For those who spend their days slicin’ and dicin’ material—be it for rough prototyping or simply just opening up all those Amazon purchases—having the right utility blade is an absolute must. While we love the simple and old-fashioned X-Acto blade, we’ve found them to be better for precision cutting versus all-around, at-the-ready utility. This grippy heavy-duty cutter makes use of OLFA’s unique snap-off blade system, so you’re never without a sharp blade at the ready. And with an anti-slip rubber grip design featuring a ratchet-wheel blade lock for safety, you won’t have to worry about slipping or unexpected pocket surprises. OLFA 18mm Rubber Inset Heavy-Duty Utility Knife — $10.11 Features:…

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 the all-new “Fever Dream” from Draa before diving into some killer classic tracks from Exit Someone, Delicate Steve, MorMor, Hand Habits, and others before wrapping up with “Childhood” from Cameo.…

One of the hardest tasks in 3D printing is the production of highly complex figurines in color material. 3D printing of figurines has long been a popular activity among desktop 3D printing enthusiasts, and particularly among gamers. Very often you will see game pieces being 3D printed, either original or stock designs. The first problem is in the method of obtaining the 3D model for the figurine. While some are easily obtained through online sales, very few enthusiasts have the 3D CAD skills and tools to properly design the desired figurine themselves. An increasingly popular source for figurine designs is from within virtual reality games, where professional artists have created…

It’s when I entered middle school that I started to excel in math. Maybe excel is too strong a word. I was a good math student, but I wasn’t the best. I worked really hard at it. The award I publicly got at Parent’s Night was “Most Improved”. Middle school is also when I was first exposed to shop class. I loved everything about it. The tools, the smell, the potential danger, the way the shop class teacher was like no one else in the building. He was gruff in a way that was different even from the PE teachers. I loved that I could make things my way. My…

It’s always fun to see how products are made, but sometimes you need a dose of some good old-fashioned product destruction for stress relief, too. Ever since 1975, Utah-based blender company Blendtec has been making blenders that shred, maim, and well… blend ingredients into an easily digestible mush. Fast forward to 2006 and the rise of the internet, the company found that the best way to showcase just how solid their blenders are is through a series of YouTube videos. Enter Will It Blend?, Blendtec’s own viral marketing YouTube channel that sees founder Tom Dickson talk about the latest smartphone or other gadget technology before dumping it into one of…

Since its release in 1959, Henry Dreyfuss’ The Measure of Man and Woman: Human Factors in Design has been an invaluable resource for designers, engineers, architects, and anybody else responsible for shaping the manufactured world around us. The indispensable resource, which contains thorough and accurate measurements for children, teenagers, adult men and women, and those with physical handicaps, has allowed designers to accurately define the dimensions of their products to suit the immediate needs of their users. Additional data guidelines for the visually and hearing-impaired, as well as other differently abled individuals, have helped shape the standards for numerous government-defined disability acts. Suffice to say, this book is the real…