What’s better than one full penny skateboard? TWO half penny skateboards. Add a bag of chips and Paul’s Boutique on loop and you’ve got yourself the makings of a rambunctious night out on the town. But first, you need the half-penny skateboards. Leave it to Devin Montes, aka MakeAnything, to create a skateboard slightly larger than your boot sole with four rollerskate wheels and a skidstop. It’s the smallest rideable skateboard I could manage to print, the Half-Penny! I designed this around a pair of roller skate plates that I found (Men’s size 9-10), but I’ve also included a ‘blank’ version of the deck without bolt holes or a bottom…

Repurposing old materials and using them to create something new—also known as Upcycling— is a great idea. Rather than throwing out those used materials, they can be utilized for many ingenious projects if you’re willing to stretch that creative muscle enough. Many upcycled projects have to deal with reclaimed wood—such as using an old barn door to build a kitchen table or using old wood flooring to make unique shelving. As strange as it might sound, old skateboard decks can also be repurposed for creative projects, which is exactly what Mike Clifford of Modustrial Maker used to design his Bluetooth Boombox. Mike created the Boombox using twice-recycled skateboard wood for…

For some strange reason, humans sure love to knock themselves on the head with countless mind puzzles. The Rubik’s Cube, Chess—heck, even Candy Crush are all examples of how we have a penchant for exercising our minds in different ways. This wooden dowel puzzle by Instructables user mtairymd is no different. It may sound easy enough to jam some wooden pieces into a tight box, but when you’re short a saw and some sandpaper, getting these things to fit can be quite the challenge! Like most other projects, the build starts by carefully laying down the dimensions for each piece to ensure the finished puzzle fits together precisely as intended.…

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 o SolidSmack Radio we’ll get the groove going with “It’s Not Easy” from Omega before diving into sweet melodies from Ultimate Painting, Gold Celeste, Vetiver, Kaada, and others before wrapping up with “JBS” from Toro y Moi. Rock! Have…

You may think creating cosplay (the practice of dressing up as a character from a movie, book, or video game) costumes involves locking yourself up in a garage and making do with whatever spare hardware supplies are lying around—and you wouldn’t be far from correct! A lot of good cosplayers do precisely this; but with a little inspiration and a lot of dedication, they can go above and beyond to bring their favorite characters to life. Toronto-basedHenchmen Studios is a creative studio whose sole focus is on insane prop and costume making. They’re responsible for bringing many video game costumes to life – from the Hunter in Destiny 2, to…

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…