By Rain Noe - Jan 19

How to Build an Illuminated, Ventilated Spray Booth Out of Foamcore

Inexpensive, lightweight, portable yet sturdy

Here industrial designer Eric Strebel shows you how to build your own spray booth out of foamcore. "The unit is very light, that makes it easier to build and potentially move around your shop if you don't have a permanent home for it," Strebel writes. He uses a nifty trick

By Rain Noe - Jan 18

How to Make an Inexpensive DIY Sandblaster

Less than $6 in parts

Watching rust get blasted off of metal is always satisfying. It must be even more satisfying to do it, particularly when you're using a self-made sandblaster. DIY'er Adam Fleisch figured out how to make one for under six bucks, using an airgun and a soda bottle, and the darn thing

By Rain Noe - Jan 17

Designing for Wood Movement, Part 2: Using Cleats or Buttons to Attach a Tabletop

Get into the groove

In the last entry we saw a builder create a tabletop the wrong way. By not obeying the rules of wood movement, the builder has doomed the tabletop to failure. The rule that the builder ought have followed is a simple one: Design for boards to expand and contract along

By Felipe Castañeda - Jan 16

Sponsored Post: MakerBot Design Series: The Running Shoe

Taking on the challenge of designing footwear—a deceptively complex category

This story is part three of MakerBot's series of design studies, exploring iterative design and the relationship between designers and their tools. So far we've explored form development with the bike saddle and reverse engineering with the drone rebuild—now it's time to push into something a bit more futuristic.

By Rain Noe - Jan 15

Designing for Wood Movement, Part 1: The Wrong Way to Build a Tabletop or Panel

Following this Urban Design Observation post, some Core77 readers have asked for a series on how to design for wood movement. I'll start here with some design basics. (And if you want to back up and understand the science behind why wood moves, check out this series on wood movement

By Rain Noe - Jan 12

This Wonderful GIF Shows You How to Create a Perfect Ellipse by Repeatedly Folding a Circular Piece of Paper

Forget your template today? Use this trick

This took me a second to figure out what they were doing, but when I finally understood it, I went "Holy crap:" I don't pretend to understand the black geometric magic behind this trick, and I realize that knowing how to do this will save me from neither zombies nor

By Felipe Castañeda - Dec 19, 2017

Sponsored Post: MakerBot Design Series: The Drone

A look at the process of reverse engineering to discover opportunities for design improvements

You've probably taken something apart just to see how it works. Maybe you fixed it, maybe you marveled at the ingenuity of the design, but something about it was fascinating.

By Rain Noe - Dec 07, 2017

How to Fix Common Mistakes Made When Building Things Out of Wood

I'll always prefer working with wood over metal and plastic, because wood is such a forgiving material. Inevitably when you're working with the stuff, you're going to screw up, usually when you've run out of stock and are on a tight deadline. Here Marc Spagnuolo, a/k/a the Wood Whisperer, shows

By Felipe Castañeda - Dec 01, 2017

Sponsored Post: MakerBot Design Series: The Bike Saddle

A 3D printer isn't just a prototyping tool; it's a sketchbook, a second set of hands, and all told—a paradigm shift.

Bikes are amazing machines. They're simple yet complex; a perfect symbol for the intersection of form and function. For over a century, that beauty has drawn the attention of designers and engineers looking to leave their mark on the bicycle's legacy. I'm one of those designers teetering on the edge

By Rain Noe - Oct 27, 2017

How to Make a Watertight Wood Joint, Without Using Glue or Sealants

Frank Klausz reveals the "family secret" of creating a gasket effect

Unless you have experience with traditional boatbuilding or making traditional Japanese sake cups, you may not realize you can join two pieces of wood together--with no glue or sealant--in such a way as to make the joint watertight. Here master woodworker Frank Klausz reveals the trick taught to him by

By Rain Noe - Sep 15, 2017

Videos on Furniture Design, Production Efficiency, Organization and Some Just Plain Nifty Stuff

Weekly Makers Roundup

Weekly Maker’s Roundup is a weekly list of our favorite builds, tips and tricks for makers. Ranging from classic to novel, practical to outrageous, these projects represent what making is all about—problem solving and having fun.

By Rain Noe - Sep 08, 2017

How to Build a Mobile Bar Cart, Epoxy-ize Chair/Table Feet for Protection, Turn Stone Into Jewelry & More

Weekly Makers Roundup

Weekly Maker’s Roundup is a weekly list of our favorite builds, tips and tricks for makers. Ranging from classic to novel, practical to outrageous, these projects represent what making is all about—problem solving and having fun.

By Rain Noe - Sep 04, 2017

How to Make a Leather Handle Wrap--Without Stitching

This craftsman's experimental technique looks pretty cool

Artist Cam Bergerman counts archery and leatherworking among his hobbies. Having learned how to craft leather handle wraps the traditional way, with stitching, he decided to experiment a bit: I had an idea a while back for a way to join a seam in leather without anything but the leather

By Rain Noe - Sep 01, 2017

How to Build a Workbench Out of Plywood, Cut Circles with a Circular Saw, Line Wood with Steel & More

Weekly Makers Roundup

Weekly Maker’s Roundup is a weekly list of our favorite builds, tips and tricks for makers. Ranging from classic to novel, practical to outrageous, these projects represent what making is all about—problem solving and having fun.

By Rain Noe - Sep 01, 2017

Resource: Free Plans/CAD Drawings to Make Your Own Custom Systainer Inserts

Festool users have already done the measuring work for you

When it comes to modular, portable tool storage, it's hard to beat the Systainers designed by German company Tanos. They come in five sizes and can be linked together for easy transport. While Systainers can be purchased separately at places like Woodcraft, Tool Nut and Amazon, Festool products all come

By Rain Noe - Aug 31, 2017

A DIY Contraption for Height-Adjustable Drill Press Outfeed Support

Tell me if you've been in this situation: 1. You need to put holes in a very long workpiece using your drill press. 2. You find clamping the piece to the bed impractical or impossible. 3. You decide that rigging up proper-height outfeed support is too time-consuming.

By Joel Moskowitz - Aug 30, 2017

Tools & Craft #62: MoMA's Lost History of Woodworking and Craft Classes

Nowadays the Museum of Modern Art, aka MoMA, is well known for a rarified take on expensive modern art. I try to go visit MoMA several times a year (natives and savvy tourists know when the $25 admission fee is waived) and often feel frustrated by the insularity and smug

By Rain Noe - Aug 29, 2017

Does Your Camera Get Hot During Long Shoots? Here's How to Hack a Heat Sink to It

Making things can be time-consuming, and if you're recording your entire process on video, your camera can start to heat up as the minutes tick past. Industrial designer Eric Strebel found his Lumix GF7 getting so hot that it would shut itself off. Strebel's solution: Harvest an aluminum heat

By Rain Noe - Aug 29, 2017

The DTV Shredder: A Cross Between a Skateboard, a Snowmobile and a Scooter

Young inventor Ben Gulak has created a compact, year-round off-road vehicle

Canadian inventor Ben Gulak conceived of the DTV shredder, the unusual vehicle you see here, while he was still a teenager. His motivation was practical: “It doesn’t make sense to have to buy an expensive snowmobile that you can ride for three months of the year and an ATV

By Rain Noe - Aug 25, 2017

A Table Saw Accident, How to Install Anti-Split Bowties, Design & Build a Chair & More

Weekly Makers Roundup

Weekly Maker’s Roundup is a weekly list of our favorite builds, tips and tricks for makers. Ranging from classic to novel, practical to outrageous, these projects represent what making is all about—problem solving and having fun.

By Emily Engle - Aug 25, 2017

Nike Encourages At-Home Sneaker Customization with the Gakou Flyknit

Logo placement put into consumer hands

Tired of seeing the Nike swoosh in the same place, over and over? Tired of seeing logos on sneakers in general? Nike's now giving you the option to place your own or opt-out entirely with their recently released Gakou Flyknit. In all honesty, the design of the sneaker itself isn't all that revolutionary—by this point, we've all grown accustomed to sock-like shoes being worn everywhere from the gym to the office.

By Rain Noe - Aug 25, 2017

Resource: Free (and Almost Free) Downloadable Photoshop Metal Styles

No need to reinvent the wheel when you can snag one of these

We know many of you have access to top-notch rendering programs and/or fast manual rendering skills, but sometimes you just need to bang something out quickly in Photoshop. In that instance it might be handy to have, say, a bunch of metal styles you can apply to type. SpoonGraphics has

By Shannon Rogers - Aug 24, 2017

Hand Tool School #43: Improve Your Hand Tool Skills with One Thing

Mastering this will fix a lot of issues

I get a lot of questions about hand tools. When you get past the "should I buy this or that" or "what should I get first" questions and get down to the usage questions where a woodworker is struggling with a tool or getting uncertain results, invariably they can all

By Rain Noe - Aug 22, 2017

3D Printing Ergonomic Knobs with a Resin Core

Hack your tools for greater efficiency

If you're making something for yourself and casting it in resin, you can probably live with the inevitable air bubbles that appear in the object. But if you're an industrial designer prototyping something a client's going to see, bubbles are a no-no. That's why professional prototypers like Eric Strebel use

By Rain Noe - Aug 11, 2017

Tiny Space Living: Ikeahacks...from Ikea

Kitchen cabinets in the bedroom and other tricks

I came across this interesting series of videos in Ikea's archives. Called the "Square Meter Challenge," Ikea's designers were tasked with using Ikea products to create livable, functional, comfortable space in some seriously tiny footprints. They start off with on-screen drawings explaining the concept behind each space, then show you

By Core Jr - Aug 09, 2017

We Asked DIY Designer Ben Uyeda 5 Questions

Uyeda tells us what his favorite DIY tool is and how to monetize your YouTube content

Over the past few weeks, we've been fielding questions from our Core77 audience for a favorite YouTube maker of ours, Ben Uyeda of HomeMade Modern. Founded in 2013, Uyeda has managed to build up a collection of videos showing anyone how to make simple yet elegant DIY projects. In the

By Rain Noe - Jul 20, 2017

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, 2017

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, 2017

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 Core Jr - Jul 19, 2017

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 18, 2017

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: