2nd Shot is the Ontario-based company that takes a love of skateboarding and its culture, turning discarded decks from local skaters, skate shops and skate parks to create just about anything imaginable – watches, art, and yes, knives–beautiful. The company is the brainchild of John Gibson, mixing his former freelance job painting cars and customizing random products with his passion for skateboarding, into a manufacturing mash-up of “Skate Art” that’s awesome enough to be displayed in a gallery. Pieces were already hanging in hos how, so with the piles of cracked skateboards piling up, his business was created. If you’ve ever split a skateboard after hurling yourself down a double-set,…
This week’s Spotify-powered SolidSmack Radio Playlist knocks you in the pop sockets with head-boppin’ groove tuneage to help propel you through the work week in style. Whether you find yourself inking markers until they’re dry, grinding material through a bandsaw or working that 3D geometry all day, consider these tracks as a tool for your process. This week we’ll start things off with “You Know, You Know” from Mahavishnu Orchestra and work our way through tracks from Animal Collective, Wings, Yo La Tengo, RJD2 and others before wrapping up with the classic “Anyone Who Knows What Love Is…(Will Understand)” from Irma Thomas. Have suggestions? As always, let us know what…
When it comes to design sketching, one of the most difficult –– but oftentimes absolutely necessary –– components to lay down are various components of the human figure. Among other reasons, understanding the scale and ergonomics of early design ideas can make or break a project early in the process. Which is why the How to Draw: FIGURES Sketchbook by footwear designer Mark Kokavec just might be one of the best new resources you should add to your arsenal. The $25 Moleskine-like sketchbook uses templates and guidelines to help teach you how to draw the human form using a “phase-out” system that begins with lots of guidelines that are simplified as you…
While Frank Howarth of Frank Makes may be one of our favorite go-to YouTubers when it comes to woodworking, This Old Tony is close behind when it comes to machining and other forms of metalworking. While the scope of his videos vary from designing and making your own springs to machining tool holders for a lathe, his latest video just might be the most interesting of all –– at least, for the coffee connoisseurs among us. Starting with a hunk of scrap metal, Tony spends over a half hour detailing the process of machining a macchinetta –– otherwise known as a Moka Pot –– from scratch. These stovetop coffee makers produce…
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. Each Monday, we’ll 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. Be sure to check in each Monday morning for a new crop of freshly sprouted words curated straight from the source of your favorite homegrown…
What if you had a device that let you repair a broken laptop or even upgrade it just by swapping out a card? What if that card IS your computer, completely modular and able to be upgraded quickly and swapped between devices? Those questions have been answered and that device now has a face, a name and is currently available for purchase. Rhombus-Tech has developed Libre Tea, an “EOMA68-compatible computer card with an Allwinner A20 dual core processor, 2 GB of RAM, and 8 GB of NAND flash pre-installed with the Parabola GNU/Linux-libre operating system.” The first devices tap the PCMCIA form-factor and connector for easy integration into laptops, desktops…