Few examples of product packaging have had an upcycling history quite like the iconic Altoids Tin. From wallets and first aid kits to even a mini bbq stove, the applications people have come up with for repurposing the cheap tin containers are as wide-ranging as they are ingenious. And in the age of DIY electronic…

Here’s the story: A man shot a deer and then used its teeth to make himself a set of dentures, then ate the deer with the deer’s teeth. He used the teeth for three years before one broke while biting into a piece of bear meat. The man beneath the teeth was Francis Wharton, a…

Porches. Porches are ridiculous without a good place to sit. If you don’t want to tear your porch down, you could toss some tree stumps up there, but if you have the slightest bit of woodworking skill, you could build yourself a bench. Chris Salomone of Foureyes Furniture has skill a’plenty, and has been busy…

Welding is a useful skill to have, especially if you want to repair your vehicle, which was the goal of Instructable user Mr-Mash who figured it was cheaper to repair his own rather than taking it to the shop. For him, the easiest way to learn welding was to build one big, freakin’ bicycle outfitted…

Yeah, you see kids frolicking about in their Velcro buckle shoes and remember when life use to simple and carefree. No wonder the international sign for frustration is a unlaced shoe. It’s not? Well, IT SHOULD BE. There, I feel better now. Fortunately for all of us who can’t bend over to tie a shoe, don’t…

If you work in manufacturing or have your own resin casting operation, you’ll know the all too familiar sound of pressure pots or tanks being bled and the subsequent look of agonizing pain as blood prepares to spray from the earholes… maybe it’s not that bad. Yeah, yeah it is. Ear plugs always get lost or…

I just watched the recap of Episode 1 of The Big Life Fix series on BBC Two, and it is A MUST SEE. Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxOotr40UBE If you’re not choking back tears of happiness for that boy, I’m a bit worried about you. How amazing is that story? Jude Pullen and crew – hats off to…

If you’ve seen such tv shows as OZ, The Wire or anything of the sort, chances are you’ve seen some brilliantly hacked together tattoo guns made from little more than approved items found in the prison commissary. Needless to say, these prison tinkerers aren’t starting with anything close to a DIY Build Your Own Tattoo…

It’s a cyberpunk dream to print clothes like vacation photos and TPS reports. Various companies have tried to combine 3D printing with fashion fabrication, like the mildly successful Elctroloom. Cool, but it’s not open-source. However, Gerard Rubio is doing things differently. Inspired by the open-source RepRap 3D printer project and community, along with other digital…

I was having a tough time finding my white car occasionally. I wanted to remedy that situation by having an antenna that was unique and stood out in a crowd. I settled on a Glow option as it would be a lighter color than other vehicles and “of course” glows in the dark! MATERIALS How…

There’s a reason LEGO mini-figs don’t look like fleshy human flesh-sacks. They would 1) not match the playful appearance of LEGOs 2) be totally creepy and 3) require small bottles of moisturizer. “I lather my LEGO mini-figs with three coats of jojoba oil weekly.” Well, good for you. Me? I prefer to watch a life-size…

I needed to build a very quiet, high-capacity compressor for making ID models and prototypes in my shop. The one I have is quite loud and doesn’t have the capacity I was comfortable with for urethane casting work. I sourced a 6-gallon air tank on eBay for $35, including shipping, from a fellow in Indiana.…

Although Dyson’s Bladeless fans look freakin’ cool and feature a Helmholtz cavity designed to capture and dissipate motor noise, the bladeless tech comes in at a hefty $300 – easily sitting in the upper price bracket for desktop fans. While the bladeless fans feature ridiculously cool-looking internal parts just like Dyson’s vacuums, is the bladeless technology…

As the complexities of hardware design continue to be broken down and simplified into build-it-yourself projects for inspiring the next generation of inventors, the quality of these build kits only continue to get better. More recently, Bose has tapped into this new category of build-it-yourself consumer electronics with their BOSEbuild lineup, which includes appealing end…

While we may not have the hoverboards we were promised, electric longboards – particularly Boosted Boards – have come in at a close second. Also, unlike the hoverboard, you can actually buy an electric longboard today – assuming you can justify the $1,000+ price tag. Or, if you happen to have an electric drill and a spare…

With so many cool things coming out each week, it can be hard to wade through all the rock-awesomeness. With ‘Cool Tools’, we’ve done the hard work for you. This week we saw levitating plants, a new way to kickstart your design process, how to make your first cutting board (or hoverboard), behind the creative…

With so many cool things coming out each week, it can be hard to wade through all the rock-awesomeness. With ‘Cool Tools’, we’ve done the hard work for you. This week we saw an entirely new way to play ping pong when your friends are busy, how to create an epic water balloon launcher for…

With so many cool things coming out each week, it can be hard to wade through all the rock-awesomeness. With ‘Cool Tools’, we’ve done the hard work for you. This week we saw an insane coffee table that brings a small slice of the ocean into your living room, a sofa that more or less…

With so many cool things coming out each week, it can be hard to wade through all the rock-awesomeness. With ‘Cool Tools’, we’ve done the hard work for you. This week we saw an innovative take on the simple handheld pencil sharpener, a super-handy new iOS keyboard from Google, an update to the Roger voice…

With so many cool things coming out each week, it can be hard to wade through all the rock-awesomeness. With ‘Cool Tools’, we’ve done the hard work for you. This week we saw an interesting new take on the simple goldfish bowl, an ingenious solution for housing speakers in a storage cabinet, a powerful new…

With so many cool things coming out each week, it can be hard to wade through all the rock-awesomeness. With ‘Cool Tools’, we’ve done the hard work for you. This week we saw an incredible real-time table tennis training device, a pair of sleek 3D printed lampshades, a new app that promises an auditory experience…

With so many cool things coming out each week, it can be hard to wade through all the rock-awesomeness. With ‘Cool Tools’, we’ve done the hard work for you. This week we saw a new collection of luggage made from 100% recycled aluminum that’s sure to satisfy the most seasoned of travelers, the release of…

While Ready-to-Assemble or “flat pack” product designs have been in existence for over a half-century, the majority of these designs – more often than not from IKEA – have existed in some form or another as a piece of simplified furniture. With the more recent introduction of low-cost DIY electronics and methods of digital fabrication,…

With so many cool things coming out each week, it can be hard to wade through all the rock-awesomeness. With ‘Cool Tools’, we’ve done the hard work for you. This week we saw the release of the all-new (and one-handed) Kindle Oasis, a new take on modular furniture for DJs, an app for helping you…

Jack Lennie is a recent Edinburgh-based product design graduate with a first class honors degree, a SolidWorks certification and a national award under his arm. He also just released a downloadable build kit for manufacturing a motorcycle in nearly any modern workshop. Not bad. Designed to breathe a “new lease of life into damaged or…

Although you may not have heard it by name, there’s a strong chance that you’ve heard it in song. Analog Moog Synthesizers have been used by nearly every well-known pop musician over the past 50 years from Damon Albarn to Frank Zappa. Now, you can build your own Moog with a little DIY ingenuity and…

As far as DIY weaponry goes, Joerg Sprave of the Slingshot Channel knows a thing or two about turning otherwise random objects into near-deadly projectiles. Among his expansive portfolio of ingenious solutions for surviving a zombie apocalypse, the Slingshot Zombiehammer with Skull Ejector and Skull Splitter Zombie SlingSword are surely weapons that you don’t want…

With so many cool things coming out each week, it can be hard to wade through all the rock-awesomeness. With ‘Cool Tools’, we’ve done the hard work for you. This week we saw an insane custom BMW K100 featuring artwork created using 3d models, a Dieter Rams-inspired redesign of the men’s classic shaving razor, an…

With so many cool things coming out each week, it can be hard to wade through all the rock-awesomeness. With ‘Cool Tools’, we’ve done the hard work for you. This week we saw a sleek wood handlebar that rivals any midcentury furniture piece, an incredible self-sustainable planter, a handy new 3D sketching app for iPad,…

While you were tucking into Easter Breakfast or carefully organizing the Cadbury eggs in your basket this past Sunday, Henning Pedersen of Norway was delivering easter eggs via parachute with a hen mounted to a drone. It is 2016 after all. Pedersen, whose Norway-based company MAKEADRONE sells easy-to-build drone kits for kids, teachers and parents,…

It was just last week when Valve announced that they were making the CAD files for the external parts of their Steam Controller publicly available for users to mod, accessorize and 3D print. Now, Amazon wants to get on the DIY wagon, too. Organized and published to GitHub by Amit Jotwani, Amazon’s senior evangelist for…

Why does modern furniture have to either be expensive or low-quality? Such is the pressing question that a team of 9 designers from California-based online home goods brand SWENYO recently asked themselves. Aiming to bring premium products that embrace a balance of form and function to today’s average consumer, the design team turned their attention…

With so many cool things coming out each week, it can be hard to wade through all the rock-awesomeness. With ‘Cool Tools’, we’ve done the hard work for you. This week we saw a sleek wood handlebar that rivals any midcentury furniture piece, an incredible self-sustainable planter, a handy new 3D sketching app for iPad,…

With so many cool things coming out each week, it can be hard to wade through all the rock-awesomeness. With ‘Cool Tools’, we’ve done the hard work for you. This week we saw a new (free) writing app that deletes all of your words once the time goes off (!!), a candle that mimics a…

With so many cool things coming out each week, it can be hard to wade through all the rock-awesomeness. With ‘Cool Tools’, we’ve done the hard work for you. This week we saw a new (free) writing app that deletes all of your words once the time goes off (!!), a new collection of pet…

With so many cool things coming out each week, it can be hard to wade through all the rock-awesomeness. With ‘Cool Tools’, we’ve done the hard work for you. This week we saw an incredible take on the electric car from Morgan, a spiffy sword fighting app for samurai fans, how to make an anvil…

With so many cool things coming out each week, it can be hard to wade through all the rock-awesomeness. With ‘Cool Tools’, we’ve done the hard work for you. This week we saw an insane dining table that looks like a mind-bending scene out of Inception, a welcome update to the popular Robinhood stock trading…

With so many cool things coming out each week, it can be hard to wade through all the rock-awesomeness. With ‘Cool Tools’, we’ve done the hard work for you. This week we saw a smart and modern update to the humble lunchbox, a new way to take 360º degree turntable photographs, an app that promises…

With so many cool things coming out each week, it can be hard to wade through all the rock-awesomeness. With ‘Cool Tools’, we’ve done the hard work for you. This week we saw an ingenious new take on the multi-tool, a weather app featuring a cat weatherman (??), an easy way to redo those kitchen…

For decades, DIY and skate culture have gone hand-in-hand across countless mediums. Whether it’s creating a custom skate deck design, a layout for a backyard skate ramp, a skate video, or even a t-shirt brand, the skateboard community has always kept their creative energy sharpened to a T. Aiming to keep this energy alive and…

With so many cool things coming out each week, it can be hard to wade through all the rock-awesomeness. With ‘Cool Tools’, we’ve done the hard work for you. This week we saw the latest classic-inspired digital camera design from Olympus, a new way of thinking about bonsai, how to create a quick and simple…

With so many cool things coming out each week, it can be hard to wade through all the rock-awesomeness. With ‘Cool Tools’, we’ve done the hard work for you. This week we saw the first ever laceless football (soccer) cleat from Adidas, the first waterproof camera offering from Leica, an impressive new voice recorder app…

This past weekend I took apart a massive 2×4 workbench–it covered the entire side of a garage. It was large enough to lay two 4×8 plywood sheets end-to-end, dismantle a motorcycle upon, gut and clean five deer, or construct a normal size workbench–a workbench like this one.

With so many cool things coming out each week, it can be hard to wade through all the rock-awesomeness. With ‘Cool Tools’, we’ve done the hard work for you. This week we saw everything from a new LEGO set centered around the original Adam West Batman, a cutting board that takes the bore out of…

With so many cool things coming out each week, it can be hard to wade through all the rock-awesomeness. With ‘Cool Tools’, we’ve done the hard work for you. This week we saw everything from a new and improved version of the infamous Kodak Super 8 camera, a floor lamp inspired by a spinning top,…

Star Wars fever is real and running more rampant than ever. Seething, even. Before you ready your wardrobe for the movie this Friday, you’ll want to prime your 3D printer. The official BB-8 Builder’s Club just released open-source plans on how to print your very own BB-8 replica just in time for Star Wars: The…

With so many cool things coming out each week, it can be hard to wade through all the rock-awesomeness. With ‘Cool Tools’, we’ve done the hard work for you. This week we saw everything from an updated take on the modern survival kit, a new app for turning your spare iPad into a second display,…

I love new types of Human Machine Interfaces (HMIs). When it comes to demonstrating design projects, you typically need both hands – unless you’re a badass who can fold origami cranes with one hand like it’s nothing. Now imagine trying to capture images while simultaneously working on a dual-wielding project. Yeah, it’s not that easy,…

With so many cool things coming out each week, it can be hard to wade through all the rock-awesomeness. With ‘Cool Tools’, we’ve done the hard work for you. This week we saw everything from a new bottle design with a natural bamboo filter for purifying tap water, a free release of the popular Monument…

With so many cool things coming out each week, it can be hard to wade through all the rock-awesomeness. With ‘Cool Tools’, we’ve done the hard work for you. This week we saw everything from the world’s first and only portable replacement public basketball hoop net, a new line of desk accessories made from plastic…