Action figures are always better when they have moving parts. This wooden Chevrolet Silverado carving by YouTuber Woodworking Art is no exception.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrqoobB47FY&ab_channel=WoodworkingArt While the artist could have made a static carving and called it a day, he added a few extra pieces to give the wooden pickup some much-appreciated articulation. A Comfy Interior With Adjustable…

Chops saws and miter saws are two essential power tools that can help to precisely cut woods and metals without much effort from you. At first look, they look exactly the same. Their appearances look precisely the same, and both have blades that you can cut things from top to bottom. Yet, it is crucial…

Straight wooden legs are cool, but curved wooden legs are even cooler. Unfortunately, it usually takes more wood to make the latter. This is why not all woodworkers spend too much attention on them. James Hamilton of Stumpy Nubs is not one of those folks. In one of his projects, James showed an easy woodworking…

Any professional or even recreational woodworking tasks necessitate the use of specialized equipment designed for quality end-product and convenience. A woodworking vise is among the most essential tools in woodworking. A woodworking vise contains two jaws intended for securing the workpiece as well as a screw mechanism for adjusting the grip. Since the jaws can…

When you are a newbie in the world of woodworking, there are lots of things to learn. Tools are one of them. Unfortunately, besides the most common instruments we know like hammer and nails, there are other handy carpentry tools that will make your job way lot better… way lot easier. One tool that doesn’t…

While drilling a typical vertical hole is not a problem for a drill bit, having holes in a diagonal position is truly a challenge and a risk. Imagine having a fine, luxurious piece of wood only to mess it with the wrong proportion and angle of hole. We’re sure nobody will ever want that. Well,…

Quality woodwork demands excellent tools. So, when using a miter saw for industrial or technical purposes, one must be mindful of the different surfaces where a miter saw would be placed. This will dictate how well the tool would perform since it always needs a solid and reliable stance in order to execute its job…

If woodworking is your thing, you know that sawdust is your leading enemy. However, broom alone is not enough to solve the heavy dust problem. That’s right. That’s just what Steve of Steve Ramsey – Woodworking for Mere Mortals thought of in one of his videos. Well, that’s why shop vacs are your best resort.…

Your eyes are the most vulnerable body part when you’re using an automated machine or a power tool. It does not matter if you are cutting wood or metal; the workpiece will always shred lots of pieces when cut or shaped that can cause injuries. The tiny fragments can easily be caught in the eye…

In a video on Syman Woodcarving channel, woodcarver Sean Syman, said that wood carving is a lot simpler than the traditional woodworking. There is no need for huge power tools. Just the right wood carving tools that will help you to achieve the details you need. All of them have specific purposes, but each wood…

For everyday or occasional cutting, chainsaw sharpeners are the essential tool to ensure that your chainsaw cutters are always sharp, ready to use, and in great condition. From the traditional use of files to sharpen the teeth of the chain, there are also other types of mechanisms to do the process. They can be in…

It’s always fun to watch someone repair something that looks beyond the point of fixing. It takes vision, creativity, and some serious craftsmanship. An this is what’s on display at The Small Workshop (TSW) YouTube channel. Man, what they can do is just crazy! The channel features homemade tools and workshop projects specializing in wood…

With months of self-isolation getting to him, YouTuber The Q thought it would be a good idea to buy a pair of Nike Air Force shoes. He must not have thought too far ahead however, because now he has a new pair of shoes with nowhere to run. What’s one to do? Recreate the same…

Here’s a question for all us maker types. “Is it possible to both cut and sand a piece of material simultaneously using a common table saw?” Having pondered the question himself, John Heisz on his Youtube channel I Build It could not hold back his curiosity any longer! He set out to give us all…

Wood carving is, in and of itself, an art form. It takes a lot of time and effort to turn a chunk of wood into something functional, let alone beautiful. They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder but I think we can all agree this accurate scale wood carving of a Toyota…

There’s are a couple of reasons why computer keyboards are made from plastic and not wood. 1) Wood doesn’t lend itself to mass manufacturing like plastic does and 2) the amount of abuse and hand oils absorbed by the wooden keys would wear faster than the myth of George Washington’s wooden teeth. But that won’t…

Despite it not being proven (yet), the Loch Ness Monster has its fair share of cult followers; not all of whom are as crazy as you think. Some just like the idea of a giant sea creature guarding the waters of Scotland, so much so that they want to make a giant wooden egg in…

You’ve seen pieces of wood get mixed with resin and turned into kitchen pieces before, but here’s one you can actually use to help with your cooking. Using a piece of old cherry tree burl and some blue resin, YouTube channel gavel coulee woodworking has crafted a resin bowl as smooth as the concoctions you’ll…

We saw Core, a “meditation trainer”, popping up all over at CES 2020, covered here! Now, they’re sharing the physical product engineering challenges behind creating this wellness device. And there were MANY engineering prob… er, lessons to be learned. Watch the video below to see our interview with Sara Weber, Director of Marketing & Partnerships,…

Ever find yourself in a situation where you wish you had a hacksaw on hand? Instead of lugging around a traditional hacksaw, YouTuber Cemal Açar shows how you can create your own portable version that fits neatly inside of a pen-like case: Taking a saw blade from an electric hacksaw, Cemal first sharpens the blade…

While the best (and easiest) ways to keep memories are through writings, photos, and videos, they aren’t quite as creative as what woodworker and filmmaker Frank Howarth has come up with. Taking an ordinary wooden sphere, he engraves a terrain map of Newberry Crater —located in Central Oregon’s Deschutes Forest — onto the wood before encasing…

Another day, another radical chair design. Instead of coming up with yet another ordinary chair, designer Peter Otto Vosding collaborated with cabinet maker Dirk Vosding to make a chair with as little materials as possible. The resulting piece of furniture is simply called the “Mµ” (pronounced “mm”). The chair is made from ash wood and…

In the age of online shopping and near-instant gratification, it’s not very often we see people creating their kitchen appliances from scratch. Let alone—kitchen appliances made from popsicle sticks and razor blades. Just check out this DIY food slicer from YouTuber Delta Hack. Using popsicle sticks, wood, razor blades, and a simple rotating mechanism, he…

Recently, I toured Europe to learn about how hardware startups grew there. Where is the Euro Silicon Valley? How are startups treated there compared to in the U.S.? How does networking, funding and team-building work over yonder? One of my stops was Warsaw, Poland. Here, I’ll share what I learned touring the FabLab powered by…

If you have access to a shop, it makes perfect sense to jump at the opportunity to upcycle discarded materials into entirely new designs when creativity strikes. For woodworker Alex Fang, this came in the form of creating a sleek paper tray using scrap wood from his past projects. After picking out the scraps that…

Swedish designer Love Hulténn is no stranger to video game nostalgia. After making countless homages such as a handmade arcade wall cabinet and a glass-encased Nintendo console shrine, one can only wonder how Hultén could top his penchant for the machines of yesteryear. Enter the Yesterday Vision—his latest handmade wooden enclosure built to play emulated…

We stopped by Gowanus Audio in Brooklyn, NY to get a step-by-step rundown of their DIY Bluetooth speaker class. Founder, Pete Raho, generously shared details and tips in the video below so you can make it yourself! Watch the Video For Explanation on All the Things: 3 Options for How You Can Build This: Go…

Life is too short to be sitting on an uncomfortably hard bench— most would rather be spending it on a nice leather chair instead. But what if you could bring that bum-conforming comfort to a wood bench? Heck — how would you even start…no pillows allowed? Such is the premise behind the BEND Bench. Created by…

Even with the massive convenience that digital fabrication technologies have afforded us, you’ve got to admire those who are actively keeping the primitive manufacturing arts alive. Sculpting, woodworking, and blacksmithing are just a few of the ancient crafts that still manage to draw the eye with their personalized, handcrafted looks — not to mention insane, mesmerizing…

We’ve featured many woodworking workshops before on SolidSmack—but they’ve always been stationary; idle abodes usually found in garages where woodworkers can live in isolation to work on their craft. While these isolated environments certainly enable many artisans to concentrate better, it doesn’t leave them with a lot of flexibility to work on projects further from…

While he is best known for setting intricate matchstick pieces aflame, there is undoubtedly more substance to YouTube creator BLACKHAND than your average pyromaniac. Case in point: his wooden smartphone photography slider using little more than wood and a few metal fixtures. Beginning with two reasonably large holes drilled into a piece of wood, he…

There’s something about epoxy and wood that creates some of the most fascinating wood pieces we’ve seen—be it a side table, a bowl, or in this case—a hand-carved pendant light. For his latest wood project, YouTube creator Modustrial Maker combined epoxy resin and LED strips into a cookie slab to create his hanging pendant light:…

Not as many self-sufficient folks live off the grid like they used to, but the way of living is still as self-gratifying as it has ever been. How cool would it be to say you got your food from your backyard or your new leather shoes from last year’s cowhide? Living on a farm still…

While bikes, scooters, and maybe even unicycles are cool, nothing beats riding on a plank of wood on wheels at top speed with reckless abandon—particularly when said board has some pretty killer artwork on it, too. Tye Sheehan may be a civil engineer during the day, but during his free time, he makes some of…

Whenever a tree is cut down to produce paper, furniture, or any other product, it’s likely that not all parts the tree are used. Frequently, bits of the tree trunk that are hard to work with are left to rot and never to be used. Instead of watching local Tennessee tree stumps get turned into…

The concept of remodeling a home constantly never dies out. From writing on your bedroom walls as a kid to choosing which fixtures to hang in your house as an adult, the appearance of your dwelling can tell visitors just how creative (or boring) you are as a person. Still, it can be quite costly.…

From his tribute to the Commodore PET 2001 to a visual synthesizer for building fractal patterns, Swedish designer Love Hultén is a master at combining age-old wood crafting techniques with modern(ish) tech. Inspired by his passions for both traditional craftsmanship and modern technology, the Gothenburg-based designer is capable of commanding thousands of dollars for each…

We’ve seen some pretty neat wood carvings recently. From a mind-boggling dowel puzzle to hefty river table, woodworkers all over the world have shown there’s just as much creativity within dead trees as there are in hunks of metal. This time around, woodworker Andy Phillip is taking wooden art for a fantastical spin. Taking the…

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…

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…

It’s always nice to see well-designed creations built from relatively cheap materials. With a little ingenuity and (in some cases) a lot of hard work, you don’t need a fortune to craft something worthy of a showroom floor. Among others, master builder Mike Clifford recently proved this with his homemade white glass-fiber reinforced concrete (GFRC)…

With their rickety structures, questionable harness systems, and lack of insurance waivers to sign, wooden roller coasters offer daredevils a glimpse at death from the (relative) safety of a fast-moving cart. While most modern roller coasters are built of metal, there are still some amusement parks that stick to the tried-and-true method of making thrilling…

The last we heard from SolidSmack favorite Love Hultèn, the Swedish designer had just announced a retro-inspired portable wood arcade cabinet containing 100 classic 2-player arcade games back in the Fall of 2017. Hultèn, who seamlessly blends traditional wood craftsmanship with modern technology, is already at it again with yet another take on the retro…

Pencils haven’t changed much over the last century, at least not for the General Pencil Company, one of the last pencil manufacturing companies in the US. While they do use conveyors and other machine shop tools, the pencils crafted there are still made by hand and have been done this way since the company opened…

It would be relatively easy to mistake this bed design as a bunch of thin wood planks stacked atop each other. Apparently tired of sleeping on mattresses held up by squeaky frames, the Polish home designers at Gie El have created a bed whose frame is just as alluring as the prospect of getting a…

Glassblowing is a fascinating artform. For those of us in the product development world it’s akin to blow-molding. Yet, the process of blowing glass holds more intrigue and an element of danger. Also as a medium, it more eloquently showcases the human touch. Instead of yielding myriads of homogeneous end products, hand-blown glass enables artisans…

It may look like a simple block of wood, but Nissha’s Mui does much more than sit on your wall as an aesthetically pleasing living room decoration; underneath that warm earthy texture is a touch-based internet-connected interactive display capable of displaying information and controlling IoT devices. The display is designed to match to your environment…

With his near-seamless ability to fuse traditional craftsmanship with modern technology, it’s no wonder designer Love Hultén consistently makes his way into mainstream media with his clever interpretations of retro arcade cabinets. Heck, one of his creations even ended up on the Tonight Show. The Swedish designer, whose approach to design is to present genuine…

With over 1 million subscribers on YouTube, woodworker Matthias Wandel knows a thing or two about making shop time entertaining. Whether he’s making marble machines, wooden combination locks, Jenga pistols, or even a wooden air raid siren, he’s always having a killer time making it. And who wouldn’t want to watch that? More recently, the…

Great things seem to happen when you put a video camera in the hands of somebody with fabrication knowledge. We’ve seen this numerous times before with Frank Howarth’s creative woodworking videos—not to mention a slew of other creative types. More recently, engineer Brett Foxwell, who also happens to work as an armature builder on such…