At its core, billiards (or pool – as the cool kids like to call it) is just a game about simple geometry. Once you understand how the balls move and react on a flat rectangular plane, you can pull off some sick moves by bouncing them off of walls and into each other. While the premise is simple, the execution is rather challenging. It takes a lot of practice to master billiards on a standard table. With this, why not put all that hard work into something which flips the odds in your favor? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsvJSRrwpio&ab_channel=TheQ This elliptical table created by The Q doesn’t exactly fit standard pool dimensions, but it…
Making things with LEGO is cool and pretty easy. The same thing goes for creating the bricks themselves. Due to the toy’s simple design and the amount of stuff you can build with it, there’s a lot of unofficial products which try to emulate the Danish company’s iconic bricks. Even though they might have been made by fans for personal use, LEGO doesn’t really like it when others butt in on their brick monopoly. Stian Ervik Wahlvåg is one of these fans. A 3D generalist and multimedia developer, Wahlvåg loves 3D printing toys for both him and others to enjoy. He usually shares his STL files online for free, but…
Metalworks require a lot of time, patience, and hard work. Moreover, the materials for metalworking aren’t cheap or easy to come by, so it’s always nice to see some old chunks of metal get recycled into something new. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-846gmAeNU8&t=648s&ab_channel=BlackBeardProjects Italian metalworker Black Beard Projects thought it would be a good idea to break down a couple of old chainsaw chain links and forge them into a simple cleaver. It was more of an experiment than an actual project, as he wanted to see whether or not the scrap metal could be forged into Damascus steel. Prepping the Chainsaw Chain After cleaning the chains, he cut the metal into smaller links.…
You hate them. We hate them. They’re the bane of every vehicle owner – potholes! These nasty depressions in the roads may seem harmless to pedestrians, but they can cause millions, if not billions, of dollars in vehicular damage if left unchecked. But how do these sneaky buggers even come to be? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRuarpWsKHY&t=478s&ab_channel=PracticalEngineering Civil engineer Grady Hillhouse explains that potholes are inevitable due to the design of roads. Underneath most roads is a subgrade layer of native soil; whereupon a base course of flat rock lies. This base course provides the bedrock for the black asphalt you see every day. This is the design being used by almost every country…
Unless you’ve been in a vehicular accident (which I hope you haven’t), you won’t notice how much road barriers have evolved over the years. Despite what you see on television, these accident prevention materials have actually gotten better at saving lives rather than ending them. It just so happens that the small percentage of deaths related to them are the ones that always make the news. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6CKltZfToY&ab_channel=AndrewLam In this informative video by Andrew Lam, he mentioned how Americans have the Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH) to thank for that. To put it simply, MASH is a strict set of guidelines that manufacturing companies have to adhere to when making…
Back in the 18th century, travelers on the American frontier had to constantly move to get stuff done. Whether it’s to trade, settle, or explore, chances are you’d need a gun to feed and protect yourself. Be it a musket or a pistol, guns back in the day used circular bullets mixed with gunpowder to get the job done. You could easily carry gunpowder, but what about ammunition? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQIZSIoiKSI&ab_channel=Townsends According to Townsends – a channel dedicated to preserving the 18th-century lifestyle – ammo was sold by traders on the frontier. You would find lead bullets of varying sizes at different trading posts, but these would often not fit the gun you…