Plastic Injection Molding is the process of using high pressure to push molten plastic into a mold. The main purpose is to create useful products when cooled and solidified in shape set in the mold. An injection screw is widely used in this process because of its versatility in creating different shapes and sizes during…
Repairing homes can always be strenuous work for anyone. With the right tool, however, performing some tasks can be easy and fast in a matter of minutes. Silicone caulking tools prove it. Besides the material it is made of, the quality and right silicone caulking tool will serve you the durability and very straightforward function…
Knowing how to make simple, home DIY repairs can save you a ton of money and time, as you no longer have to invest time in scouting for a credible handyman to do repairs for you. However, to succeed in your DIY home repairs, you also need to initially invest in simple tools and equipment.…
Miss our last edition? See it here: Tools I Freaking Love: Hand Tools [Sheet Metal Edition]. You know that sinking feeling. You’re at the doorstep of a major milestone with a smoldering heap of lessons learned. Things didn’t go according to plan and the next options aren’t any good. You need to breathe enough life…
Ah, the good old Bic pen. Where would we be without you? As a cheap and disposable tool capable of at least a fair enough amount of line weights, the Bic pen is one of the most indispensable tools that can be found in a designer or engineer’s toolkit. Sure—there are plenty of other great…
The oceans of the world are vast, covering approximately 72% of the planet’s surface. Many people across the ages have travelled the seven seas in search of new worlds! The more bold at heart have sought to explore beneath the surface uncovering the mysteries of the deep. Tales abound of encounters with strange and enormous creatures,…
I admit, I use a planner. There’s simply too much happening during the day, plus I have issues remembering what I need to do and which day is which. Ok, not only do I use a planner, but also a healthy dose of Post-It notes. They’re everywhere, a hodgepodge of mixed notes that make no…
Although some manufacturers have created specific multi-tools for various applications, little has changed over the years for all-in-one tools since Tim Leatherman created the first “Boy Scout knife with pliers” back in the 1980s. While convenient, multi-tools are rarely something you want to use unless you are in pinch and didn’t have standard tools nearby.…
From basketballs to doorbells, seemingly everything can be connected to smartphones these days. Now, not even the humble toolbox can escape the power of Bluetooth. For their new Pro Series ball bearing tool storage units, Craftsman is introducing the new Bluetooth Smart Lock technology for users to secure and unlock their precious tools through their…
Although wood is a considerably easy material to work with, replicating designs by hand can be difficult unless you have years of experience and a penchant for crafty jigs. Inspired by key duplicators that are common in any hardware store, the Clone 3D is a professional grade copy carver/pantograph that allows existing objects to rotate…
Although some of us may refer to 3D printing as “a tool in our toolbox” for when the need to rapid prototype arises, one Florida design engineer recently took the saying quite literally. Chad Bridgewater, an employee at Florida’s Boca Bearings, recently modded an old vintage Huot toolbox to create an expandable 3D printer that…
Considering that most of the conversations we have about tools these days involve tools of the digital variety (and if they are based in the Cloud or not), it might be hard to imagine that at one time, a slightly-altered rock was considered the norm for manufacturing one’s own goods. In a recent article that…
Last time we heard from Mininch, the new hand tool company had raised over a quarter-million dollars from their first Kickstarter campaign – where they were hawking a unique multi-tool design that featured multiple bits in a pen-sized package. Their product, which was simply called “Tool Pen”, was aimed at the “Fix It Yourself” generation…
“Head out on the highway, looking for adventure and whatever comes our way” – Steppenwolf, Born to be Wild. Move over pocket-ripping and bulky multi-tools! Portland, Oregon-based Leatherman Tools has recently launched an industry first; their vision of a fully-functional multi-tool that can be worn around the wrist in the form of the Leatherman Tread.…
Although living in a big city may have a seemingly endless list of perks for many, living in a cultural epicenter with millions of other people is not without its drawbacks, too. Aside from high real estate costs and a lack of greenery, many who work on creative projects are oftentimes left with having to…
For those who prefer starting their ideation sketching sessions on an iPad, there’s a good chance that FiftyThree’s Paper has been tried at least a few times – if it isn’t already the go-to drawing app on their iPad. The freemium app, which features a bundle of stylized drawing tools to aid in the sketching…
It’s Friday, and you know what that means here on The Smack: time for another DIY project to add to your weekend plan arsenal. If you’re like us, you have a fairly organized workspace but somehow manage to continually lose your hammers…resulting in a drawer filled with replaced hammers down the road. If one of…
Open up the pockets or bag of your nearest design or engineer buddy and you’re bound to find at least a couple of common items: a sketchbook, a pen, a multi-tool or knife, and if you’re lucky…an embarrassing driver’s license photo that you can run and make copies of to post around the office. In…
When you live in expensive cities like London, every inch in your apartment is like prime real estate space, teaching you the art of multi-purposing the interiors. DIY fan Jude Pullen was recently in a similar situation – in London – and he came up with this really simple and minimalist Under Desk Tool Drawer…
Who loves wooden gears? We do! We do! Wooden hand high five all around for a tool that helps you create the gears and the templates to crank those creations. The Gear template generator from woodgears.ca is a magical web-based tool (probably) using little wooden mathematical gears on the back end to output a 2D…
Nobody wants bloody digits laying about, cluttering up a finely dusted workshop floor. That’s just bad business. That’s why this one, designed in SolidWorks, is made to leave your nubs attached to the hand. News of the SawStop severed the airwaves a while back, but the Discover Channel Time Warp Show meets up with inventor…