By Mid Century Mobler - Jul 21 New

Mid Century Modern Find of the Week: Danish Modern Hallway Chest in Mahogany

This small Danish Modern mid century cupboard Measures 27.5" wide x 15.5" deep x 28" tall. This piece features two teak sliding doors which open to two bays- one with an adjustable shelf. The mahogany case is mounted on tall base with a canted bookshelf. The model

By Rain Noe - Jul 21 New

Weekly Makers Roundup: Efficient Workflows, Building a Workbench/Desk and a Sexy Coffee Table

Plus how to make a guitar case, build a portable table saw cabinet, re-handle a Leatherman & more

By Rain Noe - Jul 21 New

These Jaw-Dropping Computer Graphics, Modeling & Design Advances Will be on Display at SIGGRAPH 2017

Computer-generated situations are rapidly catching up to reality

Most of you have heard of SIGGRAPH, but if you haven't it's "the premier international forum for disseminating new scholarly work in computer graphics and interactive techniques." This year's conference starts at the end of the month, and this teaser video shows you some of the astonishing CG advancements that

By Core Jr - Jul 21 New

How Neoclassical Architecture Influenced the Classic Chess Set, Thoughts on Apple's Diseconomies of Scale and More

A weekly selection of great links hand-picked by Core77 editors. Get 'em while they're hot.

The Core77 team spends time combing through the news so you don't have to. Here's a weekly roundup of our favorite finds from the World Wide Web:

By Rain Noe - Jul 21 New

Forget Ant Colonies. Here's a Desktop Termite Habitat

Watch them destroy wood in a controlled environment

It might be tough for me to sell you an inch-thick cross-section of Douglas Fir for $125. But if I encased it in acrylic and placed a live colony of termites in there, maybe you'd give it a second look. That's the hope of the folks behind the Termitat, a

By Rain Noe - Jul 21 New

The One Low-Tech Design Feature All Rolling Carry-On Suitcases Should Have

With more and more of us traveling more frequently these days, luggage design has become a hot category for design entrepreneurs. As one example this Samsara design, billed as "The world's first aluminum smart suitcase," recently sought just $15,000 in pledges but pulled in a whopping $293,192. New luggage

By David Frane - Jul 21 New

Wera Kraftform Kompakt Pistol RA

A ratcheting bit driver for when muscles are better than motors.

With so many cordless tools to choose from, it's easy to forget what it's like to drive fasteners by hand—or why it's frequently preferable to do so. German hand tool company Wera has not forgotten and continues to develop new and better hand drivers. The Kraftform Kompakt Pistol RA is

By Rain Noe - Jul 20

What Happens When You Combine a Floating Dock with Surfing?

Kinda surprised no one's thought of this before

For a concept shoot in Bali, surfing rag Stab Magazine towed a floating dock out to where the waves break, then set Volcom's surfing team loose. Here's what happened, and it looks as fun as it does dangerous: The Dock from STAB on Vimeo.

By Shannon Rogers - Jul 20

Hand Tool School #39: Useful Tool Features vs. Gimmicks

Which of these do you really need?

For today's woodworker, tool buying is as much a part of the experience as actually working wood. For better or for worse is a matter of opinion—I'm going to stay positive and say that without tool buying much of the economy of woodworking would fall apart. No woodworker can deny

By Rain Noe - Jul 20

Clever Designs for Perpetual Calendars

…that all have one glaring design flaw

For those of you that still use physical calendars, maybe you like having a dozen photos of hapless kittens or shirtless firemen cycling through the months. But a subset of you might prefer a single grid that will serve for the entire year and that doesn't have any pages to

By Rain Noe - Jul 20

Make This DIY Ruler Stop

Designed by a Dutch guy named Bas

Combination squares come in very handy in the shop. But the thing I hate is that I'll often set the depth, then need to leave it at that setting for various stages in a project, and I basically can't use the square for anything else in the meanwhile. For that

By Core Jr - Jul 20

Sponsored Post: Building Better Products Through High Fidelity Prototypes & Low Volume Manufacturing

Every product starts as an aspirational vision for how the finished result should look, feel, and function in the consumer's hands. However, the design process to transform ideas into mass manufacturable products is a road paved by technical reality and practical compromise. Mitigating risk before investing in mass manufacturing is

By David Frane - Jul 20

A Super Organized Work Van

How to cram a lot of gear into a very small space and still be able to find it.

When Zack Dettmore replaced his old work van he went to extremes to organize the interior of the new one, outfitting it with a manufactured bulkhead and home-made shelving designed for the tools he carries. I've seen a video of the setup he once used in his contracting business

By Rain Noe - Jul 20

Mutsuki's Organizational Objects Created with a Lasercutter

You can download the designs for free on Thingiverse

If you've got access to a lasercutter, some 4mm / 1/8" plywood and live or work in an untidy environment, Thingiverse denizen Mutsuki's got you covered. She's designed and/or remixed a host of organizational designs like these nifty Stackable Boxes: And this Customizable Parts Box: Or this all-purpose Portable Box:

By David Frane - Jul 20

RIP: Frances Gabe

Who so hated housework that she invented the self-cleaning house.

Long before the Roomba there was Frances GABe, an Oregon artist who so hated housework that she invented a self-cleaning house. GABe patented the design in 1984 and built a prototype, which she lived in for decades. She died in obscurity last December at the age of 101. Frances

By Emily Engle - Jul 19

How Will adidas's New Creator Farm Hold its Own?

Paul Gaudio reveals the interesting business model, but the short answer is we'll have to wait and see for ourselves

adidas just officially announced their Greenpoint, Brooklyn Creator Farm, an open source hub for well, creativity. Boasting a start-up environment within the not-so-startup company, the adidas Creator Farm seems like a secure place to work for a small team without the major risk of going under. Our burning question

By Steven Johnson - Jul 19

Steven M. Johnson's Bizarre Invention #353: The People-Powered Bus

Steven M. Johnson's "Patent Depending" series of inventions range from social commentary to plain ol' bizarre, and they always give us a laugh. So we've contracted him to let us publish one every week.

By Rain Noe - Jul 19

Nooz Optics' Minimalist, Handily-Portable Reading Glasses

For occasional use, these are designed to be convenient

For those not already saddled with eyeglasses or contacts, it can be handy to have a pair of reading glasses on hand. In New York City at least, menu font designers and restaurant lighting designers seem determined to make menus impossible to read. For situations like these, French company Nooz

By Joel Moskowitz - Jul 19

Tools & Craft #56: A Visit to NYC's Amazing Chess Forum

Where else can you checkmate your opponent with Frank Lloyd Wright?

This past weekend the weather was gorgeous, and I found myself doing a walkabout in the village. On Thompson Street, the Chess Forum is a Greenwich Village fixture where you can buy chess sets and paraphernalia, books and videos, and most importantly, you can rent a table to play chess.

By Core Jr - Jul 19

Q&A with Ben Uyeda of HomeMade Modern: Send Us Your Questions

Got any questions for this Master of DIY?

Ben Uyeda has made a splash on Youtube with his HomeMade Modern video series, managing to turn perceptions of DIY from a novice craft practice into a pastime for the design-minded that should be taken seriously. A former architect, he's one of the masters in the DIY video community when

By Rain Noe - Jul 19

Douglas LaMont's Wonderful Ex Machina Drafting Table

Inspired by a little-known process in industrial history

Here's a rather unusual drafting table, designed and built by Montana-based Douglas LaMont: Called the Cantilever, LaMont's design is the first of what he's calling his Ex Machina series. As it turns out, his design choices were influenced by industrial history, and specifically a little-spoken-of relationship between wood and metal

By David Frane - Jul 19

Amazon Patents the High-Rise Urban Drone-Port

Unlike warehouses on the outskirts of town, these multi-story distribution centers will be located in cities and manned by robots and drones.

Amazon's vision for the future includes multi-story automated distribution centers sprinkled throughout urban areas. Goods will arrive by truck and be delivered to customers by fleets of drones issuing forth from ports or doors in the building. Few humans will work there because robots will perform much of the

By David Frane - Jul 19

Fit Shear Pliers #15

Wire-cutting pliers with a strange added feature.

I stumbled across this unusual product on the website of a vendor that specializes in German hand tools. It was completely unfamiliar and I was surprised to discover that the original model was patented in 1950. How did I miss seeing these before? It didn't help that Fit Pliers are

By Rain Noe - Jul 18

FoamCore Basics, Modeling Tips & Tricks for Designers, Part 2: Making Clean, Curved Shapes

Here in Part 2 of this series, pro industrial designer Eric Strebel shows you how to go beyond flat/straight shapes when working with FoamCore. Follow Strebel's tips to get a variety of different radii while keeping your piece clean-looking and professional:

By Rain Noe - Jul 18

A Glass Pool Table (With a Catch)

Designing for novelty, yea or nay?

As I've mentioned here before, when I was studying ID one of my (famous) design professors hated when people redesigned an existing object to be made from a different material. He'd surely hate this table, but I'd like to hear what you think. Australian company Elite Innovations is selling, in