. The process involves squaring off a bar of steel, then hammering and chiseling to make indentations while it’s still molten hot.

Rather than melting down and reforging the metal from an old sawblade, metalsmith Hassan “Habu” Abu-Izmero wanted to see if he could just cut, grind, and polish the old metal into a new weapon. The transformation from the rusty old blade into machete is impressive. The paracord-wrapped handle looks great too.

Metalsmith Alec Steele takes a momentary break from forging cool things to create a sculpture of his dog, Yoga. After measuring his pup’s proportions, he created a wire skeleton, then welded together numerous steel nuts in various sizes to form the metal dog-ppelganger’s bust.

Industrial hydraulic presses are designed to compress metals, so we’re not surprised that HPC’s 150-ton press was able to make quick work of these steel axes. Place your bets now as to how much pressure will be needed to bend or break these normally sturdy hand tools.

This stainless steel bookmark not only saves your place, it provides useful shapes for detailing your ideas. The sturdy stencil incorporates a protractor, compass, t-square, circle, square, and triangle bullets, isometric guides, and metric and imperial rulers. The expansion card adds letters, numbers, and a few other shapes.

(Loud) Making a metal sphere usually involves stamping or spinning sheet metal. But this video shows a process where they start out with a shape made out of polygons, then turn it into a sphere by bending the metal with an explosion at its center. We’re not sure of all of the science, but we found a paper on the subject.

Designers Yuma Kano and Yu Miyama came up with this clever way to keep your bicycle standing upright… using a much smaller bike. The 14″ long miniature bike is made from steel, and comes in versions for tires up to 1.6″ or 2″ wide. Unfortunately, importing one via Japan Trend Shop is a costly endeavor.

Bridges can vary wildly in terms of strength depending on their structural design. The guys from the Hydraulic Press Channel welded together several miniature bridges from steel, then measured the force applied to each one to see which style is the strongest.

There are lots of machines out there that can cut holes in flat sheets of steel, but MarkGyver built a machine that can make cuts into the curved face of a cylinder. Using a high-heat plasma cutter and a chain-driven rotating holder, the computer-controlled system can make smooth cuts through the surface of a steel tube.

Fred Conlon’s whimsical metalwork is all over SLC, especially his mischievous monsters made from industrial scrap and old tools. “Proudly made in the USA from worldwide junk” is the Sugarpost motto. He really nailed it with office supplies like a pliers pen cup, wrench desk caddy, and Hammer Hits Nail business card holder.

The Stria is an elegant and substantial drawing instrument that will look great sitting on your desktop. It folds to half of its length via a metal dovetail joint and opens to provide a 30cm / 11.8″ ruler. It features a wedge shape for confident line drawing, imperial and metric markings, and comes in brass or steel.

Canadian steel fabrication company Ironmen Industries created this unique metal rod that’s got two interwoven threads, allowing nuts with opposite threads to move in different directions. We’re not sure of the practical application but it sure would make an amazing fidget toy. Originally spotted by Stene Woodwork.

Ever wonder how they make coils of sheet metal? This fascinating footage captured by Sweden’s Dalarna University at the SSAB hot rolling mill shows how a giant slab of steel is heated, then cleaned, roughed, and rolled through a series of machines into gradually thinner and thinner layers.

Using a homemade hydraulic press, a section of square steel tube, and his forge, blacksmith Paul Pinto shows us how he made a cool looking container to keep his office supplies like pens, pencils, paint brushes, and err.. an ice pick.

One of the great things about metal is just how recyclable it can be. In this video from Random Hands, he shows how he transformed a rusty old bolt into a shiny new lighter with a steampunk aesthetic. While the reused steel was only used for its main chamber, the additional brass pieces really give it a finished look.

There are time-tested blacksmithing techniques for twisting metal into knot-like structures. But what if you want to tie a steel rod into an actual knot? Paul Pinto shows us how his method for making a tight overhand knot using a combination of bending, hammering, and stretching. The engine hoist trick is a good one.