The Leatherman Wave was released back in 1996 and was the first Leatherman to feature accessible blades without opening the handle. People must have loved cutting things to ribbons because it became the company’s bestselling multi-tool ever. So it only made sense for BRANDMADE.TV, a documentary YouTube channel, to show how this iconic multi-tool gets made. Starting with the handles, each of the Wave’s 17 tools is made separately by machines before being assembled by human hands. Consisting of screwdrivers, pliers, blades, and a small saw to name a few, each of the individual parts are heat-treated before being tumbled with ceramic beads to remove any rough edges and to…

It’s not always easy to juggle multiple hats in the design and engineering worlds—but if there is a common language that will likely end up saving you a lot of time and frustration down the road, it’s having basic knowledge of visual communication. While nobody can become an Aaron Draplin overnight, having a strong grasp on the fundamentals of color theory and layout could easily make or break your projects—particularly when communication specific details to stakeholders. Thankfully, you don’t need to go back to design school to get started with leveling up your visual communication game. From setting up an Adobe Creative Cloud environment to building a portfolio website, the…

Get that stretch out of your system with this week’s Spotify-powered SolidSmack Radio Playlist. It’s fashioned up, ready to make you pull your shoulder blades back and knock out another week of meaningful work while you bob your head to the beat. Whether you’re in the shop milling aluminum, sketching the latest product prototypes or modeling up a 3D storm, consider these tracks as a tool for your process. This week on SolidSmack Radio we’ll get the groove going with “It’s A Shame My Store Isn’t Open” from Natural Child before diving into an off-kilter mix of killer new tracks from Nicolas Jaar, Stereolab, Fleece, and others before wrapping up…

Mondays might not be your favorite day of the week, but the good news is that we’re all in this together ladies and gentlemen. As purveyors of prime Grade A web content, the SolidSmack crew has done some of the heavy-lifting to make sure you get your Mondays started on the right track. Welcome to The Monday List. Every Monday, we link you up with some of the most insightful, informative, and socially-relevant stories to keep tabbed, bookmarked, reading listed, pocketed, or what have you to get your week started on the right foot. Be sure to check in each week for a new crop of freshly sprouted words curated straight…

Sure, the initial impact and risk to life in a fender bender are pretty frightening; but having to deal with the insurance company and getting the car fixed afterward is just as terrifying. Affidavits and scamming auto shops are only a few of the terrors which should scare you into never hitting another vehicle again. So what should you do when your car does get a dent—your fault or otherwise? You could bring it over to a body shop as most people would, OR you could try to fix it yourself with some hot water and a plunger. Adam from the YouTube channel Adam’s Life Hacks shows how to fix…

Halloween may be over, but that hasn’t stopped YouTube creator BLACKHAND from making one of his creepiest chain matchstick pieces yet. SolidSmack previously covered one of his chain matchstick reactions, but while the old one was a hodgepodge of smaller matchstick structures stuck together, this new one is a bit more… bare bones. His latest foray into burning matchstick art is a giant skull – because seeing giant skulls go up in flames is just dang cool, okay? Using about 10,000 well-placed matchsticks, some superglue, and metal wiring, BLACKHAND can create an upright skull ready to set the world on fire. He starts at the center of the skull by…