Imagine working a graveyard shift and going home to sleep during the day. Have you experienced being woken up by the sunlight streaming into your room, disrupting your sleep? Well, a blackout curtain might be the solution for you. Did you know that blackout curtains can significantly reduce not only light and heat but also…
These heavy-duty machines like angle grinders allow us to create marvelous metal, stone, and wood projects with ease. They can cut through hard surfaces, polish rough exteriors, and provide a wide variety of finishes. With this, it’s a fact that you will need to scrutinize its features if you intend to buy one. To that…
A furnace filter mainly functions as a protective layer for the blower fan. Many people believe that its primary purpose is to clean the air but that’s just an additional feature of this particle clearance. Its job is to actually filter out all the contaminants, like dust, dirt, pollen, and hair, that the return duct…
Modern toilets provide us the proper disposal of waste in a hygienic and efficient manner. Toilet models have undergone multiple evolutions through time. These days, most of the world uses roughly the same design and system of plumbing. However, there can still be major differences in terms of their shapes, size, materials, color, and features.…
Stud finders are handheld devices that locate thick pieces of wood inside walls. These studs are used for framing and mounting. There are many applications for a stud, such as mounting a TV wall mount or hanging up a picture frame. It also allows you to avoid wires and rebar when you’re in the process…
Painting your walls yourself can be frustrating and time-consuming, especially when you have little knowledge of how to do it properly. This is where paint sprayers come into the picture. Paint sprayers not only provide a straightforward process, but they also cut the time and effort needed compared to traditional paint rollers and brushes. If…
Kitchen faucets are multifunctional taps that are attached to the kitchen sink. It helps in delivering water effortlessly, ensuring your cleaning and cooking tasks are comfortable and enjoyable. This makes the kitchen faucets an important item in any kitchen. However, due to the wide variety of kitchen faucets in the market, it has become quite…
It does not matter if you are a hobbyist or an expert craftsman. A drill press is a must-have for anyone who loves woodwork. This tool will definitely give you an easy time when drilling through different materials, translating to precise works in each piece. The wide variety of drill presses in the market has…
Reciprocating saw is a top-rated tool usually used in remodeling or demolition, plumbing, construction, and electrical tasks. It is an excellent tool for making rough cuts or tasks for different materials from ceramic to wood to cast iron to plastic. Using this saw, you can efficiently work small corners and tight spaces due to its…
The history of the modern home safe can be traced in 1835. English inventors Charles and Jeremiah Chubb started producing safes that are meant to resist burglary. From there, homeowners and businesses have started using the contraption to keep their valuables “safe.” The invention itself has undergone multiple evolutions since and it now comes in…
Technically, a table saw is a woodworking tool driven by an electric motor. It is a cutting tool that has a circular saw blade that is mounted on an arbor. Today, nearly 80% of home improvements or construction needs woodworking. This rising demand for sawing wood has now brought various power tools to make labor…
Miter saws are one of the best cutting tools you can rely on if you want the best kind of accuracy. Unlike the regular handsaws, miter saws will effortlessly deliver precise cuts without much effort on the end of the user. If you are looking for one, there are lots of things to consider. This…
Mechanical pencils are a good alternative to conventional wooden ones. Without the need to deal with messy wood and lead shavings, mechanical pencils can truly be convenient. Using lead as an extendable and replaceable core, users get an instant drawing tool for any purpose. This makes it popular among artists and other professionals who constantly…
As compared to regular desks, drafting desks are specialized tables which have a hinged top and can be raised from flat to a certain upright angle depending on the design of the table. It is used to prevent neck problems and incorrect posture among users during extended periods of work. Currently, there are four styles…
Our homes face a variety of issues when it comes to the quality of air. In a video from the Home Performance channel, Dr. Richard Corsi who is an indoor air researcher said that there are things to remember in order to achieve safe air quality indoors: ventilation and dry environment indoors. These can be…
Using TV wall mounts is more advantageous than you originally thought. Aside from keeping your TV safe high up on your wall, mounting your flat screen will reinforce a modern theme. Along with that, it will save some significant flooring space in your living room and utilize significant wall space in other home areas like…
You’ve heard of YouTubers who drop phones and other pieces of tech to test their durability, but have you ever heard of a company actually donating their products for the sole purpose of destroying them? This is exactly what Volvo has been doing recently. In order for Swedish rescue teams to get into the practice…
Pack your bags young people cause there’s a design gig to be had in Nashville, Music City USA! That is if you’ve got the chops to get da props. Fractal design, a physical product development firm just went live on the job board over on leManoosh with an Industrial design internship opportunity for spring 2021.…
If you’re a user of multiple CAD platforms and 3D creation apps, you’ve probably got jars of data translation tears stashed away to… I dunno, sprinkle your computer with from time to time? Frankly, I don’t know why you would bottle up those tears. LET THEM OUT. There are, however, tools that make data translation,…
Welcome to our series ‘Shop Talk’, where Dan Slaski interviews people in the thick of product development business, who make the magic happen and turn their ideas into reality. Have an interview suggestion? Send it in. Xometry is an online mega manufacturing marketplace ready to take whatever 3D models you can throw at them. Xometry isn’t…
Crocs, Inc. is an American company based in Niwot, Colorado that offers comfortable leisure footwear and is known for innovation. In 2020 Crocs sales have surged partly due to people staying at home in response to COVID-19. The company saw a 14% increase in March 2020 when compared to 2019 sales numbers. Crocs has done…
While most of the world’s technology has changed over the course of the century, the same can’t really be said about eyewear. Glasses and sunglasses haven’t changed much in the way of their base design – that is, they’re still a lens set suspended by frames that hang on your ears and nose. One company…
I’m reading a fascinating story about how a small motorsport company is using 3D printing in a very different way. The company is Finland-based JML-Sports, which is an automotive company specializing in rebuilding decades-old “cult cars”, like the Toyota Celica or the Mitsubishi Lancer. It’s the brainchild of Finnish rally car driver Jari-Matti Latvala, Latvala…
It’s always nice when something you buy is well-designed, but it’s even better when they’re designed to reduce waste or reuse materials. The SMĪLE modular shelves by ChopValue is the company’s latest of their homeware and decor designs, this time taking their signature style and material to the walls. Upon gathering used chopsticks from local…
BMF has released details about their new industrial-grade 3D printer targeting the micro parts market – the microArch S240. Projection Micro-Stereolithography The Boston-based company has been on our pages earlier this year when they revealed their technology. The resin-based 3D printing process they use is called “PμSL”, for “Projection Micro-Stereolithography”. PμSL is able to achieve…
Would you wear socks lined with silver? What if I told you they prevent your feet from smelling like they’ve been soaking in food scraps? I know; I didn’t believe it either. How could lining a piece of clothing with metal eliminate foot odor? As it turns out, the Silver Ankle Socks is not the…
An engineering drawing is a specialized type of communication tool. It’s also a contract. This particular communication protocol is designed to be complete, closed, and one way. This means follow up questions should not be required for the recipient’s comprehension and contractual agreement. It’s like a message in a bottle. With this, I present to…
For some, using a CNC machine may be an intimidating skill. If you don’t have access to one or someone who knows how to use one – nevermind the cost of most commercial CNC machines – it’s difficult to know where to start. Fortunately, desktop CNC machines are becoming more prevalent. The CNC ONE is…
We love well-designed toys here at SolidSmack but still, you may be thinking, “This is just a plastic turtle”. Well, believe it or not, this wee plastic turtle is a toy… and a bit of a dark, foreboding, guilt-laden memorial to all the marine life killed off by mindless waste disposal. But more than that,…
While I’m not much of a coffee drinker (the drink I’m holding in my picture is actually tea), I know some people can’t start the day without a good cup o’ Joe. Easy when you’re at home but, when outdoors, it can be challenging to brew a solid pot of coffee. So how can you…
If you’ve ever tried to kayak before, you’ll know the real predators aren’t the ones you find in the water; they’re the ones hiding out in rental stores. Renting a kayak can cost you an arm and a leg, but what can you do? Even if you happen to have your own kayak, transporting it…
At first glance, the Herring Blade by Che-Wei Wang and Taylor Levy (also known as CW&T) looks like your typical box cutter. You slide it up to extend the blade, swipe it back to retract, and the rest is up to your very careful hands. But upon closer inspection, you’ll see how this blade is…
When you’re bakin’ up 3D models daily, you’ve likely got your standards and purchase parts modeled up and ready to go, a system in place to create them, or a snarky intern with an old set of calipers ready to do your bidding. We’ve gone past thinking it could be found at an online model…
For those who are only familiar with its Minecraft counterpart, obsidian is a volcanic glass formed when lava cools so quickly that a crystalline structure is unable to form. It isn’t terribly hard to find either, so maker Patrick Adair decided to combine his love of Minecraft with his love of making things to craft…
Take a glimpse at the Burls Art YouTube channel and you’ll see just how crazy the creator is about making guitars. A savant in what he aptly calls “guitart”, he has made guitars out of nearly anything imaginable: from paper all the way to jawbreakers. Some of the channel’s most famous builds are the guitars…
The tour of this makerspace just outside Denver and Boulder, Colorado took place in September 2019, long before COVID-19 flipped spaces like these on their heads. However, as of today, TinkerMill is open for business, albeit with several precautions in place. Take a peek inside this massive, and well-equipped space in the video below with…
“If you want something to stand out, the best way to do so is to light it up like a Christmas tree.” Creators Ollie Hanton, Michael Wessely, Stefanie Mueller, Mike Fraser, and Anne Roudaut have taken this idea to heart and crafted a method to add light on any surface using a unique electroluminescent coating.…
Researchers at UC Davis have developed an unusual new form of 3D printing that uses Droplet-Based Multiphase Emulsion. One of the big challenges in 3D printing is the inability to handle multiple materials. Typical 3D printers of today can 3D print a single material at a time, with certain more advanced models being able to…
Have you ever thought about building your own motorcycle? The TV shows make it look so easy, don’t they? But, I’m not talking about a chopper, I’m talking about an electric motorcycle. And not just any electric motorcycle. Not long ago, contractor, carpenter, and renewable energy enthusiast James Biggar designed and built his very own…
We’ve all been there before: your package arrives in the mail and you have nothing to open it with. It’s times like these we reach for the closest sharp object in the vicinity: a pair of scissors, a letter opener, an untrimmed fingernail. In my case? You guessed it. A Swiss Army knife. However, the…
Get your sculpt brushes and buckets of inspiration ready. Today, Pixologic introduced ZBrushCoreMini, a free entry-level version of its ZBrushCore and ZBrush software designed to help people get started with digital sculpting. ZBrushCoreMini provides a simplified version of the Academy Award Winning ZBrush software used by leading digital artists around the world. ZBrushCoreMini is designed…
It was a slow ride over to SketchUp subscription city but you saw the road signs along the way. First Trimble put SketchUp online bringing you SketchUp for Web. Then, in February 2019, they announced a subscription pricing option, retaining the perpetual license option. Now, they’ve announced a complete move to an annual subscription model…
Editing appearances inside Onshape just go better. Now applying custom color to any region or face is a snap! Gone are the days of needing a workaround to simply change the face color of solid or surface faces of part-studio geometry. It looks like my old “zero offset surface copy” workaround has been rendered obsolete.…
Recently, we covered how commercial vinyl records are made by a processing plant. However, what if you could make your own records from the comfort of home? Eager to go vintage vinyl and migrate more music from digital to analog, Seth Nicholas Johnson of Haunted Birthday Records shows an easy way to make homemade records:…
It isn’t difficult to grow plants when you have your own garden, but what if you live in a cramped apartment? Not everyone has the space to get their green thumb on, so Chilean industrial designer Lorenzo Vega thought it would be useful to make a modular planter which makes use of otherwise unused vertical…
The idea of parallel 3D printing is incredibly powerful. The rap against 3D printers has long been that they are monumentally slower than traditional manufacturing equipment to produce finished units, even though they are able to make objects of any design on the next print job. This slowness has sometimes been the reason for not…
If you happen to own stock in Nano Dimension, it’s definitely your lucky week, as the price quadrupled after a surprise announcement. The company announced a breakthrough in its technology that will be of significant interest to the industry. Nano Dimension produces equipment to 3D print circuit boards. While circuit boards are essentially 2D structures,…
You can’t go wrong making your own DIY dowel table. With it, you can stack countless things, have a place to eat, or simply kick your legs up on it after a long day, or, yeah… MAKE OTHER THINGS. Using 1” dowels, a stack of 2x4s, some 4x4s, and barrels of glue, Rob from Make…
Now I’m not a smoking man, but even I can see the use of a pocket lighter for various situations. Apart from lightin’ up, a portable flame lets you illuminate dark areas, start a survival fire, or provide quick cauterization of a small wound if you happen to get jabbed in the middle of nowhere.…
Truth be told, I never quite understood e-bikes. I mean, why have an electric-powered bike when a traditional bike provides exercise and less manufacturing and electronic waste? Then again, used as a daily commuter, any extra power would be welcome. Plus – and this is a big bonus – an e-bike helps you avoid public…