Awesome The Q

A standard LEGO minifig stands roughly 1.6″ (4 cm) tall. Maker of many crazy things, The Q, shows us how he used a 3D printer to produce the parts needed to make a giant minifig bigger than he is. Before making the XXL model, he printed small, medium, large, and XL figs. We can only imagine how much time and filament it took to make the biggest one.

Adam Savage’s book Every Tool’s a Hammer is an excellent addition to any maker’s library. The Q took a page from the book – or 288 pages to be exact – and turned them into a usable hammer by saturating them in a durable epoxy resin, then cutting out the hammer shape with a jigsaw. We wonder what other tools you could make from books.

No matter how many weird bicycles that The Q comes up with, he never seems to run out of ideas. This time, he created a bike that rolls on slip-on shoes instead of tires. He made each wheel from 16 metal fins, then fitted them with Jake the Dog slippers. It makes an appropriately goofy sound rolling down the road.

To follow up on his bicycle that runs on diagonally-mounted tracks instead of wheels, The Q is showing off another unusual bike design. This one rolls along the ground on tracks that lie flat on the surface. It looks more stable than the first design – but there’s more rolling resistance, so it needed a huge center gear to provide enough torque to move it.

People who keep fish as pets can go overboard with their aquariums. Not one to ever be subtle, The Q got to work building a custom aquarium that looks like an actual house. The two-story home has art on the walls, glass tanks with a connecting tube, and a garage with a tiny BMW in case any fish learn how to drive.

After building a hubless bicycle, inventor and maker The Q used his skills to create a similar pair of roller blades. He created their wheels using large ball bearings, which he wrapped with tire rubber and sandwiched between layers of steel to create a frame for each boot. They kind of look like tiny TRON lightcycles attached to his feet.

While it’s possible to build a hubless bicycle, it’s a mechanically complex feat. Builder The Q came up with a similar look that does away with the spokes instead, replacing them with thick polyacrylate sheets. We’re not sure how durable they are or how they affect ride quality, but it’s a really cool illusion.

Inspired by the expensive airless tires seen on construction equipment and concept vehicles, The Q set out on a mission to make his own shock-absorbing, puncture-proof bike tires using a similar design. What’s even more impressive is that he built them using only PVC pipe, nuts, bolts, and the tread from a standard bike tire.

After building a bicycle that rides on square wheels using tank-like tracks, The Q applied his creativity and engineering skills to create a bike that has no wheels at all. Instead, it rolls around on skinny, angular tracks with a very small contact point with the ground. We’re impressed he can balance on this thing.

After showing off his square-wheeled bicycle, maker, The Q is back with another bike with oddly-shaped geometry. This model features triangular wheels with a slight curve. The trick to maintaining contact without huge bumps is a flexible suspension and a pair of conveyor belts that press against the tires as he pedals.

Maker The Q has a thing for modifying bicycles. For this unusual bike mod, he took an ordinary 2-wheeler and chopped its frame into a series of links with cables that hold them together. The idea is that its segments can be loosened and wrapped around a pole like a cable lock, then tightened to form a stiff frame for riding.

The Q is here to fix another problem we didn’t know needed solving – mechanically wrapping things with tape. To build his single-purpose machine, he gathered up some spare bike parts he had lying around his shop and linked them together to spin a reel of tape as he moves an object through its open center.

There’s a good reason that wheels are round: friction. But basic physics are never going to stand in the way of mad builder The Q. His latest creation is a standard bike frame with one major modification – it rolls on custom-made square wheels. It rides pretty smoothly, but it also doesn’t work how we assumed it would.

The Q shows off the Big Boy, a teensy bicycle he created that’s fully functional. It has a custom-built steel frame and handlebars, rides on inline skate wheels, and has tiny pedals. And somehow, despite being a normal-size human, The Q managed to ride the thing.

This wouldn’t be the best use of tennis balls that we’ve seen, but we have to hand it to The Q for his creativity. For no reason other to prove that it could be done, he created a bike tires which never need air because they ride on a cushion of tennis balls. The trickiest part of the build was the rig that crams tennis balls into PVC rings.

The Q has a love for Formula 1 racing. But we’re guessing from his past projects that he can’t afford to own a real F1 race car. He does however have a single F1 wheel and tire, so he got to work building a custom electric skateboard that rolls on it. It works much like the Onewheel, though it’s a bit trickier to straddle.